‘Excellent’ Kyogo earns praise from Rodgers as Celtic take top spot
The Japanese striker, Scotland’s Player of the Year and last season’s top scorer, had two goals disallowed for offside in Saturday’s 3-1 win.
The win means the champions give Rangers a one-point lead until they face Dundee at Dens Park on Sunday.
Philippe Clement’s side will need a win on Tayside to regain top spot, but a draw will see the top two on equal points and goal difference in their last eight games, but Celtic will remain ahead in terms of goals scored.
Kyogo failed to match the productive form shown last season under former coach Ange Postecoglou, but returned to the team ahead of Adam Idah, who started the last three matches.
And the frontman has taken his tally to 16 goals for the season and Hoops supporters will be hoping he has found his form just in time for the run-in as the race for the Premier League crown gathers pace.
He opened the scoring with a header in the 40th minute after beating goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov on a cross from Nicolas Kuhn, then allowed the German winger to score in the first minute of the second half. He also hit the crossbar and looked in good shape overall.
After the match, Rodgers said: “Adam (Idah) was very good when he came on and that’s what Kyogo and every player needs. “They need competition.
“But I thought he was smart, his moves were good. Sharp.
“He was very brave with the first goal. He runs and comes back out. Of course some attackers might turn their heads to the side if the goalkeeper passed, but he didn’t and scored the goal.
“And it was a nice cross for the second. He was excellent.”
Kuhn scored his second goal since arriving from Rapid Vienna in January and continued to impress after a fruitful first home start against Livingston last weekend. And Rodgers liked what he saw from the German.
The manager said: “I think you’re starting to understand a little bit why we brought him here.
“He is very fast.
“It was just hard for him when he came in, he had teeth problems and everything medical. But he has now shown that he has regained his strength and is training very well. “He obviously makes a great cross for the first goal and for the second you can see his speed.
“We always want our wingers to get into the penalty area. He came out and scored a fantastic goal.
Substitute James Forrest added a third goal in his 104th game against Celtic and Alistair Johnston was ruled out for slight offside after Connor Smith added a goal for the Saints in the closing stages.
Rodgers said: “I had a really good feeling in the stadium and in the crowd from the start of the match.
“The players started the match well and I thought it was a very good performance overall. “The only downside was that when I made all the changes, our pressing became a bit passive and that gave them a bit more time on the ball than we would have liked.”
Saints manager Craig Levein admitted his side failed to produce the comprehensive performance they needed to secure another result at Celtic Park following the draw in August.
“Our defensive performance was really good,” Levein said. “Losing the goal early in the second half was the final blow, but we limited Celtic to very few chances in the first half.
“When we had the ball, we got it out every time. It seemed like a constant turning the ball over and inviting Celtic into another attack. That was the frustrating part.
“It took Celtic about half an hour to get their first shot on target. We confined them to the wide areas and managed to block shots and crosses.
“But if you constantly give the ball to a strong team like Celtic, you will have to endure attack after attack.”
Levein lost midfielder Sven Srprangle to a knee injury midway through the first half.
“It looks like Sprangler opened the medial ligament,” he said. “I don’t know if he’ll be out for weeks or months.”
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