Celtic continued their march towards a fourth straight league title with an emphatic 4-0 victory over St Johnstone at Parkhead in their last outing of 2024 on Sunday.
The Hoops end the calendar year with a bang and are now a whopping 14 points clear of Rangers in second place ahead of their Old Firm clash with their city rivals on Thursday.
Brendan Rodgers will surely have been delighted with the dominant nature of his side’s performance on Sunday, taking 30 shots and creating six ‘big chances’ – scoring four.
The defence, which was much-changed with Alistair Johnston and Alex Valle coming in, also kept the away side at bay, restricting them to one shot and zero ‘big chances’ created, which meant that Kasper Schmeichel had yet another quiet afternoon in Glasgow.
It was a thoroughly deserved three points and the confidence should be high heading into the game against Rangers at Ibrox in the first match of 2025.
One player who should be full of confidence for that all-Glasgow clash should be central midfielder Paulo Bernardo, who put in an excellent display against St Johnstone.
Paulo Bernardo's performance against St Johnstone
The Portuguese maestro was given another chance to impress by Rodgers despite his struggles against Motherwell in the previous Scottish Premiership outing.
Bernardo had lost seven of his eight duels and failed to take a shot on goal or create a ‘big chance’ for the team in his time on the pitch in that 4-0 win for the Hoops.
The summer signing from Benfica was given an opportunity to make up for that performance by bouncing straight back with a strong display against St Johnstone, which is exactly what he did.
Bernardo won three of his six duels and made two tackles and two interceptions, without being dribbled past once, which illustrates how much his defensive work improved from the Motherwell game to Sunday’s clash.
There was also an improvement from the midfield whiz, who was on loan at Parkhead in the 2023/24 campaign, with his work in possession for the Scottish giants.
Minutes
90
Key passes
2
Big chances created
1
Pass accuracy
87%
Shots
3
As you can see in the table above, Bernardo created two chances for his teammates and troubled the opposition’s goal with three efforts of his own.
One of his shots led to Kyogo Furuhashi’s first goal, as the midfielder’s close-range effort was parried to the striker, and one of his key passes assisted Daizen Maeda’s goal, with a sublime through ball between the lines to send the Japan international through.
There was one Celtic player, however, who may be looking over his shoulder in the January transfer window, as his performances have been lacklustre – Hyun-jun Yang.
Why Hyun-jun Yang should be moved on
The South Korean winger was given another chance to shine after winning a penalty in the 4-0 win over Motherwell, but struggled to stamp his mark on the match.
Yang was the only member of the starting set of midfielders and forwards to end the match without a goal or an assist, as Bernardo, Reo Hatate, and Arne Engels all registered assists, and Kyogo and Nicolas Kuhn both scored.
The young forward did not register any shots on goal and failed with five of his eight attempted dribbles, losing possession 19 times in total, which shows that he struggled to make a real impact in the final third.
A lack of end product has been an issue throughout his time in Glasgow so far. Despite reportedly earning more (£6k-per-week) than Bernardo (£5.8k-per-week) – per Salary Sport – he has produced far less in front of goal.
Appearances
33
39
Goals
1
5
Big chances missed
6
7
Big chances created
7
9
Assists
3
6
As you can see in the table above, the Portuguese star, who is the same age as Yang (22), has offered far more to the team at the top end of the pitch, despite playing in a midfield position, rather than out wide.
The South Korean winger has, quite simply, not produced much in the way of quality in the final third in the Premiership, with four direct goal contributions in 33 matches.
At the age of 22, there is no need for Celtic to write him off and cash in. However, a loan move to another club where he can go and play regularly and hone his skills before returning to Parkhead to compete for a spot in the team for the 2025/26 campaign.
Yang could benefit from going, perhaps to another team in the Premiership or to another side in Europe, out on loan to find some consistency in his performances, rather than dipping in and out of the Hoops team throughout the season.
Sending the South Korean talent out on loan would also free up a space in the squad for the Scottish giants to bring in a new player to bolster the squad.
What Celtic could do out wide in January
It was recently reported that Rodgers would like to bring in a left winger to improve his options ahead of the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.
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The job for the recruitment team is to, then, find suitable options to come in and provide an upgrade on Yang, who could then be brutally binned from the squad to go out on loan in January.
Celtic are reportedly interested in Sarpsborg forward Sondre Orjasaeter and the Norway U21 international could come in to provide more quality at the top end of the pitch.
Appearances
28
Goals
5
Big chances missed
5
Assists
5
Big chances created
12
Dribbles completed per game
2.4
As you can see in the table above, the 21-year-old ace could offer more as both a scorer and a creator of goals than Yang, if his form translates to Scottish football.
Whether it is Orjasaeter or another signing, bringing in a new forward in January would mean that Celtic could bin the South Korean youngster, who could benefit from going out on loan.
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