Irish Daily Mail

Furuhashi brace as Bhoys see off Saints

- By IAIN STEWART

KYOGO FURUHASHI hit a double as Celtic consolidat­ed top spot in the cinch Scottish Premiershi­p with a 4-0 victory over St Mirren. With Giorgos Giakoumaki­s absent and seemingly on his way out of the club, the Japanese striker perhaps showed why Ange Postecoglo­u appears to be so relaxed about the prospect of losing his top league goalscorer from last season. Furuhashi took his recent tally to seven goals in as many games as his ability to play just on the shoulder of the last man twice paid off after lengthy VAR checks. Liel Abada had earlier put the champions ahead in the 15th minute and substitute David Turnbull hit a brilliant fourth as Celtic dealt impressive­ly with the only team to have beaten them in the league this season. Giakoumaki­s has been heavily linked with a move to Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds but Postecoglo­u stated before the game that a minor injury was behind his absence, as well as that of centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers. The latter’s injury allowed Yuki Kobayashi to make his debut and the Japanese player delivered an assured performanc­e, while Josip Juranovic started at left-back to accommodat­e the fitagain Alistair Johnston. St Mirren had the ball in the net early on following some sustained goalmouth action but Curtis Main was flagged offside. The hosts took the lead after Kobayashi hit a post and Abada lashed home the second rebound. Celtic doubled their lead in the 35th minute with a Furuhashi lobbed wffort. Jota was causing problems with some sublime touches and teasing low crosses and the winger set up Furuhashi to net again in the 53rd minute. The goal was initially chalked off but a VAR check reversed the decision. Furuhashi was correctly flagged offside after setting up substitute James Forrest to net and the Japanese striker was afforded a rest for the final 10 minutes as Daizen Maeda came on through the middle. St Mirren defender Declan Gallagher saw his header hit the top of the crossbar before Turnbull struck from 25 yards after Celtic worked a short corner towards the former Motherwell midfielder in the 86th minute. The visitors kept plugging away going forward and Joe Hart made a brilliant save from Alex Gogic.

Rangers kept the pressure on with an odd-goal-infive win over Kilmarnock, Alfredo Morelos getting a brace and Ryan Kent their scorers. Rampant Hearts took a big step towards finishing third in the cinch Premiershi­p as they destroyed beleaguere­d Aberdeen with a four-goal first-half blitz at Tynecastle. Josh Ginnelly notched a double while Michael Smith and Lawrence Shankland were also on target before the break, and Cammy Devlin made it 5-0 just after the hour to seal the Jambos’ biggest top-flight victory in seven years.

 ?? ?? At the double: Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi
At the double: Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi

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