Celts smash record after 63 matches undefeated

It took Celtic 542 days to smash a record that stood for 100 years.

Now, after becoming the first team in British football to go 63 games unbeaten, it seems unlikely the marker Brendan Rodgers’ Bhoys have laid down will EVER be moved.

Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele and Olivier Ntcham struck for the Hoops, while St Johnstone’s Steven Anderson put through his own net as the Perth side were crushed on their own patch.

It was Celtic’s 56th victory of their astonishing “Invincible” stretch – and for captain Scott Brown it marked a new high point in his storied career.

“It’s the main achievement for me,” said a delighted Broony.

“To do 63, to do the treble, to be the Invincibles, it has been a great 16, 17 months.

“We want to maintain that and the manager won’t let us slip. That is for sure.”

Brown, as ever, was in the thick of it for Celtic in a game that became increasingly testy as it went on.

But the way the Hoops kept their heads – and control of the game – was testament to their character as much as their ability.

“It’s a great honour to captain this side, to come into training every day, to play in front of our fans, from the first game to the 63rd,”said Brown.

“The lads in the squad have been fantastic. How we’ve dug out 63 games, we’ve played some great ones, some not so great.

“But it’s the ones you don’t play great – like going away to Motherwell 2-0 down at half-time and struggling – that shows you the lads fight and will to win.

“We’ve got a great squad, the gaffer chops and changes normally after Europe or a change in formation but that was the same team as Bayern Munich.

“People thought we’d be tired but it was the complete opposite. We were looking forward to this game.

“For us it is about determination, top quality management and players being willing to learn.”

Celtic might have the British record in the bag, but they still have a fair distance to go before they break Steaua Bucharest’s European record of 119 games unbeaten between 1986 and 1989.

On paper, it looks impossible, but on yesterday’s form, it’s tough to see who in Scotland will stop them.

Early on against Saints, Celtic knocked it about with the confidence and precision that comes from such a colossal unbeaten stretch.

Sinclair tested Zander Clark with 16 minutes gone after a smart giveand-go with Dembele through the crowded penalty box, but the Saints keeper was alive to the danger.

The Bhoys were in total control of possession, but Tommy Wright’s team stayed compact and organised, and sought to break when the chance presented itself.

Even so, Celtic were the only team that attacked with bite, and they took the lead on the half-hour when the criminally unmarked Sinclair smashed home Stuart Armstrong’s gentle, side-footed corner from 10 yards.

In response, Saints turned the physicality up a notch, and the game began to simmer.

The pattern continued into the second half, Celtic in charge, Saints holding their shape.

The needle continued too, with Perth midfielder Paul Paton regularly crossing swords with Brown.

In front of goal, a combination of Aaron Comrie at the back post and the crossbar kept out Dembele’s header after an Armstrong corner.

But the French hitman was not to be denied for long. With just under 20 minutes to go, he doubled Celtic’s lead with a move he started and finished, feeding Kieran Tierney on the left before the overlapping Stuart Armstrong cut the ball back for Dembele to sweep home from close range.

Any fight Saints still possessed quickly dissipated in the aftermath and Celtic added a third when a Dembele cut-back from the by-line cannoned off the luckless Steven Anderson and past Clark.

By the time Olivier Ntcham notched Celtic’s fourth at the death – a well-placed effort into Clark’s bottom right corner from the edge of the box – the game had become a skoosh for Brendan Rodgers’ side.

Tommy Wright, Saints’ everup-front gaffer, denied reports linking him to the vacant Dundee United job were of any substance at full-time, despite the presence at McDiarmid Park of Tannadice director of football operations Darren Taylor.

But most of his words were spent in acknowledgement of the difficulties his side faced against Celtic’s history makers.

“It was a difficult day for us. We knew it would be,” he said.

“We didn’t help ourselves with the first two goals, but I can’t be too critical of the players. They gave everything.”