Leigh Griffiths hit a hat-trick as Neil Lennon’s Celtic cruised to a 5-0 Scottish Premiership win, with Odsonne Edouard and Callum McGregor also on target.
Celtic were at their ruthless best on Saturday and St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin was left shaken by a ‘scary’ display from the runaway league leaders, while speaking to the Herald.
Neil Lennon’s side were looking nervously over their shoulders after losing at home to bitter rivals Rangers for the first time in a decade two months ago. But, after accumulating 27 points from a possible 30 since the winter break, scoring 34 goals in the process, a ninth Scottish Premiership title looks like an inevitability these days.
Celtic thumped five past St Mirren at Parkhead this weekend, with Leigh Griffiths netting a hat-trick alongside efforts from Callum McGregor and the irrepressible Odsonne Edouard.
It could have been even more, too, if it wasn’t for a defiant display from the Buddies’ much-admired goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
No wonder Goodwin was left feeling a little shell-shocked at full-time.
“Celtic are miles ahead of everyone in this league,” Goodwin said. “It’s quite scary really, they probably never got out of second gear and still put five past us.
“Celtic have played 16 games here in the league and won 15, with Rangers the only team to beat them.
“They put four, five, six or seven past teams all the time at Parkhead and we’re on the receiving end of a sore one this afternoon.”
The Hoops are now a staggering 13 points clear of Steven Gerrard’s increasingly ragtag Rangers, and Lennon deserves huge credit for an inspired tactical switch that has Celtic playing some of the best football in recent memory.
His new-look 3-5-2 system still has a few issues, namely at wing-back, but it has allowed Griffiths and Edouard to thrive as a strike partnership for the very first time.
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