Match report as Celtic scored four first-half goals to stun ailing Kilmarnock; Kyogo Furuhashi notched his 23rd goal of the season; Daizen Maeda and Matt O'Riley added to the scoreline before Liam Donnelly pulled one back; Ange Postecoglou's side go 12 points clear at the top
Sunday 16 April 2023 20:25, UK
Ruthless Celtic raced into a stunning four-goal lead inside 27 minutes against hapless Kilmarnock, eventually running out 4-1 winners to restore their 12-point gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Some calamitous defending compounded the home side's woe, gifting the league leaders an excess of chances, which were gobbled up by Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Matt O'Riley during a rampant first period.
Fraser Murray's ill-fated back pass was pounced on by Kyogo to open the scoring (7), before Maeda doubled the visitors' advantage with a well-timed header five minutes later.
O'Riley's superb double, sandwiched between a missed penalty from Kyogo, added gloss to the scoreline before the break, but the contest had run away from Derek McInnes' struggling side far before the midfielder struck, despite registering a consolation goal of their own when Liam Donnelly showed impressive composure to round Joe Hart (45).
Celtic are now unbeaten in 24 league matches, notching their 30th victory of the campaign in record time.
As a result, Ange Postecoglou's side are sauntering towards back-to-back league titles, with nearest rivals Rangers 12 shy of their mammoth 91 points total. "The boys were brave with their football...It was outstanding," Postecoglou eulogised post-match.
Celtic only need seven points from their remaining six matches to retain their crown.
An all-action first 45 minutes saw Celtic score four times, miss a penalty and concede a goal on their way to a sweeping title statement at Rugby Park.
Murray, making his first start in five months, handed Kyogo a seventh-minute opener with a poorly executed back-pass, which was swiftly intercepted and dispatched by the Japan striker for his 23rd goal of the season.
Celtic were two ahead five minutes later when Alistair Johnston dinked a cross towards Maeda to head home at the far post.
With Killie in disarray, the visitors dealt the killer blow when O'Riley profited from Joe Wright's mistake, tucking a neat strike inside the post, before being found by a pinpoint Greg Taylor pass and rifling into the far corner.
Kyogo also missed a great chance to add to his mounting goal tally when hitting the post from the penalty spot after Christian Doidge caught Taylor with a sloppy challenge.
A double change from McInnes midway through a crippling first period stemmed the flow of chances, while Donnelly dispossessed Celtic captain Callum McGregor and beat Joe Hart to reduce arrears on the stroke of half-time, but the damage was done.
Carl Starfelt missed Celtic's best chance of a much slower, more tepid second 45 minutes when powering a free header aimlessly over from six yards.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou:
"A steady first half. The boys were brave with their football. Their attitude, their intent - it was a big game last week so you need to ensure the boys remain focussed.
"It was outstanding. The second half was a bit sloppy, very stop-start, but overall a great job. The whole group came out with a real intent, there is always a danger that after such a big win last week you aren't at it.
"They [Kilmarnock] got a bit more aggressive [in the second half] and we got sloppy with our passing and movement. We weren't anywhere near as fluent. But the boys who came in did a good job."
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes:
"The fragility came after we lost the first goal. It's such an awful goal to lose, it's negative and passive. We caused our own problems. It was almost as if there was a fear factor there and I hate seeing my players like that. The team suffered.
"The reaction from us going behind was awful. We lost all confidence and every sense of what we were trying to do.
"Going with two strikers against Celtic was always going to be a risk - we've done it before and seen the benefit, but we needed an extra midfielder in there.
"I'm determined to create a Kilmarnock team eventually that can take on Celtic and beat them. We didn't give ourselves a chance of that today."
There was no let-up from the champions after opening a 12-point lead over Rangers with derby victory last weekend. New landmarks are on the horizon.
Maeda's header, which put Celtic two up, was their 100th league goal of the season.
They will surpass last season's 93-point total if they beat Motherwell next week and remain on course to rival the 106-point mark set by Brendan Rodgers' Invincibles in 2017.
Celtic's next Scottish Premiership match is at home to Motherwell on April 22 and Kilmarnock are away to St Mirren on the same day. Both games kick off at 3pm.
