Recalled forward Kyogo Furuhashi scored one and set up another as Celtic went back to the top of the cinch Premiership with a 3-1 victory over St Johnstone.

Celtic took time to break Saints down despite dominating possession and territory, but they went on to create a steady stream of chances before Furuhashi headed the opener in the 40th minute.

Wingers Nicolas Kuhn and James Forrest netted in the second half against a side who enjoyed a goalless draw at Parkhead early in the season.

The only down side for Celtic was the failure to boost their goal difference, not helped by having three goals disallowed for offside, two of them marginal, and losing a late goal as substitute Connor Smith got off the mark for St Johnstone.

Brendan Rodgers’ side had missed the chance to move top of the table when losing to Hearts in their previous league game and this spell at the summit might only last until Rangers face Dundee at Dens Park on Sunday.

But the Celtic manager will have been pleased with the tempo and creativity shown by his side.

Furuhashi was in for Adam Idah after starting the previous three games on the bench, while Cameron Carter-Vickers recovered from a hamstring issue to replace the injured Liam Scales.

Adama Sidibeh had one long-range effort blocked as the Perth side frustrated Celtic for the opening quarter, but it was clear the St Johnstone striker was in for a lonely afternoon.

The visitors lost midfielder Sven Sprangler to injury with winger Max Kucheriavyi coming on, and Celtic began to wear their visitors down with their first real threats coming from a Matt O’Riley corner.

Luke Robinson twice blocked from Daizen Maeda on the line, the second time sparking a VAR check after the ball hit his upper arm. But referee Euan Anderson was not called to his screen by video assistant Chris Graham.

Kuhn soon played in Furuhashi over the top but the striker shot over with his right foot under pressure from Ryan McGowan.

Robinson produced his third goal-line clearance to deny Tomoki Iwata following another O’Riley corner.

Furuhashi was getting closer, seeing a goal disallowed for a marginal offside call after he steered home Paulo Bernardo’s cross and then getting in behind again only to see his shot deflected over.

Iwata was denied by Dimitar Mitov’s flying save before Celtic made their pressure count. Furuhashi was quick off the mark to beat Mitov to Kuhn’s inswinging cross and head home from four yards.

The goalscorer continued to threaten, stabbing Alistair Johnston’s low cross just wide and then having another goal disallowed for an offside against Maeda.

He turned provider in the opening minute of the second half, darting beyond the Saints defence to latch onto Greg Taylor’s perfect pass and send in a low cross. Kuhn showed good anticipation to net from six yards.

The Japanese striker soon fired a right-footed effort off the underside of the crossbar after being fed by O’Riley.

O’Riley saw an ambitious free-kick tipped over by Mitov before setting up the third goal midway through the second half.

Iwata won the ball back deep in the Saints half and O’Riley quickly spotted Forrest in space. The winger took a touch and rifled a left-footed strike into the corner of the net from 18 yards.

Saints got their goal in the 81st minute. Goalkeeper Joe Hart produced an excellent stop from Stevie May’s header and Smith was on hand to net the rebound.

Johnston soon lashed the ball into the roof of the net following a one-two but the flag went up and the decision was ratified after a lengthy VAR check.

Celtic could have given the scoreline a truer reflection of the game in stoppage time but Mitov saved well from Taylor and Iwata headed over from three yards.

James Forrest is determined to continue chipping in with goals for Celtic after scoring in the Scottish top flight for a 15th consecutive season.

The 32-year-old winger first netted on his Hoops debut against Motherwell near the end of the 2009/10 campaign, shortly after Neil Lennon had taken over from Tony Mowbray.

Having kept up his run of scoring through each campaign under Lennon, Ronny Deila, the first spell of Brendan Rodgers, the second stint of Lennon and Ange Postecoglou, Forrest headed in his first goal of Rodgers’ second spell in charge to seal Saturday’s 3-0 win over 10-man Ross County in Dingwall.

“I think it’s only my fourth header but maybe one of the easier ones,” he said. “I’ve had a few chances lately and not managed to take them, so I didn’t think it was easy when it was coming across.

“It’s amazing to reach another milestone. I think you appreciate these things even more when you get older. Still playing here and trying to contributing is what I have got to keep doing.

“I’d like to keep it going. It’s hard to look too far in advance when the club has such a strong squad and is always signing good players every season.

“I still really enjoy it and getting milestones like this make it all worthwhile. Hopefully there’s more to come.”

One-club man Forrest has found playing time harder to come by for Celtic in recent seasons but he remains contracted to his boyhood team until 2025. He is comfortable with his role as a more peripheral player within the squad.

