Celtic lock in third straight Scottish Premiership title

Celtic beat Kilmarnock 5-0 on Wednesday to clinch the three points that locked in their first-place finish over No. 2 Rangers as Korea's Oh Hyeon-gyu and Yang Hyun-jun earned titles without clocking time on the field.

Celtic's Matt O'Riley, left, celebrates with Adam Idah after scoring their side's fifth goal of the game during the Scottish Premiership match against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock, Scotland on Wednesday. [AP/YONHAP]

Celtic FC have won the Scottish Premiership title for a third year in a row, beating Kilmarnock 5-0 on Wednesday to clinch the three points that locked in their first-place finish over No. 2 Rangers.

Celtic’s win marks the second piece of silverware in the top-tier Scottish league for Korea’s Oh Hyeon-gyu, who joined the squad in the middle of the 2022-23 season and helped lift the club to the trophy last year, also edging out Rangers in the title race.

Celtic fans celebrate in the stands after clinching the title following the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock, Scotland on Wednesday. [AP/YONHAP]

And it’s the first European football title for Korea’s Yang Hyun-jun, who joined Celtic last July.

Neither Oh nor Yang was in the lineup for Wednesday’s game.

While center-forward Oh was a regular pick during the first half of the season, scoring five goals over 23 appearances, he has been out of the squad or on the bench for all but two league games in 2024, last playing in February.

And Yang, who plays as a winger, has also been left out of the squad or benched for a month, last playing on April 13.

Korea’s Kwok Hyeok-kyu, a midfielder, joined Celtic with Yang before the 2023-24 season but was loaned out to St. Mirren in January, missing out on a title of his own.

Celtic were dominant in Wednesday’s game at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock, Scotland, keeping possession for 75 percent of the match.

Striker Adam Idah opened the scoring for the visitors in the fifth minute, and fellow striker Daizen Maeda made it 2-0 in the 12th. Maeda assisted James Forrest for another in the 35th minute to make it 3-0 before the break, and Matt O’Riley got a double in the second half to lock in the win.

Celtic's Adam Idah scores their side's first goal of the game during the match against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock, Scotland on Wednesday. [AP/YONHAP]

Celtic next face St. Mirren for the final game of the season on Saturday at Celtic Park in Glasgow.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]