St Johnstone 0 Celtic 6
James Forrest helped himself to four first-half goals as commanding Celtic crushed St Johnstone 6-0 in their Ladbrokes Premiership clash at McDiarmid Park.
The Scotland winger was sent off in the 3-1 Europa League defeat by Salzburg on Thursday night but more than made amends with a sparkling display as the rampant Hoops ominously moved to within three points of leaders Hearts.
The 27-year-old became the first Celtic player to score four goals in an away match since Maciej Zurawski in an 8-1 win at Dunfermline in February 2006.
Striker Odsonne Edouard and midfielder Callum McGregor were also on the scoresheet against a sorry Saints side who played most of the second half with 10 men. Midfielder Danny Swanson was shown a straight red card by referee Kevin Clancy in the 47th minute for taking out Forrest as he broke forward.
It was the perfect response from Celtic following the European disappointment in Austria. With Hearts losing 3-1 to Rangers at Ibrox earlier in the day, the champions are poised to make their move for top spot after the international break.
The home side actually started the game with promise.
Swanson came close to opening the scoring in the sixth minute when his half-volley from a Blair Alston cross was beaten away to safety by Craig Gordon.
Moments later, the Hoops keeper gathered a free header by Saints skipper Joe Shaughnessy, following a cross from Drey Wright.
Celtic woke up and went to work with impressive zeal.
Home keeper Zander Clark made saves from Forrest, Filip Benkovic and Leigh Griffiths before he was eventually beaten.
In the 15th minute Forrest took advantage of a Scott Tanser slip on the touchline to start a move which ended with him firing high into the St Johnstone net from 12 yards after Clark had parried from Edouard.
The champions were operating at full throttle.
Clark saved further efforts from Griffiths and Edouard but in the 22nd minute Hoops left-back Kieran Tierney set up the French striker to rifle a left-footed drive from 16 yards low into the far corner of the net.
The overworked Clark saved a Griffiths free-kick from 25 yards, but on the half-hour mark Forrest and Tom Rogic worked a one-two at the edge of the box before the Scotland player slotted in the third.
In the 37th minute, Australian midfielder Rogic set up Forrest for the former Celtic youth player to slot low past Clark. Forrest was then equally as composed with his finish from inside the box again a minute from the break after he ran 30 yards almost unopposed.
Saints’ veteran defender Steven Anderson replaced Richard Foster before the interval but frustrations boiled over early in the second half when Swanson walked for crudely stopping Forrest in full flow.
Clark was kept busy, thwarting Olivier Ntcham, as the visitors continued pressing.
Scott Sinclair and Jozo Simunovic replaced Griffiths and Benkovic on the hour mark and with six minutes remaining McGregor tapped in a Mikael Lustig cut-back to make it 6-0 and there was no mistaking the marker put down to their league challengers.
Rangers 3 Hearts 1
Earlier, Rangers showed they are not ready to give up the title race just yet as they killed off Hearts’ unbeaten league start with a 3-1 triumph at Ibrox.
After spilling 10 points in their first seven games, boss Steven Gerrard had warned the Light Blues they could forget about a championship challenge if they lost to the leaders.
But they fired themselves back into the chasing pack with a ruthless first-half display that saw Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos and Scott Arfield strike.
Hearts had kicked-off the campaign with six wins and a draw — but Rangers made easier work of Craig Levein’s men than they could possibly have expected.
On-loan Burnley defender Jimmy Dunne did head the visitors a consolation effort but they were already a man light by that point after seeing Michael Smith sent off early in the second period.
Rangers may only climb one place but they trim the deficit on Hearts to five points, leaving the Jambos with a lead of just two on city rivals Hibernian.
Gerrard went with the same starting line-up that recorded an impressive Europa League win over Rapid Vienna on Thursday while the visitors welcomed frontman Uche Ikpeazu back from injury.
But it was the hosts who picked up where they left off against the Austrians as they grabbed the opener within two minutes.
Peter Haring flattened Kent outside the box but while the Hearts backline stepped up as James Tavernier swung in the free-kick, Ikpeazu stayed deep playing Morelos onside.
Hearts appealed in vain but linesman Frankie Connor left his flag down as the Colombian unselfishly squared to Kent to slot past the exposed Zdenek Zlamal.
Levein’s men were furious but their mood did not improve as Rangers number one Allan McGregor pulled off two crucial blocks to deny Steven Naismith then Ikpeazu a swift reply.
Zlamal was also on his toes to deny Jon Flanagan but there was no rescuing Hearts in the 12th minute as Rangers doubled their lead.
Daniel Candeias robbed Demetri Mitchell and wasted no time rolling the ball across goal for Morelos to net with a cheeky back-heel flick.
It was a full-blooded contest with neither side shying away from a meaty challenge.
Ikpeazu threw his considerable weight about as he bounced Connor Goldson to the floor before bulldozing half the length of the pitch with Lassana Coulibaly at his tail.
As he looked to turn inside, the Mali international nicked possession but referee John Beaton saw nothing wrong with the tackle despite the Hearts striker’s appeals for a penalty.
Instead of finding a lifeline, it was game over after 32 minutes.
Tavernier’s cross from deep looked to be heading out but Morelos refused to give up the chase, craning his neck as he headed down for Arfield to slot home.
Some Jambos fans headed straight for the exit and those who remained behind saw their side reduced to 10 men nine minutes into the second period.
Smith had been booked early for a foul on Ovie Ejaria and collected his second with a body check on Flanagan.
Dunne got Hearts on the scoresheet in the 67th minute as he rose to nod home from an Olly Lee free-kick but the damage was already done.
Goldson almost gave his side a nervy finish when he gifted possession away but McGregor came up with a vital stop to deny Arnaud Djoum.
