Celtic reaction: Current league run of Ange Postecoglou’s men unsurpassed even in invincible seasons, the Kyogo-Jota artistry axis

Exceptional form of the sort rarely witnessed in the Scottish top flight has taken Celtic to the brink of title success.

Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi celebrates at full time after the win against Ross County.

Current league run of Ange Postecoglou’s men unsurpassed even in invincible seasons

Even as the transformation presided over both in Celtic’s squad and results by Ange Postecoglou this season is consistently referenced, the full, astonishing depth of the turnaround can still fail to be appreciated. Celtic are essentially a win at home to Rangers on Sunday away from clinching the title (that outcome would leave the Ibrox men requiring a nine-point and – at least – 21 goal swing over the final three games). This position is attributable to Postecoglou’s men having claimed 75 points from a possible 81 over the past 27 games, in a 28-match run without a loss.

It took the Australian two months to completely overhaul the pool he inherited and have the new arrivals wholly immersed. Hardly a lifetime. As he did so, Celtic lost three and drew one of their first seven cinch Premiership encounters, only collecting 10 points from the 21 on offer then. Between fixture No 8 and yesterday’s No 34, which earned them a 2-0 success at Dingwall that makes their top-flight lead appear unassailable, they posted 24 wins and three draws. As Rangers romped to the title without a league defeat last season, across the same span of games they had four draws. Celtic, in their treble season without a loss in 2016-17, also had three draws between their eighth league outing and their fifth last.

Potential for a prized points total

Celtic now sit on 85 points from their 34 cinch Premiership games. If they were to finish the campaign with four wins, a 97-points total would be remarkable when set against the 11-point handicap with which they effectively landed themselves across the opening two months of the campaign. In the previous 21 championships this millennium – which covers the 38-game top flight era – the 97-point tally has only been bettered five times: Rangers last year (102 points), and Celtic in 2016-17 (106), 2013-14 (99), 2003-04 (98), 2001-02 (103).

The Kyogo-Jota artistry axis

There is no question that a fizzing, firing Kyogo Furuhashi elevates Celtic; as he proved in netting in the 2-0 victory away to Ross County that marked his first start for four months following his sidelining with a hamstring issue. Yet, his quicksilver movement and constant menacing also seems to infuse his team-mates’ capacity for invention and influence. Or more particularly one in particular: Jota. His delightful cross for Furuhashi to produce a sumptuous header for the Dingwall opener gave way to a late goal for the on-loan Portuguese winger. Not since the pair were ripping it up in a 4-2 slaying of Dundee at Dens Park in November has Jota contributed the goal-assist double in any encounter. The injury absentees of the pair – Jota out for two months across the turn of the year with his own hamstring problem – mean they have only started 13 games together for Celtic. In only two of these have both failed to score or provide an assist.

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