It was an uncomfortable first 45 minutes for Celtic in Paisley, but their relentless streak continued as they ensured there wasn't to be repeat of September's defeat against St Mirren with a 5-1 win.
Just six minutes in, Celtic would have had a distantly familiar feeling on this latest jaunt to this stadium. They took their time, but those in the VAR studio eventually suggested that David Dickinson might want to have another look at a handball claim from St Mirren that had been made minutes earlier. Alex Grieve flicked the ball on to Greg Taylor's hand from close range and after seeing a few replays, the ref pointed to the spot.
Mark O'Hara stepped up and the Buddies skipper drilled low past Joe Hart to give his side the lead. He's now scored in all three games he's played against the champions this season. Reo Hatate was presented with a big chance to draw Celtic level. The Japanese midfielder come on a netted a double when these two met in the Scottish Cup, but his accuracy was off on this occasion as he fired over from the edge of the area.
Charles Dunne looked to have handed the champions a route back into the game shortly before half-time. With Kyogo breathing down his neck, the defender made a mess of an attempted pass back to Trevor Carson and instinctively pulled the Japanese striker back.
Dickinson rightly showed him a straight red card, but was shown to be too hasty in pointing to the spot again, with replays showing no contact took place in the box and the chance to score from 12 yards was taken away from Aaron Mooy.
Ten minutes after the restart, Celtic were level. A low Mooy cross was met by Jota and while the Portuguese didn't connect cleanly with his first attempt, he showed razor sharp reactions to prod home from the ground with the ball trickling over the line.
Mooy was the architect of Celtic's second goal as well. His teasing delivery to the back post was met by Johnston, who bundled past Carson to claim his first goal in green and white.
The numerical advantage then really showed. Liel Abada had come off the bench at half-time and smashed in a third to really break St Mirren's resistance. Fellow sub Matt O'Riley then got in on the act as Celtic showed their ruthless side.
They eventually did get a spot kick with ten minutes left. Alex Gogic hauled back Abada, and Oh stepped up to make it 5-1.
Paying the penalty
The early award was one of those that seemed harsh, but you;d also be screaming for if it happened in your opponents' box. Greg Taylor's arm was out, but had virtually no time to get it out of the way given the distance Alex grieve flicked the ball up from.
Celtic will point to the non-award back on the very first weekend of VAR, when a Michael Smith handball from further away wasn't penalised. Another ref or VAR team might not have given today's, and the one that was in situ took long enough to recommend a second look.
At the other end, they thought they had one after Charles Dunne panicked in an attempt to recover from a short pass back. He hauled down Kyogo and was sent off, but a VAR check showed his pullback happened outside the box, and it was a free-kick rather than a penalty. There was little debate to be had about the one they were awarded late on, but Dickinson still needed VAR to tell him.
Ruthless Celtic
There's no doubting the sending off changed the game, but the goals still had to be scored. At half-time, Celtic had gone 232 minutes without scoring at the SmiSA stadium. They broke that duck in style after the break though. Jota and Johnston's finishes may not have been the tidiest, but they came at a key time when some would have been wondering if a title race was perhaps back on the cards.
That notion was put to bed emphatically though, as two quickfire strikes from Abada and O'Riley illustrated their team's superiority well before Oh's spot kick. It looks increasingly difficult for the rest to take points off Postecoglou;s team., which is what angers will need now if they are to get any closer.
Goals in reserve
It's no revelation that Celtic have squad depth, but it's what helps set them apart from the rest. They introduced Abada, O'Riley and Oh in the second half as three of their five replacements and all three made an impact by finding the net and turning a grinding win into a flashy one.
Even Rangers don't have anything like the same quality in reserve when needed. Michael Beale claims he's working against the odds, and while ten of the other Premiership clubs would no doubt likely wish to explain why they don't agree, more Champions League riches pouring into the Parkhead coffers next season will make it difficult to get his own pool of players up to the same level.
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