Reo Hatate
Reo Hatate claimed a brace by scoring either side of a Kyogo Furuhashi double

Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi scored two goals each as Celtic trounced St Johnstone to regain a nine-point lead at the top of the Scottish league.

The double by Kyogo followed Hatate's opener.

The makeshift full-back scored twice after the break.

David Turnbull was sent off in the last moments of the game.

The high challenge on Remi Matthews was too late to have any effect on the result.

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Celtic had a perfect record in their last 24 meetings with the Saints and had the festive spirit oozing out in search of a timely 25th.

After filling in at right-back due to Anthony Ralston's injury, Hatate made his presence known immediately.

He took up a slack clearance from Wright and steered it beyond Matthews with the help of a Wright shot.

Kevin Clancy said Matthews palmed the opener away before it crossed the line, despite Kyogo's belief that he grabbed the opener with a nearby nod. There was no doubt about his first-half brace.

After Matt O'Riley's cross was flashed into the front-post, he placed the finishing touch on a great move. James Forrest tied the move off with a bow after being put on a plate by Mooy.

When he latched on to a threaded through pass, Hatate snuck the ball by Matthews. It took a long time before the incorrect flag was overturned.

The Saints were able to pull one back. Stevie May's shot after brilliantly bringing down a ball called Joe Hart into action, with the Celtic goalkeeper allowing Wright a go before giving him a second bite at the cherry, where he made no mistake.

There was a red card and a high boot on Matthews in the final moments of the game.

Player of the match - Reo Hatate

Reo Hatate
Reo Hatate, tasked with playing out of position, still managed to bag a brace and get in and about the action in the attacking end for Celtic. Despite being pushed back, he was influential as ever.

Celtic pulled a Christmas cracker while St Johnstone snapped - Analysis

He was not happy with the performance against Livingston and was looking for a reaction from his team.

They have a lot of strings to their bow. As was the case against Aberdeen last week, they can be patient in their play when required.

Fans as well as the Australian will want to see what this show has to offer. There was a swagger among the Celts. They have complete control of the affair when they are in that mood.

They were up against it from the get go. Many sides would have fought over the qualities the hosts decided to take into account.

It took cutely crafted maneuvers to break them down at times.

The Saints will not be judged on their trips to Celtic Park.

What did they say?

"Our role is to try and keep improving our players and point out areas we can be better and today we just looked a lot hungrier with a real intent and purpose to score goals."

They are almost demanding it from us, that we continually push them to be better, because they feel like they don't need to do more.

Davidson did not want to sit in for the entire game. We had to balance pressing and dropping off. At times we did it well and at other times not so well. When it gets to a point where Celtic have hurt us, what do we do?

The character of the lad in the second half was really good. It would have been easy to put the heads down but we kept fighting and I am really pleased we got a goal.

What's next?

Celtic will travel to Easter Road to take on Hibs in the afternoon on Tuesday.

There's more to come.

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