Ange Postecoglou's Celtic thrash Kilmarnock to go top of Scottish Premiership

Kieran Francis

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Ange Postecoglou's Celtic thrash Kilmarnock to go top of Scottish Premiership image

Ange Postecoglou's Celtic have moved ahead of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership after a crushing 5-0 win against Kilmarnock on Sunday.

The Hoops' victory on the road at Rugby Park sees them trump Rangers by goal difference, with both Glasgow sides having won their first three league matches.

There was five individual scorers for Celtic with Kyogo Furuhashi putting the champions up by a goal after only seven minutes.

The Hoops had to wait until the 35th minute for Jota's long-range thunderbolt to extend their advantage.

And on the stroke of half-time, centre-half Moritz Jenz scored a bicycle kick to make it three goals.

Carl Starfelt scored Celtic's fourth in the 75th minute before another bicycle kick was scored - this time by Giorgos Giakoumakis.

"We knew that (the pitch) was one of our challenges today, along with it being a hot day to try and play the football we want to," Postecoglou said.

"The boys’ attitude was first rate.

"It was a great start for us. Last week we scored late and we said we want to wear teams down. That doesn’t discount the fact we want to start strong and put teams away early."

Celtic have scored 10 goals in their first three games, conceding only one, with a 2-0 win against Aberdeen and 3-1 triumph at Ross County to go with the Kilmarnock thumping.

The Hoops will next play in the league against at home against Hearts on August 21, with the Old Firm derby against Rangers looming on September 3.

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis Photo

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.