St Johnstone – 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.

It’s cold at the top

A freezing cold game against St Johnstone on a Wednesday night, it is the stuff dreams are made of. It is games like these in which you begin to question your sanity for sitting outside for ninety minutes. But then Ryan Christie scores a goal like he did the other night and you remember why you love to do it.

Celtic went into the game against St Johnstone knowing it was a must win. The chance to go six points clear at the top of the table was an opportunity that could not be passed up. The team remained much the same as Saturdays win over Hamilton with the only change being Oliver Burke coming in to replace Timothy Weah.

As expected Celtic dominated most of the possession in the first half, but unlike recent games the saints provided a much sterner challenge defensively. The majority of the half was played in front of the St Johnstone back line and Celtic struggled to break the Perth side down with best chance coming when the goalkeeper made an excellent save from a Scott Sinclair header.

Into the second half and Celtic came out with a sense of urgency about their play. This urgency and quickness was personified in the two goals they would go onto score. The first came from a excellent shot from outside the box by Callum Mcgregor. Then two minutes later Ryan Christie scored a phenomenal goal, curling it right into the top left hand corner, to take Celtic six points clear at the top of the table.

Results like that one on Wednesday are so important in Celtic’s bid to win eight titles in a row and they make the risk of hypothermia very much worth it.