Scott Sinclair – On our way to make it 10

Groundhog day

They say there is three certainties in life; death, taxes and Celtic playing St Johnstone. At least this is how it has felt in the last few weeks due to the way the fixtures have lined up.

Not that I am complaining about this particular run of games though. They have been extremely lucrative for Celtic. Three wins, nine goals scored and zero conceded. This mini run of games has contributed nicely to Celtic’s overall flawless record in 2019 of seven wins in a row.

Yesterday’s win against the saints was the best performance of the year so far. Oliver Burke was the star man throughout, as his pace and power was causing St Johnstone problems all afternoon long. It was his first driving run of the game that set up the opening goal as he crossed for Scott Sinclair, who managed to beat the keeper at his near the post. A few minutes later it was two nil, when Scott Brown scored an unbelievable goal from twenty yards out.

Into the second half and despite a change of tactics from the visitors, Celtic continued to dominate. The inevitable third goal came on the fifty-second minute when a great run from Jonny Hayes ended with James Forrest rolling the ball through the keepers legs. A couple of minutes later and it was Burke again who was causing problems. Picking up on a loose ball and running at the St Johnstone defence, he crossed into the box where Sinclair was waiting for a tap in. One minute from time Sinclair completed his hat-trick to book Celtic’s place in the quarterfinal of the Scottish Cup and put to an end the eternity of matches against the Perth side( for now anyway).

Ladies and gentlemen, Timothy Weah

What a start Timothy Weah has made to his Celtic career. Three goals in five games with an assist or a goal every thirty six minutes. This currently makes him the most prolific striker in the Scottish Premiership and given the fact he is only eighteen, that is quite the statistic.

Weah starred in Sundays victory over St Johnstone as he came off the bench to not only assist the opening goal, but also score himself. However before Weah’s introduction Celtic struggled to break the deadlock due to the phenomenal performance of saints goalkeeper Zander Clark. Despite the large amount of possession the hoops could not seem to find their way past Clark, who it looked like was on a one man mission to keep a clean sheet.

The game was crying out for a bit of magic and Weah provided it when he was subbed on for an injured Edouard. Almost immediately he started to make a difference with his runs in behind causing St Johnstone all sorts of problems. It was this that led to the first goal when an excellent pass from Scott Brown played in Weah who only needed one touch to control it, another to steady himself and then a further one to drill it along the ground to James Forrest who poked it home, much to Zander Clark’s dismay.

Unfortunately not long after Forrest limped off injured with a suspected hamstring problem and this, along with Odsonne Edouard being strechered off, will be real concern for Brendan Rodgers.

Weah would soon get in on the act when he finished off an excellent counter attack which saw himself, Scott Sinclair and Callum Mcgregor run almost the full length of the pitch in a matter of seconds. This secured an important result for Celtic, which keeps them six points clear of Rangers at the top of the table.

Wanting what you cannot have

I have always been fascinated by the men who sign for Celtic that I know the club can’t keep. Players such as Robbie Keane and Patrick Roberts are amongst the talent who I have grown to love most in my time watching football. After Wednesdays game against St Mirren I can now add Timothy Weah and Oliver Burke to the list of players whose departures I won’t ever get over.

Putting the future emotional damage to one side, it was back to basics for Celtic on Wednesday, as they returned to league action for the first time since losing the title to Rangers on the 29th of December. Brendan Rodgers made one change from Saturdays victory against Airdrie, with Kristoffer Ajer replacing Dedryck Boyata. Almost identical to the weekends performance, Celtic dominated possession from the outset. The ball was moving fast and the opening came on the 11th minute when Burke scored his first goal for the club with a header from a Ryan Christie free kick. Celtic continued to pile on the pressure in the first half and the Paisley side were opened up again when Scott Sinclair was fouled inside the box. Just like on Saturday Sinclair stepped up but this time he converted the spot kick.

Into the second half and Celtic continued to dominate. It was only a matter of time before the next goal came and it arrived on the 55th minute when Burke scored his second. Ten minutes later he was replaced by Weah who himself would go on to score four minutes from time. It was another instinctive finish from the American, who similarly to the weekend, ran in behind and finished with one touch.

Even though both Weah and Burke have just arrived it is fair to say that I am already upset at their future goodbye posts on Instagram.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

When The Outhere Brothers wrote their song “Boom Boom Boom” they could only dream that the track would be played at a 4th round Scottish Cup game. However I am sure they will be glad to know that they can now tick that off their bucket list. While some fans complained about the tune, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that it is a musical masterpiece compared to the Scott Brown tribute song released last year.

Questionable song choices aside though, Celtic had a job to do on Saturday. Coming off their embarrassing performance against Rangers and the three week winter break which followed, the team had a point to prove. The game started as many would have expected with Celtic dominating possession and Airdrie putting every man behind the ball. The game was going to open up eventually and it happened just after the half hour mark when Izaguirre was fouled inside the box. Scott Sinclair stepped up but his spot kick was saved. This was the start of an up and down game for Sinclair which saw him miss an open goal shortly after before scoring in each half and then being denied a hat trick due to a poor offside call from the linesmen.

Scott Sinclair was involved in a lot of the games key moments.

Airdrie offered little throughout the game, apart from a moment in the first half when Scott Bain pulled off a remarkable string of saves in a row to deny the league 1 side an equaliser.

Celtic played with pace and intent throughout and this was exemplified when new signing Timothy Weah came off the bench to score. An excellent pass by Dedryck Boyata played Weah in behind allowing him to slip the ball past the goalkeeper. As he scored the aforementioned Outhere Brothers track played and if he continues to play like he did at the weekend then I am all for it.