Richard Early 
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Sport
Celtic defeated St Johnstone 1-0 at Celtic Park tonight to equal the Lisbon Lions’ 50-year-old record of 26 domestic games without defeat.
Dedryck Boyata scored the only goal, as Scott Brown made his 400th appearance for the Hoops, and became the club’s first player since Tom Boyd to reach the landmark.
Rodgers hailed Boyata after the game in his post-match interview, saying:
He’s a player who has worked very well in training, and just been unfortunate as the team has been doing very well.
He was ready to take his chance when Erik was injured, and I have been really impressed.
He was excellent again tonight. He has qualities I like and he scored a great goal to win it.
https://twitter.com/ReadCeltic/status/824371179842584583?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
On equaling the Lisbon Lions’ 26-game unbeaten domestic run, he added:
If you had mentioned it when I first came in to supporters or the players, they might not have believed it. A huge honour.
Huge testament to the players and how they work on a day-to-day basis, along with their professionalism.
The Bhoys dominated the first half and had a number of chances, but failed to find the back of the net. St Johnstone were strong in defence and caused the Hoops problems in attack – they were unable to capitalise.
In the second half, Celtic continued to control the game and again, had a number of goal-scoring opportunities.
Rodgers made his first change of the evening on the 64th minute when Patrick Roberts replaced James Forrest. The Englishman almost made an immediate impact when he took the ball past two defenders – his cutback was squandered by Dembele and Sinclair who were unable to convert.
It wasn’t until the 73rd minute that Celtc finally found a way past The Saints stopper. Dedryck Boyata headed the ball home from a corner. Rodgers had praised the Belgian after Sunday’s win over Albion Rovers and backed him to start again tonight which paid dividends.
The Parkhead side now lead second-placed Rangers by 22 points, after tonight’s game in-hand.
Celtic host fourth-placed Hearts on Sunday, with a 13:00 kick-off.
