Celtic 3-0 St Mirren: Brendan Rodgers' side move four points clear in Scottish Premiership title race

Celtic managed to score three goals during the second half of the game, which led them to win against St Mirren with a score of 3-0. This victory has resulted in increased pressure on Rangers' chances of winning the Scottish Premiership title.

Brendan Rodgers' team understood that a win against the Buddies would put them four points ahead of their Old Firm rivals, despite playing two more games.

The initial period of the game was quite irritating with neither team getting any significant opportunities. However, things changed after the halftime when Reo Hatate managed to curve the ball into the top corner following an impressive cross from Alistair Johnston, resulting in the first goal of the match.

Afterward, the protector assisted Kyogo Furuhashi in using his head to score Celtic's second goal at the 60-minute mark. Later on, substitute Adam Idah headed in another goal to secure their triumph and widen their advantage ahead of Rangers' upcoming match against Ross County on Sunday, which will be aired on Sky.

The team managed to secure their third victory in the league against the Buddies, who had already secured a top-six spot for the second season in a row.

Celtic Overpower St Mirren, Increase Title Advantage

The defending champions began the game at a slow pace. Maik Nawrocki was lucky to avoid receiving a yellow card for a late jump on Toyosi Olusanya. Nawrocki misjudged the ball's direction in his first game after seven weeks.

Ryan Strain entered the game for St Mirren as Elvis Bwomono had to leave the field due to a head injury. However, the Australian didn't have a smooth start as he was immediately given a yellow card for a foul against Hyun-Jun Yang.

This was a unique moment of advancement for the South Korean winger; however, in the first half, Celtic was only able to execute one shot, which was Matt O'Riley's precise shot that was thwarted by Caolan Boyd-Munce's block.

In the Saints midfield, Boyd-Munce was exhibiting robustness and poise while Alex Gogic was venturing out of the defense to initiate a few counter-attacks.

During the first half, the team of visitors appeared to be more menacing. A square ball from Olusanya enabled Greg Kiltie to have a superb opportunity, but unfortunately, he could not hit the ball correctly. Strain made an attempt which was obstructed and Olusanya missed the target from a challenging angle.

Rodgers' halftime remarks had the intended impact as Celtic swiftly elevated their performance.

Furuhashi missed a header wide while Cameron Carter-Vickers seemed ready to score behind him, but soon after, in the 52nd minute, Celtic finally made a breakthrough.

During the game, Johnston was able to make the perfect pass to Hatate, a midfielder from Japan. Hatate then took a single touch before elegantly directing the ball into the top of the net using the outer side of his boot. The whole action happened approximately 16 yards away from the goal post.

Yang missed an opportunity to score shortly after, but Furuhashi increased the team's lead at the one hour mark by scoring with a header from six yards off of Johnston's cross.

Zach Hemming blocked shots from Greg Taylor, Hatate, and replacement player Luis Palma while the Celtic team maintained their momentum.

At the beginning of the second half, St Mirren lost two players, Scott Tanser and Kiltie, due to injury. As a result, the visiting team was finding it difficult to assert their dominance.

In the 71st minute of the game, four substitute players including McGregor came on. Due to Bwomono's concussion, the home team was permitted to make a sixth replacement and James Forrest was selected for the role.

The player on the side of the pitch nearly succeeded in scoring, and later played a role in the play that resulted in Idah making a header goal from a short distance away. Celtic had more players on the field than the opposing team's defence during this moment.

Celtic's Grit Pleases Rodgers

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During an interview with Sky Sports, the Celtic coach Brendan Rodgers expressed his thoughts.

Undoubtedly, we played exceptionally well in the latter half. The first half posed some challenges and we failed to maintain possession effectively.

In the latter part of the game, the players showed remarkable prowess against St Mirren, who are highly skilled.

Their season has been outstanding and they are difficult to defeat. In games like this, scoring the first goal is crucial. Fortunately, we managed to score it early in the second half, which energized our team and we started playing much better.

In my opinion, the latter part of the match was an extension of the previous week's game, and we demonstrated bravery and fearlessness on the field.

Our main objective is to achieve goals. We possess an offensive mentality and we are equally fierce in defense to prevent conceding. Consequently, we limit the number of goals an opponent can score. In my opinion, we executed this strategy excellently in today's match.

Robinson: Punished For Our Errors

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Stephen Robinson, the manager of St Mirren, expressed that...

In my opinion, we had an impressive performance in the first half of the game. We had a clear objective in mind and focused on advancing towards the opposing team's goal by passing the ball. However, the substitutions that were made ended up negatively affecting our team.

The replacements decreased the pace and recognition given to Celtic. The initial goal was executed brilliantly, while Kyogo's amazing movements contributed to the second score.

These are the opponents you are competing against and we faced consequences for our errors.

We have the potential to be in a good position in Europe and we still have many opportunities to make progress.

As evidenced by our high level of performance and exceptional quality, we are determined to make the most of this season and not let it slip away.

Celtic is currently looking forward to their Scottish Cup semi-final match against Aberdeen at Hampden Park on the 20th of April, which will start at 12:30 pm.

St Mirren has to hold on until the Scottish Premiership schedules for the later part of the season are revealed.

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