Sport

Hogh scores hat-trick in 30 minutes as Celtic crushes Kilmarnock 5-1

Herz — Sport Desk · 9 August 2026 at 20:26 · 30s summary · 2 min read

The essentials

On August 8, 2026, Celtic defeated Kilmarnock 5-1 at Rugby Park in Ayrshire during the second matchday of the Scottish Premiership—Scotland's top-flight championship featuring twelve clubs. Danish striker Kasper Hogh, 25, completed his first hat-trick for Celtic in just over 30 minutes, with his opening goal arriving after only 64 seconds. These were his first three goals since joining Celtic this summer for £11 million, a club record fee. Hogh is now joint top scorer in the Scottish Premiership alongside Killian Phillips of St Mirren.

Celtic defeats Kilmarnock 5-1 at Rugby Park in Scottish Premiership matchday two
Kasper Hogh scores hat-trick in just over 30 minutes—his first Celtic goals
Danish striker opens scoring after 64 seconds with header from Arne Engels cross
Hogh signed for £11 million record Celtic transfer fee from Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt
Hogh co-top scorer in Scottish Premiership tied with Killian Phillips at 3 goals

What we know

On August 8, 2026, Celtic defeated Kilmarnock 5-1 at Rugby Park in Ayrshire, according to the BBC. This match was the second matchday of the Scottish Premiership—Scotland's top football division featuring twelve clubs over thirty-eight matches.

Danish striker Kasper Hogh, 25, scored a hat-trick in just over 30 minutes. These were his first three goals since joining Celtic.

Hogh opened the scoring after only 64 seconds with a header from a corner delivered by Arne Engels. He then added a precise low finish before completing his treble with a diving header.

Record signing confirmed

Hogh arrived in Glasgow this summer for £11 million, a club record fee for Celtic. He came from FK Bodø/Glimt, a Norwegian club based in Bodø, where he was top scorer in each of the past two seasons.

He had already scored in the Champions League against Atlético Madrid, Manchester City and Inter Milan. While at Bodø/Glimt, he also scored against Sporting, Olympiacos and Porto.

Before this match, Hogh had played just 175 minutes of competitive football for Celtic and failed to score in the opening Premiership match against Dundee.

First Premiership hat-trick since October 2022

This is Celtic's first Premiership hat-trick since October 2022, when James Forrest scored three against Hibernian. Daizen Maeda had recorded a hat-trick since then, but only in cup competition.

With three goals in this single match, Hogh is now joint top scorer in the Scottish Premiership, level with Killian Phillips, a midfielder at St Mirren.

Reactions

Complete natural goalscorer
— Pat Nevin, BBC pundit and former Scotland international, on Kasper Hogh

Nevin also called Hogh a "star" and compared him to Kyogo Furuhashi when the Japanese striker first arrived at Celtic.

The most accomplished finisher Celtic have signed since Chris Sutton
— Tom English, BBC Scotland's chief sports correspondent, on Kasper Hogh

English added that Hogh would "tear this league apart".

What's next for Celtic

Celtic must next continue their progress in the League Cup and face a Champions League play-off against LASK—an Austrian club founded in Linz, the oldest club in the Upper Austria region.