Five-star Celtic move to within one win of title

Celtic bounced back from a rare domestic defeat with a 5-1 thrashing of Kilmarnock on Saturday to close to within one win of a fourth consecutive Scottish Premiership title.

Brendan Rodgers was publicly critical of his side's mentality after they lost 1-0 to bottom-of-the-table St. Johnstone last weekend, which cost them the chance to seal the title on home soil.

Celtic responded by going 4-0 up inside 24 minutes as Reo Hatate struck twice either side of goals from Daizen Maeda and Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Daniel Armstrong pulled a goal back for relegation-threatened Killie before Anthony Ralston rounded off the scoring in stoppage time.

Ralston at the last! ⏱️

Sharp feet and a cool finish from the full-back wraps up a five-star performance in Paradise 🌟#CELKIL | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/RfH5Yxdw6G

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) April 12, 2025

Celtic could be crowned champions as early as Sunday should Rangers, who are 16 points adrift of the leaders, lose at Aberdeen.

"As unhappy as I was last week, I was really happy with that," said Rodgers. "I think we needed a reaction.

"Being a Celtic player and team is about the winning ambition and attitude and when you mix that with talent, you get what we saw, especially in that first-half."

Rodgers promised changes to the squad at the end of the season after losing to St. Johnstone, despite his side's cruise towards another league title.

The former Liverpool boss made four changes to his starting line-up with wingers Jota and Nicolas Kuhn among those dropped to the bench.

Rodgers got the response he wanted as Hatate curled home the opener from long range after just nine minutes.

Maeda tapped home his 31st goal of the season after a fine team move to double the lead.

Carter-Vickers then fired in a stunning strike from outside the box before Hatate provided the finish to another flowing attack.

Armstrong pulled a goal back with a hint of fortune as he appeared to be attempting a cross that flew high past Viljami Sinisalo.

Kilmarnock set out their stall to limit the damage after the break as Celtic racked up season-high 1 020 passes in the Scottish Premiership this season.

The home side had to wait until the 93rd minute to make their domination of the ball count when Ralston rolled in from Hatate's pass.

Defeat leaves Kilmarnock still one point above the relegation play-off place,. They sit ninth in the 12-team table.