Celtic celebrated their Scottish Premiership crown with a resounding 6-0 win over Motherwell at Celtic Park on Saturday to finish the season.
The Hoops were utterly dominant in the first period and found themselves three goals to the good at the break courtesy of a brace from Kyogo Furuhashi and an individual effort from David Turnbull.
Celtic had to wait 21 minutes to find the opener. Motherwell failed to clear a Jota corner and Kyogo pounced, skipping away from his man before whipping a fine finish inside the near post.
After Tom Rogic had slid the ball onto the post in his farewell outing, his midfield colleague Turnbull made it two when he sold the defender a dummy on the edge of the box and strolled into the area to smash in a low strike.
Kyogo doubled up on the stroke of half-time, producing an expert volley into the bottom corner as Anthony Ralston’s pass dropped over his shoulder.
The second half continued in much the same vein as the Bhoys continued to press home their superiority.
Defender Carl Starfelt popped up in the box and headed narrowly wide at the back post just two minutes after play resumed.
It was 4-0 on the hour mark. Daizen Maeda mis-controlled Kyogo’s through ball but played it into the path of Jota who gleefully slotted it home, although he was in an offside position.
It should have been five a minute later, but Maeda headed over from Jota’s inch-perfect cross.
Celtic wouldn’t have to wait long to extend their advantage, however, with substitute Georgios Giakoumakis getting in on the action with an excellent overhead kick from a dropping ball after Motherwell failed to deal with another cross.
There was even time for the Greek striker to add a scruffy second in stoppage time from close range as the ball arrived at his feet in acres of space.
Here’s how the Celtic players rated…
Jota was excellent / Ian MacNicol/GettyImages
GC: Joe Hart – 6/10 – Very quiet day for the former England international. Bizarrely lost his head when one of his goal kicks was blocked.
RB: Anthony Ralston – 7/10 – Industrious and forward-thinking as ever. Picked up yet another assist with a measured ball for Kyogo.
CB: Cameron Carter-Vickers – 6/10 – Watchful performance to round off a good season, although he was rarely tested.
CB: Carl Starfelt – 6/10 – Popped up in an attacking position and headed just wide. Sound defensively.
LB: Greg Taylor – 6/10 – Got up and down the left and battled hard. Subbed to give others a chance.
CM: David Turnbull – 8/10 – Dominated the midfield area. Wonderful dummy before smashing in the second against his former side.
CM: Callum McGregor – 6/10 – Keep things ticking over in midfield as usual. Passed well and won all his duels.
CM: Tom Rogic – 6/10 – Busied himself in the midfield in his final appearance for Celtic. Struck the woodwork but the flag was up. Went off in tears to a standing ovation.
RW: iota – 8/10 – The fleet-footed winger showed some wonderful flashes of skill in the first period. His corner led to the opener. Got a goal himself after the break, finishing coolly (albeit from an offside position).
ST: Kyogo Furuhashi – 9/10 – Two wonderful finishes to move onto 20 goals for the season in the first half. Subbed early with his work done.
LW: Daizen Maeda – 7/10 – Put himself about, committing a number of fouls. Simple assist for Turnbull and an inadvertent one for Jota.
SUB: James McCarthy (61′ for Rogic) – 5/10
SUB: Georgios Giakoumakis (61′ for Kyogo) – 7/10 – Looked in the mood and got on the score sheet quickly with an acrobatic strike. Notched a very late second.
SUB: Yosuke Ideguchi (61′ for Turnbull) – 5/10
SUB: Stephen Welsh (61′ for Taylor) – 5/10
SUB: Nir Bitton (85′ for McGregor) – N/A – Another player getting his final minutes for Celtic.
