Celtic are seven points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after a strong 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock at Celtic Park this afternoon.
Goals from Reo Hatate, Luis Palma and Greg Taylor delivered the win that Celtic always looked like delivering from the first whistle to the last.
Ahead of St Mirren and Rangers playing tomorrow, the Bhoys have piled the pressure on both teams to deliver a win and keep pace with the league leaders.
Brendan Rodgers will be delighted with the win heading into the international break, but what are the big talking points coming out of the game? This is what is on our mind after that 90 minutes…
Luis Palma impresses on first league start
Palma’s introduction to Celtic action has been slow and steady since arriving at the end of August. Today was actually his first start in the Scottish Premiership and he took his opportunity to shine, scoring a wonderful goal in the first half to give the Bhoys a comfortable advantage.
He notably looked more confident today than in other recent appearances – his cameos off the bench have clearly helped him adapt to Celtic’s way of playing and the expectations on the team.
His long-range finish today, whipped in accurately to the left hand side of the goal was exquisite and a demonstration that his technical ability can be a real weapon for the team.
There’s no doubt he is still working up to a peak but today was a solid step forward for the Honduran and he should keep his place in the team following the international break.
Scales and Carter-Vickers build solid partnership
Celtic were cruising to a clean sheet before a madcap few minutes in the second half when Kilmarnock scored following what looked like potentially two fouls on Bhoys players.
Before conceding that goal, the Liam Scales and Cameron Carter-Vickers partnership was looking strong and assured. They complement each other well.
Scales is given license to be aggressive aerially like Carl Starfelt was and Carter-Vickers also provides a platform for the Irishman to advance with the ball into the opposition half.
Both were efficient and slick with their distribution today, too. Until Maik Nawrocki is back and fit, this could well be the go-to partnership for Rodgers and on today’s showing it should do fine domestically. Positive signs.
Reo Hatate shows the best of himself
Japanese midfielder Hatate has had an up-and-down season so far but today he fully earned his man of the match shout.
The skill and composure he showed to put Celtic ahead is what we know he’s capable of producing regularly. He flicked the ball through opposition legs before surging towards the edge of the box and coolly sticking the ball into the corner of the net.
It was great to see him in the mood throughout the 90 minutes. He put a lot of effort into today’s performance and looked knackered by the end, a sign of how committed he was to the victory.
Hopefully this can be the start of a sustained run of form. He now heads to Japan to represent his country and it’d be great if that experience fills him up with more confidence.
In other news, Reo Hatate talks Rodgers, injury, supporters and Celtic happiness in rare interview