Brendan Rodgers was encouraged by Arne Engels' debut after he scored from the penalty spot to continue Celtic's perfect start to the Scottish Premiership season with a 2-0 victory over Hearts. 

After dominating the opening exchanges, the hosts were offered the chance to take the lead from 12 yards early in the second half. 

Nicolas Kuhn's cross was blocked by the hand of James Penrice, with Engels making no mistake from the spot to net his first Celtic goal since his switch from Augsburg. 

Luke McCowan confirmed the triumph in the 89th minute, also scoring his first goal for the club, with Rodgers pleased with the pair, but showering particular praise on Engels.

"He's here playing in the eight position," Rodgers said. "He's here with legs and energy and power, he should be able to score goals for us. A good performance from him."

But the encounter could have taken on a much different complexion after the visitors were awarded a penalty of their own in the first half. 

Lawrence Shankland's header came off Liam Scales' arm, only for VAR to overturn the decision, and Rodgers believed the right call was eventually made.

"When the referee gives it, it’s always going to be looked at," Rodgers said.

"The ball hits Liam Scales up towards the shoulder on that sleeve part and that’s not a penalty. By the rule, the officials were correct."

Rodgers' side are top of the table with 15 points, ahead of Aberdeen on goal difference, and return to Champions League action on Wednesday when they welcome Slovan Bratislava to Celtic Park in their opening match of the competition. 

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers hailed the “excellent” Kyogo Furuhashi after the recalled striker scored and provided an assist in a 3-1 win over St Johnstone.

The Japanese forward also had two goals disallowed for offside as Celtic moved back to the top of the cinch Premiership, at least until Rangers face Dundee at Dens Park on Sunday.

Furuhashi has been unable to replicate the prolific form he showed under Ange Postecoglou last season but was back in the team following three consecutive substitute appearances and took his tally to 16 this term.

He headed home a 40th-minute opener after beating goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to Nicolas Kuhn’s cross and then set up the German winger to score in the opening minute of the second half. He also hit the crossbar and generally looked to be at peak sharpness.

“Adam (Idah) has been very good when he came in and that is what Kyogo and every player needs,” Rodgers said. “They need competition.

“But I thought he was bright, his movement was good. Sharp.

“He was very brave at the first goal. He makes a run and comes back onside and obviously some strikers would maybe move their head out of the way with the keeper coming through but he didn’t and he scored the goal.

“And it was a great cross for the second one. He was excellent.”

Kuhn netted his second goal for Celtic and continued to impress following a fruitful first start at Parkhead against Livingston last weekend.

“I think you are starting to see a little bit of why we brought him here,” Rodgers said. “He’s very quick.

“It was just hard for him when he came in, struggling with his teeth and everything medically. But he has shown now that he has his strength back up and he’s training really well.

“He obviously puts in a great cross for the first goal and you see his speed for the second one.

“We always want our wingers to get in the box. He got himself in there and scored a fantastic goal.”

Substitute James Forrest added a third and Alistair Johnston was denied a goal by a marginal offside call after Connor Smith had pulled one back for Saints, after Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers had gone off for a rest.

Rodgers said: “I thought from the start of the game there was a great feeling in the stadium and from the crowd.

“The players started the game well and I thought overall it was a very good performance.

“The only downside was when I made all the changes our pressing went a little bit passive and that gave them a little bit more time on the ball than we would have wanted.”

Saints manager Craig Levein admitted his side could not produce the complete display they needed to get another result at Celtic Park, having drawn in August.

“Our defensive display was really good,” Levein said. “Losing the goal early in the second half was a killer blow but in the first half we restricted Celtic to very few opportunities.

“When we had the ball we just coughed it up every time. It seemed to be constant that we turned the ball over and invited Celtic to have another attack. That was the frustrating part.

“It was about half-an-hour until Celtic had their first shot on target. We restricted them to the wide areas and managed to block any shots and crosses.

“But if you continually give the ball away to a team as good as Celtic, you’re going to be facing attack after attack.”

Levein lost midfielder Sven Sprangler to a knee injury midway through the first half.

“It looks like Sprangler has opened his medial ligament,” he said. “I’ve no idea if he will be out for weeks or months.”

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.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers called on his players to focus on the football and ease the dissent among fans with results after a 1-1 draw at Aberdeen exacerbated the concerns of the Hoops support.

