CHAMPION SHOW FROM CELTIC

A five-star display by Postecoglou’s men dumps Dons and sets up final warning

SOMEWHERE in the Highlands, Billy Dodds would have been watching this through the cracks in his fingers. Slack since clinching the league at Tynecastle earlier this month, Celtic returned to something like full throttle with a performance befitting trophy day in Glasgow’s east end.

It was a timely reminder of the potency of Ange Postecoglou’s side, heavy favourites to complete a Treble when they take on Dodds’ Inverness Caley Thistle in next Saturday’s Scottish Cup final.

The only dark spot for Postecoglou was the injury that forced off star man Kyogo Furuhashi just after half-time.

The Japanese striker’s first-half had showcased many of the reasons why he will tonight complete a clean sweep of Scotland’s Player of the Year awards via the acclaim of the Scottish Football Writers’ Association.

His withdrawal might have given Dodds a brief surge of optimism but Kyogo’s deputy, the South Korean Hyeon-gyu Oh, stated his own claim with a late double that made this a heavy beating for an Aberdeen team that had already secured third place.

New boss Barry Robson has performed terrifically to turbocharge the Dons’ ailing season but, although there is talent in his side, the gap from top spot to the Europa League places has scarcely looked wider.

Celtic actually kicked off their title defence with a 2-0 win over the Dons, Stephen Welsh an unlikely first goalscorer in a relentless march that only slowed after confirmation of the championship.

If a drop-off in Celtic’s performances had been inevitable following the clinching of the title, this was surely time for the edge to return and Postecoglou kept the tinkering to a minimum.

Joe Hart was back in for Scott Bain, who only confirmed his reserve status with a wobbly night’s work in a 4-2 defeat to Hibs in midweek.

In front of him there is the unresolved issue of who to pair with Carl Starfelt in Cameron Carter-Vickers’ absence. With Welsh on the bench and Yuki Kobayashi absent from the matchday squad, the role went to Tomoki Iwata who was calm and composed without ever coming under pressure.

Pre-match, a wraparound display, with portraits of Jock Stein and Willie Maley at either end was revealed, imploring the Celtic team to ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’.

Two of the tiniest players afield duly responded.

Postecoglou has tended to favour Daizen Maeda when picking a preferred XI but the forward’s red card at Easter Road meant Liel Abada started on the right of what might be regarded as Celtic’s most exciting front three alongside Kyogo and Jota.

The little Israeli was a menace to Aberdeen in the opening stages, embarking on one rapier-like run that saw him skip past three forceful challenges before hoisting a cross that had too much loop to trouble the defence.

If Abada still has some rough edges to his game, Kyogo (below) is a master of end product.

His first was textbook play from the country’s player of the year stepping short and then to the side of Jack MacKenzie as he received Greg Taylor’s pass. The left-foot finish was high and handsome as it soared past Kelle Roos. Prior to the breakthrough, the Dutch keeper had leapt impressively to keep out a Starfelt header but he was caught out at the second.

A bouncing 20-yard shot from Callum McGregor was not easy to deal with but, as it kicked up in front of him, Roos should have done better than spill straight into the path of Kyogo, who lifted the ball calmly over the keeper. The Japanese was now on a leftfoot hat-trick and he unleashed another whack off his supposedly weaker side from an improbable angle.

Jonny Hayes and MacKenzie would have been relieved to see Abada’s number held up at half-time for a substitution that saw James Forrest given 45 minutes to make an impression.

Forrest helped trigger the press that brought Kyogo into contact with Roos, the keeper catching the striker as he slid to clear at the striker’s feet.

Kyogo tried to hobble on but quickly admitted defeat and was replaced by Oh.

Celtic are not, of course, a one-man team and the array of potential goal threats was evident as the game progressed.

Matt O’Riley cut inside and reversed a shot which kissed the post on its way past.

Jota’s out-to-in run saw him head narrowly wide.

Oh himself nodded wide at the back post. And Reo Hatate — a silky performer in the middle of the park — fired wide after some lovely set-up work from Jota.

You would have bet on Kyogo converting at least one of those opportunities.

Waving a set of crutches on the day the league was clinched in Edinburgh, right-back Alistair Johnston had been passed fit to play but after an hour he too pulled out, creating another potential selection issue for Postecoglou, albeit one that would be easier to absorb.

An offside goal denied Jota the joy of claiming Celtic’s third and so that particular honour went to Starfelt. An O’Riley set-piece gave the Swede his chance to leap high above Mattie Pollock and power home a header in off the crossbar.

Tired and now broken, Aberdeen conceded another as Jota teed up Oh with a pin-point cross that encouraged the South Korean to lean into the header.

Jota probably felt entitled to a goal of his own and, when fouled by sub Jayden Richardson on the edge of the box, sensed his moment.

The Portuguese had a job to get the free-kick up and down and he was centimetres out as the ball came back off the bar. Oh showed his predatory instincts by tucking away the rebound with the last kick of Celtic’s Premiership campaign.