Ange Postecoglou praises Celtic for putting on five-goal show in heatwave

Ange Postecoglou hailed Celtic for putting on a show in difficult conditions after they recorded the biggest away victory of his reign.

Celtic navigated the heatwave and Rugby Park’s plastic pitch to thrash Kilmarnock 5-0 and go top of the cinch Premiership on goal difference above Rangers.

There was little doubt about the outcome after Kyogo Furuhashi finished off a penetrating move inside seven minutes and the points were wrapped up by half-time thanks to Jota’s 30-yard strike and Jenz Moritz’s acrobatic finish.

I thought the quality of our goals was excellent- Ange Postecoglou

Celtic rediscovered an extra gear after some second-half changes and substitutes Carl Starfelt and Giorgos Giakoumakis both netted, the latter with an overhead kick.

Postecoglou said: “We spoke about it before the game. It wasn’t the easiest of conditions for our boys to play football both in terms of the temperature and the pitch.

“To the players’ credit they kept their discipline and focus and committed to our style of football.

“There were plenty of excuses for us to just look at this game as ‘three points and get up the road’ but we still wanted to put on a performance and I was pleased that the players did.

“I thought the quality of our goals was excellent and the quality of our general play attacking-wise was good.”

Postecoglou admitted he enjoyed lapping up the post-match celebrations with the away fans.

“It looks like they have enjoyed themselves even prior to the game, and rightly so,” he said. “It’s always good because this is a game where it can turn into a bit of an ugly game, you win it and it’s not memorable in any way.

“But we don’t want to miss opportunities to give our fans some special moments and today was one of those days.