Reo Hatate rampaged forward from a new role as Celtic again moved nine points clear in the title race. Ange Postecoglou’s side rounded off the calendar year on their own patch in familiar style as they sank St Johnstone to complete the whole of 2022 unbeaten domestically in Glasgow's East End.
Reo Hatate, who operated at right-back in absence of a trio of unavailable colleagues, opened the scoring as the champions made it 17 wins from their first 18 top-flight games. Kyogo Furuhashi moved onto the 14-goal mark for the season with two before the interval and Hatate added his own second before being denied a hat-trick by a post.
Callum Davidson’s side had no answer. The Perth team scrapped and battled, but they were picked apart by the quality of the hosts and Drey Wright’s second-half strike, which stood after a VAR check, offered little consolation. Postecoglou absolutely bossed it and had few issues in extending their lead at the table summit after a bright start.
