celtic cruise to victory over saints

Laura Brannan
JOSH Thompson scored his first goal for Celtic as the Hoops beat St Johnstone 3-0 at home to make it three victories and three clean sheets in a row.

The 19-year-old defender headed in a 15th-minute opener before Robbie Keane converted a second-half penalty and Georgios Samaras rounded off the scoring three minutes from times.

Tony Mowbray made three changes to the side who lined up against Kilmarnock last weekend in the Scottish Cup. Paul McGowan made his first start for the Hoops after some impressive displays in Neil Lennon’s Development Squad.

Mark Wilson and Marc-Antoine Fortune also came into the side as Andreas Hinkel and Morten Rasmussen dropped to the bench. Scott Brown returned to the sidelines for the second of his three-match suspension while Lukasz Zaluska kept his place between the sticks.

Celtic’s goalscoring machine Robbie Keane found himself in a good position after nine minutes but as his shot hit the post the linesman ruled him offside.

It took only 15 minutes for Josh Thompson to open the scoring when he got his head on the end of an Edson Braafheid free-kick. The English defender angled the header into the bottom left corner of the net for his first goal in the Hoops.

McGowan had a chance to double Celtic’s lead just before the half-hour mark when he exchanged passes with Keane on the edge of the box, but his curling effort skimmed the top of the bar.

Zaluska had little to do in the first half and wasn’t brought into the action until 30 minutes when he caught the ball comfortably, stopping the onrushing Steven Milne. He made another good save six minutes later when Gavin Swankie pounced on a loose ball and shot a low drive on goal.

However, it was Celtic who piled on the pressure in the closing five minutes of the half. McGowan made a blistering run down the middle of the pitch before passing it to Aiden McGeady on the edge of the box, but the Irishman’s cross across goal was knocked out for a corner.

The Hoops had another good chance on 45 minutes when Keane skipped away from the visitors’ defence. McGeady met his pass on the edge of the box but his cross was parried away by Graeme Smith and an outstretched Fortune couldn’t get his foot onto the loose ball.

Keane and McGeady linked up well again just before the break when the midfielder made a brilliant run down the right and crossing an inch-perfect pass into the box to the onrushing Ireland captain. But Keane’s right-footed shot curved just over the bar and Celtic went in at half time leading 1-0.

The visitors started the second half brightly, hitting a free kick low past Zaluska’s left post but it was Celtic who ran the show in front of goal.

The home side piled on the pressure and made St Johnstone sit deep. Keane did well to skip away from Gary Irvine inside the box and cross to Fortune, who was at the far post, but his close-range header hit the side netting.

Celtic continued to create chances in the visitors’ penalty box with McGeady’s shot going over the bar and McGowan’s effort sliding just past the post.

The Hoops’ pressure was rewarded on 67 minutes when Fortune won his side a penalty after being taken down by the keeper. Keane stepped up to convert a perfect spot kick, high into the back of the net, taking his tally to six goals in three games.

Celtic continued to dominate and Samaras rounded off the scoring with an excellent solo goal. He raced down the left wing in the 87th minute and skipped his way into the box before converting a shot across Smith and into the far corner of the net.

Celtic Park
Scottish Premier League
Saturday, March 20, 2010

Celtic 3
(Thompson 15, Keane pen 67, Samaras 87)

St Johnstone 0

CELTIC (4-2-3-1) Zaluska; Wilson, Thompson, O’Dea, Braafheid; McGeady, Crosas (Ki 57), NGuemo, McGowan (Zhi 86); Fortune (Samaras 71), Keane
Subs not used: Boruc, Hinkel, Caddis, Rasmussen

ST JOHNSTONE (4-4-2) Smith; Irvine, Grainger, Duberry, Mackay; Millar, Davidson, Sheerin (Craig 57), Deuchar (Reynolds 15); Milne (Morais 70), Swankie
Subs not used: Main, Connolly, Gartland, Falkingham

Man of the match: Paul McGowan