Celtic made it two wins from two to start their Scottish Premiership title defence as they hammered Kilmarnock 5-1.

Kasper Hogh, who missed several golden chances in Celtic's 1-0 win over Dundee last time out, got off the mark for the Hoops in emphatic fashion as he plundered a first-half hat-trick.

Hogh headed home from Arne Engels' teasing cross after just 63 seconds at BBSP Stadium Rugby Park.

The Dane then made it 3-0 with two goals in the space of three minutes. First, he swept in first-time from just inside the Kilmarnock box, before he nodded in with a stooping header to complete his hat-trick.

Benjamin Nygren pounced on a calamitous error from home goalkeeper Max Stryjek to put Celtic 4-0 up early in the second half, though Kilmarnock pulled one back via Michael Schjonning-Larsen's neat finish.

However, the rout was complete in the 75th minute, with substitute Luke McCowan acrobatically turning in as Kilmarnock failed to deal with a set-piece.

Høgh, Høgh, Høgh, he's magic, you know, just scored three in a row #KILCEL | #CelticFC pic.twitter.com/rcwYfqZRH7

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) August 9, 2026

Celtic romp in O'Neill's absence

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill was absent as he continues his recovery from a minor medical procedure earlier this week.

However, his team duly delivered, with Hogh sparkling after his troubles against Dundee.

The 25-year-old had a whopping nine shots, while also having 13 touches in Kilmarnock's box.

Hogh's personal expected goals tally of 2.31 was over double that of Kilmarnock's entire team (0.86 xG), while Camilo Duran, who teed up Celtic's third goal with a fine cross, also had six attempts.

Celtic finished with 33 shots, 29 of which came from inside Kilmarnock's box, and 5.64 xG. They created 10 big chances to their hosts' one, and struck the woodwork three times, too.