With 13 wins from 14 games, Celtic are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Scottish Premiership, seven points clear of their nearest rivals. 

Despite a disappointing Champions League campaign, the Hoops have been almost flawless domestically with the only dropped points so far this season coming in a surprise 2-0 defeat at St Mirren in September.

A condensed schedule due to the World Cup, which has included Champions League ties, as well as League Cup duties, could have seen Ange Postecoglou’s side come unstuck on more occasions in the opening few months of the season.

However their league form has remained impressive and they have picked up 39 points from a possible 42, 10 more than at this same stage last season.

Celtic Way:

 

In the early weeks of the season, Celtic were sweeping league opponents aside with ease, culminating in the 9-0 annihilation of Dundee United at Tannadice in August that was followed by a 4-0 derby demolition one week later.

They kept five clean sheets in those first six games of the season but, even as the fixtures started to pile and opponents were able to find a way past Joe Hart, Celtic were able to ensure the league wins still kept piling up too thanks to an unwavering resilience in the face of adversity.

‘We never stop’ was the motto of last season’s success and, based on further evidence to date, this Celtic side shows no signs of dropping that as their tagline anytime soon.

Celtic Way:

With just two minutes left of normal time at Parkhead, Dundee United midfielder Dylan Levitt’s floated cross found its way into the back of Hart’s goal to make it 2-2.

Less than five minutes later, Celtic had secured a 4-2 victory that opened up a seven-point gap at the top of the league.

Stoppage-time strikes from Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada in Saturday’s dramatic win, as well as Daizen Maeda's in the 2-1 Fir Park win on Wednesday night, made it 15 goals scored in the last 15 minutes of games so far this season, more than any other team in the league.

Late goals at Ross County secured a 3-1 win in August, Giakoumakis netted an injury-time winner at St Johnstone last month and then Greg Taylor got in on the late show act with the seventh goal at Tynecastle in a 4-3 win, bundling home with just 14 minutes left on the clock. 

But it’s just not how late in games that Celtic score that has been crucial to building a healthy lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership, it’s how quickly they have been able to respond when they concede.

Postecoglou highlighted this enduring resistance after the 4-2 win over United when he said: “They just refuse to yield, there is no lost cause.”

The best example of this from last season was of course the League Cup final in December when Kyogo levelled within a minute of Paul Hanlon giving Hibernian the lead early in the second half.

That quick reply paved the way for a 2-1 triumph that would land the first piece of silverware of the Postecoglou era.

Excluding the two goals at St Mirren and last night's Motherwell goal at Fir Park, where on both occasions the opposition got on the scoresheet last in the game, and also between Hearts' first and second goals last month (the only other time this season, other than the trip to Paisley, that Celtic have conceded twice without reply in the league) highlights this immediacy of response that has become a trademark of the Aussie manager’s Celtic.

Celtic Way:

Looking at the eight games in which they have conceded in the Scottish Premiership this season - excluding the St Mirren and Motherwell games where both teams got on the scoresheet last, as well as Hearts' between Hearts' first and second goals last month (the only other time this season, other than the trip to Paisley, that Celtic have conceded twice without reply in the league - highlights further this immediacy of response that has become a trademark of the Aussie manager’s side.

 

Across those eight goals, the average time until the Celtic’s next attempt after conceding was just over two and a half minutes while the average time until they got on the scoresheet was less than 13 minutes.

On three occasions - Saturday’s win, the 6-1 victory over Hibs and at St Johnstone - they scored within just five minutes of conceding.

They have also responded within 11 minutes on another two occasions, after the second and third Hearts’ goals in the 4-3 win at Tynecastle.  

You would always expect Celtic to have the ability to hit back at any domestic opponent when required, given the talent within the squad.

Yet the speed of their response when they have conceded this season, one game aside, has been emphatic, often quickly extinguishing any hopes their opponents have of causing a shock in a matter of minutes.

As Postecoglou summed up himself recently: "I'm pretty sure people realise now it's not by chance. I did say from the first day that we would be a team that doesn't stop and the players have shown that.

“They don't lose their composure, even though we have conceded with four or five minutes to go. They are well aware of what we can do during that time because we have done it so often."

Pulling off a few more of those counter-punches that we have become accustomed to seeing under Postecoglou could well go a long way to Celtic eventually landing the knockout blow in this season’s Premiership title fight.

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