Celtic’s win over St Mirren yesterday at Parkhead takes Brendan Rodgers’ side four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Brendan Rodgers‘ side huffed and puffed in the first half and failed to produce a single shot on goal for Celtic who struggled to cope with the swirling winds.
However, in a second-half blitz, Celtic came out of the traps quickly and three goals from Reo Hatate, Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah delivered the three points and put daylight at the top of the table albeit Rangers have still to play Ross County today and then at Dundee on Wednesday night.
Hatate was named the man-of-the-match against the Paisley side and after his wonder goal, it’s easy to see why.
But there was one other Celtic player who could, and maybe should, have been named the top player of the day as his contribution played a massive part in the Hoops’ win.
Alistair Johnston was outstanding for Celtic vs St Mirren
Alistair Johnston has suffered from a drop in form this season. Imperious under Ange Postecoglou, there is no doubt the Canadian has struggled to find the form that the Celtic fans had gotten used to from him.
But against Stephen Robinson’s team yesterday, Johnston looked back to his best and may well feel unlucky not to have been given the post-match award.
Rated at 8.8 by Fotmob, put in his best performance of the season according to the football stats site.
Seeing out the whole 90 minutes, the Canadian international was at the thick of the action with 117 touches and made 93 passes with an accuracy of 81%.
Johnston also made 19 passes into St Mirren’s final third and created two assists in the 3-0 win.
As well as producing the goods for Celtic’s attack, Johnston was also excellent in defence. Making six ball recoveries, four defensive actions and winning three duels, the 25-year-old defender put in a polished performance for the Celtic manager.
Johnston’s contribution puts plenty of pressure on Rangers who now know that any dropped points either today or on Wednesday will give Celtic a massive psychological boost heading into the top-six split.