O’Riley departs but Celtic still cruise on

Life after Matt O’Riley began with Celtic not missing a beat, never mind their Brighton-bound playmaker. Just as they had in the first three domestic assignments for which the Denmark midfielder was available, Brendan Rodgers’ side made light work of befuddled opponents, their mix of pace, power and positional interchange sweeping them to victory amid the Paisley downpours.
Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate, O’Riley’s erstwhile midfield colleagues, each scored brilliantly taken goals while Paulo Bernardo brought energy and industry on his first start since rejoining the club.
Rodgers has already intimated his desire to bring in two further recruits in that department, but the former Benfica loanee can still expect to be given increased exposure this season.
Indeed, arguably the biggest priority for Celtic in the final week of the transfer window is avoiding any further big-name departures, as O’Riley finalises a move to the south coast which will bank the club an initial £26 million that could rise to £30m over time.
In particular, the Leicester-linked Hatate is surely indispensable on account of the verve and dynamism he brings to a side who sorely lacked those qualities in his lengthy injury absence last season. The Japanese can blow hot and cold, but the temperature of a Celtic midfield without both him and O’Riley would be distinctly lukewarm.
What this routine success also underlined was the importance of Kyogo Furuhashi, even though the striker only got the last half hour off the bench after recent shoulder trouble and amid links to Manchester City. Adam Idah did not impress on his own first start since making a permanent return — for all the Republic of Ireland man adds a different dimension to the Celtic attack, composure in the decision-making phase remains a work in progress.
Stephen Robinson, the St Mirren manager, gave a debut to Killian Phillips, the 22-year-old who joined on loan from Crystal Palace in midweek, while the captain Mark O’Hara returned to the heart of the midfield.
Any thought that the squally, rainswept conditions might inhibit the visitors’ crisp football was immediately dispelled as for the third time in as many games, they hit the front inside four minutes.
It was a virtual carbon-copy of the opener at Easter Road a fortnight ago, only this time it was James Forrest, not Nicolas Kühn, making headway down the right before cutting in and teeing up McGregor for the long-range hit.
The skipper took one touch to steady himself before depositing the ball into Ellery Balcombe’s bottom corner with a mighty swing of his left boot. The goalkeeper got a slight touch to it, but wasn’t keeping it out, especially as the ball splashed and skidded upon making contact with the surface.
Balcombe came to St Mirren’s rescue shortly after, producing an excellent double-save from Hatate then Idah, even if the striker might have been adjudged offside had the VAR Steven McLean been required.
Idah saw the whites of Balcombe’s eyes once more when Hatate hustled Jonah Ayunga out of possession in midfield before springing the target man over the top. Idah seemed caught in several minds and slid in a weak shot which the goalkeeper easily repelled.
Out of possession, Rodgers’ men were operating a 4-2-3-1 with Bernardo joining McGregor in the sort of double pivot which could make a reappearance when the Champions League rolls around. And for a time, St Mirren did see a decent amount of the ball, without ever posing anything like a direct threat to Kasper Schmeichel.
The hosts had steadied the ship, but it never took much to get it rocking again. There was a certain inevitability to a Celtic second and it came just after the half hour when Alistair Johnston fired over a deep cross from the right and Maeda’s cushioned header teed up Hatate for a first-time drive into the same corner McGregor had found, this time via the inside of the post.
There is bound to be a St Mirren inquest into how Maeda beat Shaun Rooney to the header, but the attacker is nothing if not resourceful. Maeda drew a smart block from Balcombe after picking Rooney’s pocket once more, the tussle prompting a brief VAR check to determine no foul had been committed by the defender in the process.
Maeda then turned provider, slipping in Idah with a lovely disguised pass, only for the striker to let himself down with a terrible first touch.
The second half was something of a non-event, St Mirren continuing to hang on by their fingertips as Celtic probed and pressed for more. Furuhashi and Kühn came on to provide fresh torment, the German claiming another assist to burnish his bright start to the season as he played in Johnston to sweep home. It was the Canadian’s third goal in Celtic colours, the first having come on this same ground last March.
It had been coming too. Furuhashi had left St Mirren’s offside trap for dead in customary fashion before bringing an excellent save out of Balcombe while Maeda ought to have done better than head meekly past when picked out by a Bernardo corner.
Hatate was spared the last couple of minutes as Francis Turley emerged for his competitive debut, the 18-year-old having impressed on the pre-season trip to the United States.
His introduction underlined just how comfortable the champions were again, but things are about to go up a gear with the season’s first derby and then the onset of the Champions League.
Having reduced every one of their Scottish opponents to irrelevant, bruised bystanders so far this season, Rodgers and his board still have plenty of work to do if Celtic are to avoid adopting the same mantle in Europe.
St Mirren (3-5-2): E Balcombe 7 — M Fraser 6, A Iacovitti 6, R Taylor 7 — S Rooney 5, K Phillips 6 (O Smyth 74min), A Gogic 5 (R Idowu 46, 6), M O’Hara 6, J Brown 6 — T Olusanya 5 (E Sutherland 87), J Ayunga 5 (M Mandron 46, 6). Booked Gogic.
Celtic (4-3-3): K Schmeichel 7 — A Johnston 7, C Carter-Vickers 7, L Scales 7, G Taylor 7 (A Ralston 75) — P Bernardo 7 (OT Holm 75), C McGregor 8, R Hatate 9 (F Turley 88) — J Forrest 7 (N Kühn 59, 7), A Idah 5 (K Furuhashi 59, 6), D Maeda 7. Booked Taylor.
Referee C Graham Attendance 6,948.