For the third time in a week, Celtic restored their nine-point lead at the top of the SPFL Premiership.
St Johnstone were the victims on this occasion, succumbing 4-1 to Ange Postecoglou's clinical, coherent champions.
Reo Hatate - featuring at right-back in the absence of Anthony Ralston - helped himself to a double with compatriot Kyogo Furuhashi also bagging a brace. Drey Wright scored a consolation goal for the Saints.
Postecoglou made three changes from the team that defeated Livingston 2-1 in midweek. Aaron Mooy, James Forrest and Daizen Maeda came in for Ralston, Liel Abada and Jota.
Here, The Celtic Way highlights key StatsBomb data from the match in Paradise to give you a match report experience like no other...
xG/trendline
Three of Celtic's four goals were in the first half but they actually created marginally more chances after the break.
In terms of xG, their final cumulative total of 3.63 was split almost in half between the two halves reinforcing a true 90-minute performance even if the goals stopped in the 52nd minute.
Kyogo's second goal was statistically the 'best' chance of the game at 0.54 xG, with Wright's consolation close behind at 0.52.
The final cumulative totals were 3.63-0.90 in favour of the Hoops, the champions' figure is their highest xG since the 3.81 they logged in the 2-1 win over Motherwell in October.
StatsBomb gave St Johnstone just a two per cent chance of winning the game based on the chances created by both sides, with a Celtic victory rated 92 per cent and a draw six.
Shots
After a season-record 33 shots against Aberdeen and 23 in the win over Livingston, Celtic could not quite reach the sheer volume of either in the Saints game - but the 20 they did get off were generally from much better locations.
Eighteen of their attempts were in the box with 13 in close, central areas. The same number were created from open play with the other two coming from corner kicks.
Saints keeper Remi Matthews made six saves during the game while three shots were blocked and seven missed the target.
St Johnstone took seven shots - four were in the box and three of those were in close, central areas. Five were created from open play with one coming from a corner, while Joe Hart pulled off two saves in the match.
For the second game running Kyogo was the most persistent shooter. He took four attempts on this occasion, scoring twice on an xG total of 1.07. Hatate and Giorgos Giakoumakis were next with three, alongside Saints forward Stevie May.
Possession, passing & positions
Celtic had 75 per cent possession, around the same rate as they enjoyed against Livingston in the last match. They completed significantly more passes than that game, though, with 786 of 864 attempts resulting in a 91 per cent success rate. Saints made exactly 200 passes from 287 attempts.
The pass network below gives a sense of where the game was played and who was most involved. The warmer the colour the more influential the player, while the thicker the passing lines the more passes between the players.
StatsBomb measures pass contributions in on-ball value (often referred to as OBV, a term breakdown can be read here).
Despite his attacking output, Hatate's average position was fairly deep - perhaps a reflection of right-back being an unfamiliar role for him. Kyogo provided a clear focal point throughout the game with most other Celtic players ranking highly for passing OBV; the intriguing exceptions being the two eights, Matt O'Riley and Aaron Mooy.
Callum McGregor was the game's key player in terms of OBV (0.38), followed by James Forrest (0.32) and then Hatate (0.25). Only Nicky Clark and Matthews emerged with a positive OBV rating from the Saints players.
As expected, St Johnstone's pass network is ice cold. Of note is the glaring space left between centre-backs Andy Considine and Liam Gordon, accentuated by the lack of midfield presence to close it and perhaps explaining the freedom the likes of McGregor and Hatate, when inverting, enjoyed during the game.
Dropped to the bench after two standout performances, it was Liel Abada who topped the key passes charts despite his half-hour or so outing. McGregor and Mooy matched the Israeli in number of key passes but not the accompanying xG value they carried.
O'Riley, Forrest, Mooy and McGregor all registered assists while Carl Starfelt had the most touches in the match with 287. He was also involved in each of the top three most common passing combinations.
Pressing and defending
Naturally given Celtic's level of dominance, the majority of St Johnstone' s pressure heatmap takes place at the edge of their own area.
The champions registered 135 total pressures, 11 fewer than their opponents, but did rack up more pressure regains (22 vs 19).
Individually, Maeda and O'Riley tied for most pressures match-wide with 22 apiece. Former Celt Graham Carey was top Saint with 21.
In terms of counter-pressing Kyogo and, impressively, second-half substitute Sead Haksabanovic were most persistent with six each. James Brown (four) was the only Saints player to clock more than two.
Maeda and O'Riley made notable contributions in the traditional defensive metrics too. The former racked up five tackles, an interception, a clearance and an aerial win while Denmark Under-21s cap O'Riley made four interceptions, two tackles, a clearance and an aerial win.
Elsewhere, McGregor (four interceptions, a tackle and an aerial win) and Starfelt (four interceptions, five clearances and five aerial wins) also stood out.
Read Tony Haggerty's detailed Celtic player ratings from the match here
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here