BRENDAN RODGERS did not hesitate even for a heartbeat when he was asked for his immediate thoughts on Celtic’s 5-2 triumph over St Mirren in Paisley last night.
“It’s one of my favourite results of the season,” beamed the Hoops gaffer.
And no wonder! Rodgers had just watched the intoxicating mix of exhilarating and exhausting as his never-say-die players overcame a team well up for the scrap on a dodgy surface.
Twice the champions were pegged back before strikes from Jeffrey Schlupp, Arne Engels (pen), Yang Hyun-jun (2) and Daizen Maeda, with his 26th goal of the campaign, settled the argument to power the Parkhead side into an almost unassailable 16-point advantage at the top of the table with only nine games to play.
SMILES BETTER…Brendan Rodgers applauds his players and the fans after Celtic’s 5-2 win in Paisley.
The fourth successive championship, the thirteenth title in 14 years and the 55th crown in the club’s coveted history is practically already festooned in green and white ribbons for another year.
As everyone anticipated, it was a tough shift against Stephen Robinson’s snarling, growling outfit, a team who favour the long-ball game with robust frontmen who are comfortable jousting for possession in the air and on the ground.
Poor old Auston Trusty’s introduction to the delights of the SMISA stadium didn’t even last half-an-hour before the groggy US international centre-back had to be helped off after a clash of heads with the uncompromising Mikael Mandron.
Liam Scales was thrown into the arena alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers in the 27th minute and the Republic of Ireland defender accepted the gauntlet with a certain amount of relish.
A smiling Rodgers reflected: “It’s our third game in a week and it’s a tough place to come against a team which has had some fantastic results against the so-called big clubs.
HAPPY DAIZ…Celtic dangerman Daizen Maeda runs away in triumph after leaving St Mirren keeper Zach Hemming helpless for the fourth goal – his 26th of the season – in the champions’ 5-2 win in Paisley.
“To perform on a difficult surface and to score five goals and get the result was so good.
“There’s lot of work with nine games still to go, plus we want to win the Scottish Cup, so it’s really just focusing on one game at a time.”
The Irishman, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “I think now, thankfully, what we can do is get some freshness back into the players because that’s the little bit that’s been missing from our defending.
“We’ve had so many games and so much energy put in, and that fraction of concentration and speed in our pressing we’re just missing.
“But we’ll do that over the course of the coming weeks.
“With one game a week we can recover, train specifically and then go into the games in a really good place.”
