For Celtic, 2024 was not a bad year in the end. Two defeats in 50 games – one to ten-man Hearts and the other to Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund – failed to take the shine off the three domestic trophies shining in the Parkhead boardroom. On days like this, you wonder when they will ever be gone.
At a time of year when nostalgic favorites come out to enjoy the festive air, the news that Motherwell were leading Rangers by two goals resurrected an old “ten in a row” chant from Celtic fans.
The news of a comeback at Fir Park by Philippe Clement's team changed nothing. Fourteen points clear heading into the halfway point of the season, Celtic's fourth consecutive Scottish League title (13th in 14 seasons) is now within reach.
Although Clement's team prevented the lead from being extended further with two goals in the second half, they still managed to lose ground.
Celtic's 15th clean sheet in 18 league games was complemented by four goals that extended their goal difference to plus-48.
Kyogo Furuhashi walks away after scoring his second goal in the 4-0 win against St Johnstone.
Winger Nicolas Kuhn celebrates scoring the first goal in a one-sided encounter at Celtic Park
St Johnstone coach Simo Valakari admitted his team had been unable to breathe
In comparison, Rangers' goal difference is just 18, effectively adding another point to Parkhead's tally. This time of year it never rains, but it pours.
Up versus down was as one-sided as expected. Celtic had 30 shots on goal compared to St Johnstone's one.
Nicolas Kuhn's 14th goal of the season took the lead at half-time before Kyogo Furuhashi's two in five minutes, and the scoring was completed by a composed finish from substitute Daizen Maeda.
Captain Callum McGregor rested for an hour and that had no influence on the final result.
Simo Valakari spoke of his St Johnstone team going 90 minutes without breathing and that the relentless nature of this Celtic team offers little or no hope to Rangers.
While a victory over their oldest rivals on Thursday could give their Belgian manager some breathing room, there is an argument on both sides of Glasgow over whether that is a good or bad thing. At the end of a week in which Rangers picked up four points from two games, Celtic and their supporters would be delighted for Clement to stay put.
Winless in their last 16 visits to Parkhead in all competitions, St Johnstone's last victory in Glasgow's east end came in March 2015, courtesy of a Danny Swanson goal. Celtic had won 26 of their last 30 meetings with the Perth side, with their last defeat of any kind coming during Ronny Deila's tenure in May 2016.
Add to that a streak of one win in nine games, and there was little doubt about how this game would end. The only question was how many goals Celtic could score.
Goalkeeper Josh Rae prevented the home team from finishing the game before the break with a couple of spectacular saves. The first came from Arne Engels, in the starting XI for rested captain McGregor. The second came minutes after he failed to prevent Celtic from taking the lead, inevitably through Kuhn's left boot.
A wide pass from Reo Hatate gave the top scorer the time and space to cut inside tortured and stranded right-back Bozo Mikulic and emphatically lob the ball past Rae.
Half an hour played, Celtic had their goal. Few felt it would be the last.
Rae's intervention prevented Kuhn from adding a quick second within minutes. Cutting inside once again, a curling, diving shot headed towards the postage stamp corner until the St Johnstone goalkeeper jumped high to tip the post.
With a positive goal, Celtic's home fans began to rejoice as news of Motherwell's second goal against Rangers extended the festive season without end.
With the hosts dominating in every aspect, St Johnstone finished the first half without a touch of the ball in the Celtic 18-yard box.
A coach who barely has a defensive bone in his body, Valakari's response was bold. Forwards Adama Sidibeh and Benjamin Kimpioka replaced Nicky Clark and Makenzie Kirk. Lewis Neilson replaced Aaron Essel. If the visitors were going down, they would do so with guns blazing. It was an approach that almost came at a price when Celtic forced the ball into the net for the second time, Alistair Johnston's low cross converted into his own goal by Saints defender Kyle Cameron from close range. An offside flag cut short the briefest of celebrations before VAR confirmed it. No goal.
News of some sort of Ranger counterattack took some of the joy out of the atmosphere, but not much.
Celtic restored it by finally getting their second goal seconds before the hour had passed. Paulo Bernardo volleyed a Hatate ball over the goal, Rae made a good save until Kyogo pounced to head the loose ball into the net for 2-0 from close range. He scored against St Johnstone because he always does. With his eye on it, within five minutes came the eighth league goal of his season.
It was a painfully easy blow for St Johnstone to lose. Engels received the ball on the right side and sent a cross into space for Kyogo to push the ball into the net for 3-0 from close range.
Once the match was won, Brendan Rodgers thought about Ibrox on Thursday. When Maeda, Adam Idah and McGregor took the field, St Johnstone had a more immediate priority. Spend the last half hour without hiding.
It took Maeda six minutes to make an impact, and the substitute applied a calm finish to a delightful pass from Bernardo to make it 4-0.
The last 17 minutes became a test of endurance for a visiting team that had not yet been able to save Kasper Schmeichel.
Home games against Hibernian and Dundee offer hope, though no guarantee, of starting 2025 with a couple of milder days than this one as they try to avoid being adrift at the bottom of the table.
CELTIC (4-3-3): Schmeichel 5.5; Johnston 7 (Ralston 74), Carter-Vickers 6.5, Scales 6.5, Valley 6.5; ENGELS 7.5 (McGregor 67), Bernardo 7, Hatate 6.5 (McCowan 74); Yang 6, Kuhn 7.5 (Maeda 67), Kyogo 7 (Idah 67).
Reserved: None.
Manager: Brendan Rodgers7.
SAINT JOHNSTONE (3-5-2): Rae 6; Raymond 4, Mikulic 4, Sanders 5 (Holt 78); Cameron 4, Essel 3 (Neilson 45), Smith 4, Sprangler 4 (Carey 69), Franczak 4; Clark 3 (Sidibeh 45), Kirk 3 (Kimpioka 45).
Reserved: Eat.
Manager: Simo Valakari 5.
Referee: Matthew MacDermid.
Attendance: 58,645.