| Match Pictures | Matches: 2000 – 2001 | 2000-2001 Pictures |
Trivia
- The club confirmed the signing of goalkeeper Robert Douglas from Dundee for £1.5million and a five year contract to June 2005. The deal had been slightly delayed due to the late return of Martin O’Neill from France, where he had been watching the UEFA Cup opponents Bordeaux.
Review
A decent win saw the Bhoys stretch the lead at the top to 5 points. The game played in incessant rain was treacherous with their being doubts as to whether it would go ahead.
Teams
St Johnstone
Main, Dods, Bollan, Weir, Kernaghan, Dasovic, Kane, Sylla (Malcolm 40), Parker, Evers, Connolly (Hartley 74).
Subs Not Used: Cuthbert, Lovenkrands, McBride.
Booked: Sylla, Weir, Parker, Bollan, Kernaghan, Main, Hartley (St Johnstone)
Sent Off: Malcolm (83) (St Johnstone)
Celtic
Gould, Boyd, Valgaeren, Mjallby, Thompson, Lambert, Petta, Agathe, Petrov (Healy 72), Larsson, Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Berkovic, Moravcik, Riseth.
Goals: Valgaeren 42, Larsson 86 pen.
Booked: Petrov, Larsson (Celtic)
Referee: J Rowbotham (Scotland).
Attendance: 8,946
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| St Johnstone | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 7 | 2 |
| Red Cards | 1 | 0 |
| Fouls | 18 | 12 |
| Shots on Target | 3 | 12 |
| Corners | 1 | 5 |
| Offside | 2 | 3 |
Celtic goals go in two by two
The Scotsman 18/10/2000
Jonathan Coates
St Johnstone 0 Celtic 2
CELTIC remain on song result-wise, but this latest victory was no exhibition of class, rather a Noah's Ark-style triumph over adversity.
The league leaders are now five points clear and, more significantly, nine ahead of chief rivals Rangers. Joos Valgaeren put them in front just before half-time but near monsoon conditions led the game down the slippery slope to footballing farce, and as the frustration grew St Johnstone threw the game away.
Substitute Stuart Malcolm was given his marching orders for a stiff arm into the face of Johan Mjallby, off the ball when Celtic were taking an indirect free-kick in the St Johnstone penalty area, and soon afterwards Celtic made the advantage tell when Bobby Petta was upended by Alan Kerneghan in the same box and Henrik Larsson applied the finish from the penalty spot.
Celtic kept faith with Didier Agathe on the right flank after his swashbuckling display in the 2-0 victory over St Mirren on Saturday, and recalled Petta from suspension, at the expense of Lubomir Moravcik, on the opposite side.
St Johnstone gave a first start to attacking midfielder Sean Evers, on loan from Reading, in preference to the more celebrated talents on the bench, Paul Hartley and Tommy Lovenkrands. Evers started aggressively, scything down Paul Lambert near the halfway line and becoming the first player of many to use the slippery conditions for his own poor timing.
It was a scrappy start in Perth, and Celtic almost won a penalty within five minutes, when Petta jinked past Momo Sylla and appeared to catch the French right-back's trailing leg. However, the contact was minimal and Petta's fall gradual enough to dissuade John Rowbotham from blowing his whistle and laying the foundations for a rout.
However, Sylla's force was felt more heavily by Tom Boyd soon after, when the Frenchman was booked for a wild lunge on the Celtic captain. For different reasons, both goalkeepers were under the spotlight last night, Jonathan Gould for the looming threat to his place from likely new signing Robert Douglas, and Alan Main after conceding four goals at the weekend. Main's confidence was the first to come into question, when he tentatively clutched at a long-range shot by Lambert which was heading into the corner of the net.
As St Johnstone began to present the league leaders with their chances, Weir bundled over a fleeting Petta on the edge of the box in the 22nd minute, and was booked for his trouble.
Then it was Larsson's turn to reach the edge of the box at pace, but this time a fine intervention from Darren Dods prevented the opening goal. After much clumsiness, Saints' first opportunity arrived when Evers sighted a good run into the box by Gary Bollan, who struck a decent effort from the left which Gould blocked.
An impish moment of skill arrived when Keigan Parker beat Agathe and Mjallby wide on the left, and squared for Paddy Connolly, but Parker was deemed to have taken the ball over the by-line.
In these kind of conditions, it is not uncommon for the more skilful players to drift out of the game, and while Petta prospered on the left, Agathe made less impact on the right, although Bollan must receive some credit for his no-nonsense marshalling.
As on Saturday at Parkhead, it took a set-piece for Celtic to create their lead. When Petta was adjudged to have been fouled by Malcolm, who had just come on for Sylla, Alan Thompson placed the free-kick onto the head of onrushing Valgaeren, who found the top left-hand corner of Main's net.
Celtic came out after the interval with the clear intention to kill the game and as Larsson began to get more involved and the pitch began to submerge it seemed as if Saints might be swamped, but they remained largely composed except for some moments of panic that came due to the increasingly hazardous surface.
There was slipping and sliding aplenty and Paul Kane almost sank in helplessness when he lost his footing in front of his own area allowing Thompson to run through and drive narrowly wide.
The home side were less attacking but no less efficient than their illustrious guests and Nick Dasovic forced his way into space to head an Evers free kick at Gould who was relieved to see the ball bounce truly into his arms.
Rowbotham had no shortage of cautions to hand out. The most spectacular foul being a Parker slide that upended Valgaeren.
It was the worst of a bad bunch and had the conditions not been taken into account we may have seen red earlier than we did.
Substitute Paul Hartley became the next man in the book for another bad tackle on Petta and Larsson was booked for hand ball as both sets of fans wanted the whistle blown to end an eventful if not farcical night.