Celtic ran out to chants of “sack the board” from the visiting fans and a banner reading “Celtic board, on your heads be it”.

Supporters were unhappy with a transfer window that saw Nicolas Kuhn and on-loan Norwich forward Adam Idah arrive and the likes of David Turnbull and Mikey Johnston depart.

Kuhn netted Celtic’s equaliser in the 63rd minute, four minutes after coming off the bench, but many supporters believe the failure to further strengthen the squad has risked their cinch Premiership title defence and they resumed their chants of dissent after the game.

The name “Lawwell” was central to the noise, after the influence of chairman Peter Lawwell and the record of his son, head of recruitment Mark Lawwell, came under scrutiny in recent days.

Rodgers had called for unity ahead of the game and he said afterwards: “I can only concentrate with the players on what we do on the field.

“You always find that winning games and performing well can ease those situations, and that’s what we aim to do.

“Supporters pay their money, they have every right to say what they want to say.

“For us it’s the field, we can only control that. If we can do that, then we will be okay.”

Rodgers, who felt his side lacked aggression in the second half, agreed it was “very important” not to let the complaints become a distraction to his players.

Although the fans were chanting against the board before and after the game, they applauded the players and manager after the final whistle and supported throughout.

“Whatever goes on outside of the field, you have to be able to deal with that,” he added.

“At a club like Celtic, and the biggest clubs, there will always be that pressure there. I don’t need to add any more pressure to the players. They understand, playing here.

“My job is to give them the confidence to find the results we need to find. But there’s still so many games and a long, long way to go.”

Aberdeen did not manage a single effort at goal in the first half but Bojan Miovski netted on the counter-attack in the 50th minute and the Dons had several opportunities to win the game in a strong second-half showing.

Caretaker manager Peter Leven revealed his simple message to his players at half-time: “Relax.”

He added: “Celtic are a good team, they are going to pin you back but when we turned possession over, we just needed to make a few more passes.

“We knew Celtic were going to press the first five seconds. I just said ‘believe in yourselves, be a bit more braver on the ball’. And I think you could see that in the second half.

“We had a few chances in the second half. The boys ran well second half, pressed them, passed the ball a lot better. It was just about belief.”

Aberdeen players were incensed that referee Steven McLean did not send off Maik Nawrocki after the defender fouled Miovski while already on a yellow card but Leven did not make much of the incident.

“I never saw it again,” the first-team coach said. “The second yellow card never happened but it’s one of these things the referee has got to deal with.”

Nicolas Kuhn scored his first goal for Celtic but pre-match dissent from the visiting supporters at Pittodrie was amplified as a strong second-half performance from Aberdeen earned the hosts a point.

Celtic ran out to chants of “sack the board” and a banner which read “Celtic board, on your heads be it” as the fans expressed their displeasure over the club’s transfer window business.

Their team had a goal disallowed and hit the bar twice in a one-sided first half but Bojan Miovski gave Aberdeen the lead with their first effort at goal in the 50th minute and his 19th goal of the season.

German winger Kuhn levelled in the 64th minute in his second appearance for Celtic but the game remained in the balance and the 1-1 draw ended a run of six consecutive wins for the cinch Premiership leaders since they lost back-to-back games in December.

Aberdeen had first-team coach Peter Leven in charge following the sacking of manager Barry Robson and he handed a first start to the club’s sole January signing, on-loan Crystal Palace midfielder Killian Phillips.

Celtic had both of their new signings, German winger Kuhn and on-loan Norwich forward Adam Idah, on the bench as Maik Nawrocki replaced the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers.

The defender’s ball over the top earned Celtic their first real chance and Luis Palma was celebrating after converting the rebound from Liel Abada’s saved effort. The Honduran winger was clearly offside though, however it took the VAR team several minutes to disallow the goal.

Celtic continued to create a steady stream of first-half chances. Kelle Roos saved comfortably from Palma and Abada and the former missed a great opportunity after Alistair Johnston’s cross found him in space on the corner of the six-yard box. His shot hit the top of the bar and went over.

Paulo Bernardo lobbed a delicate effort over a crowded goalmouth and off the top of the bar as Celtic continued to dominate. They had 13 first-half shots at goal, but only three on target with Matt O’Riley and Alexandro Bernabei off target just before the break.

Aberdeen had barely managed to get the ball in the final third but they re-emerged from the interval with a new-found vigour and quickly turned defence into attack when a Celtic move up the left broke down.

