Aussie trio net, Celtic extend lead in Scotland
Kyogo Furuhashi has struck twice in five second-half minutes as Celtic thrashed bottom club St Johnstone 4-0 to move 14 points clear of Glasgow rivals Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Nicolas Kuhn opened the scoring for the hosts at Celtic Park on Sunday before substitute Daizen Maeda sealed victory following Furuhashi's quick-fire double.
Victory rounded off a highly fruitful 2024 for Brendan Rodgers' side, who end the year with just two defeats in all competitions plus all three major domestic trophies, as well as the healthy lead in the table.
"We wanted to perform, we wanted to put effort into the game and get the three points. We did that in a really charismatic way in the game with our football and our confidence in the team," Rodgers said.
Rangers, who host Celtic on Thursday, required a second-half double from substitute Hamza Igamane to rescue a 2-2 draw at Motherwell.
There was uproar among the travelling supporters after Socceroos striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Tawanda Maswanhise put the hosts in control.
Igamane halved the deficit five minutes into the second period before curling home a 68th-minute leveller after Well boss Stuart Kettlewell was shown a red card, presumably for dissent, and the hosts had two goals ruled out.
Resurgent Hibernian made it four wins in succession as former Western Sydney and Central Coast midfielder Nectar Triantis, on loan from Sunderland, headed home his first Hibs goal in the 25th minute to secure a 1-0 victory over 10-man Kilmarnock.
Hibs, who were rock bottom of the division earlier this month, are now 10 points clear of last-placed St Johnstone and within three points of the top six.
Ross County's Josh Nisbet, another Socceroo and former A-League star, and Jordan White struck deep into added time to earn their side a valuable 2-2 draw against fellow strugglers Hearts in Dingwall.
Simon Murray scored two headers as Dundee battled to a 2-1 victory over St Mirren.
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