“It’s been this way since I came through,” he said of the competition to get in the team. “Every year we are signing attackers, so it’s no different now.

“Obviously I’m getting older but the manager came in and I had a good pre-season.

“I want to contribute when I get the chance. A few of the other lads have come in recently and taken their chances when the manager’s rotated it, so that’s good.”

Celtic’s victory, which also included goals from David Turnbull and Luis Palma, extended their lead at the top of the cinch Premiership to eight points, albeit having played a game more than nearest challengers Rangers.

The Hoops’ next match is away to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday as they bid to add to their solitary point so far and keep alive their fading hopes of progressing in Europe beyond Christmas.

“It will be difficult but the boys can take confidence from the home game (a 2-2 draw with Atletico),” said Forrest. “We went toe to toe with them. It will be a tough game but we can take confidence from some good performances this season.”

Ross County boss Malky Mackay was heartened that his side did not capitulate and suffer an embarrassing loss after having James Brown sent off just eight minutes in.

The 10-man Staggies held firm until first-half stoppage time and then managed to keep their deficit at 1-0 until the 78th minute.

“Going down to 10 men against Celtic, it becomes dangerous because you can be hurt just through naturally the way the game can go – nothing to do with our players, just through the fact tiredness kicks in and they’re playing like the Red Arrows in terms of their movement.

“Near the end of the game, three or four can become six or seven and teams have fallen to that. You saw it a couple of years ago with Dundee United at 9-0. That can really damage clubs and managers.

“If they’re playing well and you have 10 and your tactics are wrong and you’re not playing well, it can be eight or nine so the fact we were structured, organised, tough, resilient and didn’t let it get to that will stand us in good stead. It’s not Celtic and Rangers my fight is against.”

Celtic will take a 2-0 lead into the second leg of their Europa League play-off tie with AZ thanks to goals from Kyogo Furuhashi and James Forrest at Celtic Park.

The Scottish side eased to a 7-2 aggregate win against Jablonec in the third qualifying round, having seen their Champions League qualifying hopes dashed by Midtjylland, and were good value for their victory in Glasgow on Wednesday.

Furuhashi fired the hosts in front with 12 minutes played and teed up Forrest for Celtic's second with just over an hour on the clock, leaving the hosts in a commanding position ahead of the return game in Alkmaar next Thursday.

AZ entered the competition at this stage by virtue of finishing third in the Eredivisie last season and the Dutch side, who have lost some key players since the end of the previous campaign, started the first leg strongly.

Zakaria Aboukhlal had a penalty appeal turned down in the opening few minutes and Joe Hart then produced a superb save with his toes to help Vangelis Pavlidis' shot onto the post.

But Furuhashi helped settle any Celtic nerves with his sixth goal in six games since joining, the Japan international athletically prodding the ball home after being picked out at the back post by David Turnbull.

Forest had a shot well kept out by Hobie Verhulst as Ange Postecoglou's side pushed for a second, though they were given a warning at the other end when Aboukhlal forced Hart into another save.

Shortly after Thijs Oosting had wasted a glorious chance for AZ by firing over from 10 yards, Celtic scored a potentially vital second goal through Forrest's shot on the turn, which took a wicked deflection off Timo Letschert on its way through.

Substitute Odsonne Edouard was twice denied by Verhulst in quick succession late on, but Celtic did at least keep out the opposition at the other end for an all-important clean sheet as they made it five wins in a row for Postecoglou.

David Turnbull's double helped Celtic secure a safe passage through to the Europa League play-off round as the Scottish side saw off Jablonec 7-2 on aggregate.

Celtic, playing in front of a full house at Celtic Park for the first time since March 2020, held a healthy lead from the first leg and had little trouble seeing the job through.

Scotland international Turnbull opened the scoring in Glasgow with 25 minutes played and doubled his tally 10 minutes into the second period with a fine finish.

James Forrest tapped in a third to make it 3-0 on the day to Celtic, who will now face AZ over two legs for a place in the group stage of the competition.

Ange Postecoglou's side were on top from the off and thought they had taken the lead inside 14 minutes, only for Kyogo Furuhashi to be flagged for a marginal offside call.

The home side's pressure told soon after when Greg Taylor played in Turnbull and the midfielder poked the ball past Jan Hanus with the outside of his boot.

Despite a drop off in tempo, Celtic remained in complete control and went further in front thanks to Turnbull's shot from outside the box that Hanus could not get down to.

Joe Hart twice made saves as Jablonec finally gave the home keeper something to do, but the final goal of the one-sided tie went Celtic's way.

Forrest was on hand to slide in and convert after Odsonne Edouard, brought on as a second-half substitute for the third game running, had a shot well saved.

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