Dante Polvara’s forward pass set Miovski up to run at Nawrocki and the striker shifted the ball inside before curling home from 18 yards.

The game was transformed. Aberdeen threatened from a series of set-pieces with Celtic blocking several shots and Phillips almost made himself an instant hero with an audacious 45-yard chip which had Joe Hart beaten but just drifted off target.

It was another recent signing that was soon celebrating though. Kuhn and Idah came on along with Anthony Ralston in the 59th minute and the winger soon made his mark as he cut in from the right, played a one-two and then got the ball back from Idah before shooting in off Nicky Devlin.

Both teams went all out to get ahead. O’Riley saw a deflected effort hit the outside of the post and Hart saved from Connor Barron after Nawrocki’s poor clearance.

The offside flag went up after good chances at either end and Graeme Shinnie looked all set to score only to hit Hart with his shot. Leighton Clarkson looked offside from Shinnie’s header before he got the ball back.

Miovski was definitely offside when he beat Hart to Clarkson’s low cross and knocked the ball into the net from close range.

Celtic finished strongly but Roos came off his line to foil O’Riley and substitute Stephen Welsh headed over with the last action of the game before the away supporters resumed chants against the board while applauding the players.

Celtic new boy Nicolas Kuhn believes Parkhead is the perfect place to achieve his ambitions at club and country level.

The 24-year-old attacker, who signed a five-and-a-half-year deal from Rapid Vienna on Tuesday, played at youth level for Germany up until under-20s and was in the academy teams of RB Leipzig and Ajax before joining Bayern Munich in 2020 following an initial loan move.

Kuhn did not quite make the breakthrough at those European giants before moving to Austria in 2022 but is now looking to kick on, with Champions League football and a senior call-up for Germany in his sights.

Speaking at Celtic Park, he said: “Of course they (Ajax and Bayern) were big clubs. I learned a lot, it was a good school.

“There were a lot of players who had a good career and who made big steps to big clubs so I learned a lot and now I want to show what I can do here.

“At Ajax I played with the whole squad that got to the semi-finals of the Champions League (2019), I trained the whole year with the first team.

“At Bayern I played with players like (Robert) Lewandowski and (Joshua) Kimmich and all the guys you know.

“I think at Ajax I did really good in the youths. When I first arrived, we won the second league with the second team. I trained the whole time with the first team. In the youth league, I was the top scorer and I deserved a chance.

“But then I made the move to Bayern. After the first season, we were also champions with the second team in the third league in Germany.

“Then there were some private problems so I made a step back.

“People were looking at where I was playing but for me it was a good step. So I can take two steps forward now.

“I’ve improved a lot, I think. I’ve now played regularly and I’ve stayed fit. That’s the most important thing. Now I can show what I’m able to do.

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“When I was at Erzgebirge Aue for one year on loan, I said I wanted to play in the Champions League and for the national team.

“Now I’ve made a big step to a big club. So, of course, in the future, I want to play for the national team as well.”

Kuhn had interest from other clubs but insists the call from Celtic and a chat with boss Brendan Rodgers made up his mind to make the move to Glasgow.

He said: “We had some really good meetings, we talked a lot and he told me what a great and big club this is although I knew about Celtic before and I also saw some games.

“He convinced me to come here and everything he told me was really nice and I had the first training session today.

“It was clear at the moment Celtic called and showed interest that I wanted to come here.

“There was some interest from other clubs but the moment I received the message I didn’t think about going somewhere else.”

Celtic have signed winger Nicolas Kuhn from Rapid Vienna for an undisclosed fee.

The 24-year-old has signed a five-and-a-half-year deal at Parkhead.

Manager Brendan Rodgers told the club’s website: “We are delighted to welcome Nicolas to Celtic. We believe he is a dynamic player who has an excellent level of quality and all the attributes to fit well into our style of play.

“He has a real attacking intent, a player with great pace and ideas, the ability to create and score goals and a player with a great energy and work ethic.

“He is someone who can play wide on both sides so he brings with him that versatility for us too.”

Kuhn added: “I’m really excited and I can’t wait to play out here. It’s unbelievable and I don’t really have words. This is what every footballer dreams of.

“I can play on the left, as a second striker or as a number 10. Most of the time, though, I have played on the right wing.

“I am really motivated to do well for this great club and I want to get working immediately as we face our challenges in the league and the cup this year, so I’m really excited for what’s coming.”