St Johnstone v Celtic Official Report

[celtic bhoy92]

St Johnstone v Celtic - TC Official Match Report

St Johnstone 1 - 4 Celtic
McDiarmid Park
Sunday January 24th 2010

A strong second half fight back from a resilient Celtic side in Perth was enough to cut Rangers lead at the top of the SPL to seven points. After going a goal down to a Liam Craig penalty early on, it took a double from Fortune and lone strikes from Samaras and McCourt to sink the Saints in the end.
The match was quite dull early on and it took a penalty to get things underway. Glenn Loovens, who was to recevie a nasty blow to the head later in the game, brought down Steven Milne in the area after ten minutes and Liam Craig coolly slotted the kick past Artur Boruc.

Craig opens the scoring.

Neither side had much action in front of goal for the rest of the half with Zheng Zhi having a decent effort cleared off the line and Niall McGinn had three good chances inside the area which he failed to convert. At the break, it certainly seemed like Celtic would need to go straight at St Johnstone in the second half if they wanted to keep their title hopes alive.
As soon as the second half kicked off, the visitors got the break they were looking for when Graham Gartland brought Marc-Antoine Fortune down on the edge of the box as he raced through on goal and he received his marching orders for the challenge. However, despite the extra man, Celtic were again guilty of being their own worst enemies with both Aiden McGeady and Georgios Samaras spurning easy chances inside the area under little pressure. When both Darren O'Dea and McGeady missed slightly more difficult chances it seemed like it just wasn't Celtic's day.

Fortune's double set the Celts on their way.

However, cometh the hour cometh the man for Celtic as with just under half an hour remaining, subsitute Paul McGowan played Fortune in on the edge of the box and from a reasonably narrow angle, the striker drilled his shot powerfully into the far corner. Paul Caddis was next to go closest for Celtic but his low effort was well saved by Smith in the Saints' goal. Celtic captain O'Dea was next to pass up a good chance when Smith parried a McGeady effort into his path but the Irishman couldn't adjust his feet in time and rolled the ball wide from five yards.
Paddy McCourt then tried to grab the elusive winner but Smith was again equal to his shot after a trademark dribble. Celtic would not be denied however and, with fifteen minutes remaining, impressive young defender Josh Thompson nodded the ball down inside the area to Samaras and he met it first time with a powerful volley into the corner to give Celtic the lead.

Georgios Samaras celebrates after his stunning strike.

After that the result was never in doubt and Fortune got his second of the game five minutes later after Smith parried a McCourt shot into his path and Fortune kept his head to demoralise the Saints further. There was a brief moment of fear for Celtic when Boruc decided to test his dribbling abilities inside his area and lost the ball but recovered well to make the save. With five minutes remaining, Paddy McCourt capped a fine second half performance with an excellent goal. After beating two defenders easily on the edge of the area, he powered the ball into the top corner to help his side to an important victory.



TC Member Quotes


Binnie Bhoy praised the impressive Josh Thompson:
Thompson was the highlight of the game for me. I would start him every week without worrying.


doctor venglos highlighted the effort of our strikers:
Their movement together off the ball is a joy to behold. They must be a nightmare to play against.


Shakethebarley was delighted at the return to form:
What a great match. Finally, this team is fun to watch again.

St Johnstone: Smith, Irvine, MacKay, Gartland, Grainger, Millar, Morris, Davidson (Moon 77), Craig, Deuchar, Milne (Anderson 46).
Subs: Main, Anderson, Moon, Morais, MacDonald, Jackson, Reynolds

Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Loovens (Caddis 23) Thompson, O’Dea, McGinn, Crosas, Zheng (McGowan 61), McGeady, Samaras, Fortune.
Subs: Zaluska, McCourt, Mizuno, Lafferty, Forrest, Caddis, McGowan.