Celtic's openings became more frequent, Sutton surprising Main with a testing snap-shot and Larsson heading just wide from a Thompson free kick.
But again Saints refused to drown in peace and when Evers almost connected with a juicy cross at the near post with Boyd on his backside, previously furlorn visions of the draw swung back into reality.
The injustice of such a result would have been perceived as a travesty by Celtic arguing that the conditions were unplayable, but the excess water provided St Johnstone with no unfair advantage, except of course that they were more able than Celtic to play their natural game.
- Manager Interview
Martin O’Neill post match:
"I'd have been disappointed if it had been called off when we were ahead.
"It's a game we could have dropped points in. Rangers are capable of winning their matches in hand and there's miles to go yet.
"The conditions were very difficult and in the end we just had to dig in to win, which we did.'
"If you told me at the start of the season we would be in that position I would have smiled at you."
St Johnstone 0 Celtic 2 By Chris Roberts, PA Sport
Celtic went five points clear at the Scottish Premier League summit with a hard-earned victory to sink 10-man St Johnstone in farcical conditions at rain-soaked McDiarmid Park.
Joos Valgaeren put Martin O'Neill's men on their way to the points with a first-half header and Henrik Larsson bagged a late second with a penalty as they increased their lead over Hibernian and moved an impressive nine points ahead of defending champions Rangers.
The weather made conditions hazardous as the rain lashed down in Perth with both teams struggling to move the ball across the field which threatened to see referee John Rowbotham abandon the game midway through the second half.
But debutant Stuart Malcolm could not blame his dismissal on the conditions as he was ordered off near the end for elbowing Johan Mjallby, while he also gave away the free-kick for the visitors' opener.
Rowbotham may be wishing he could have called it off earlier in the day after upsetting both sets of supporters with some amazing decisions as he booked nine men as well as sending off Malcolm.
Celtic started as brightly as expected after the victory over St Mirren at the weekend and in just the sixth minute they had claims for a penalty.
Winger Bobby Petta, back after suspension, ran towards goal and he tumbled inside of the box under the challenge of Jim Weir, but referee Rowbotham waved away the protests.
Celtic continued to attack their opponents' goal and midfielder Paul Lambert went agonisingly close with a powerful free-kick which flashed just past the post.
The St Johnstone defence looked in all sorts of disarray early on and in the 22nd minute Momo Sylla and Alan Main left the ball for each other and luckily for the home side captain Weir was able to head clear Petta's dangerous cross.
Celtic continued to press and in the 28th minute Darren Dods made a desperate tackle on the edge of the box to prevent Swedish striker Larsson from getting a shot on target.
St Johnstone had Sylla and Weir booked as the driving rain made conditions difficult for both teams and Celtic also had Stilian Petrov shown the yellow card.
But the home side, who had conceded seven goals in their last two games, created their best chance in the 33rd minute and it was Gould who kept his side on level terms.
Evers played the ball to Gary Bollan inside the area, the full-back hit a fierce goalbound effort and the under-pressure goalkeeper made a low save to deny him.
Malcolm then came on for his first appearance in a Saints shirt for the injured Sylla and his opening contribution was to foul Petta on the left wing.
From the resulting free-kick the visitors took the lead in the 42nd minute when Alan Thompson curled in a left-foot cross for Valgaeren to rise in the box to head emphatically home for the first goal of his Celtic career.
The rain continued to fall, making the conditions almost impossible to play as puddles began to appear on the pitch.
It was bordering on the farcical but St Johnstone striker Kiegan Parker could not blame it on that after a reckless challenge on goal-scorer Valgaeren.
Moments later Main could not hold a low long-range effort from Thompson which trickled from his grasp, but fortunately for him no Celtic player was on hand to fire home.
Bollan became the next player into the book for a tackle on Agathe as the fourth official showed his concern at the state of the pitch.
Larsson should have sealed the points from the resulting free-kick when he rose to meet Thompson's in-swinging cross but he blazed his header just wide of the upright.
Parker then got away from the Celtic defence in the 69th minute and Gould's outstretched arm took it away from Evers to keep his side in front.
St Johnstone's frustration worsened in the 81st minute when first Main gave away a free-kick in the box after he handled Alan Kernaghan's pass back.
But they were about to face an even greater task as Malcolm's night was about to get even worse when he was red-carded for elbowing Mjallby at the back post and Kernaghan was booked for remonstrating with the referee.
Nothing came of that chance but in the 86th minute Celtic were awarded a penalty when Kernaghan brought down Petta inside the box and Larsson stepped up to send Main the wrong way for his 15th goal of the season.
Substitute Paul Hartley became the next man in the book for another bad tackle on Petta and Larsson was booked for handball as both sets of fans wanted the whistle blown to end an eventful if farcical night.
But for Celtic the three points were on their way back to Parkhead and they will be looking at going 12 points ahead of Rangers on Saturday.
Teams:
St Johnstone Main, Dods, Bollan, Weir, Kernaghan, Dasovic, Kane, Sylla (Malcolm 40), Parker, Evers, Connolly (Hartley 74).
Subs Not Used: Cuthbert, Lovenkrands, McBride.
Sent Off: Malcolm (83).
Booked: Sylla, Weir, Parker, Bollan, Kernaghan, Main, Hartley.
Celtic Gould, Boyd, Valgaeren, Mjallby, Thompson, Lambert, Petta, Agathe, Petrov (Healy 72), Sutton, Larsson.
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Berkovic, Moravcik, Riseth.
Booked: Petrov, Larsson.
Goals: Valgaeren 42, Larsson 86 pen.
Att: 8,946
Ref: J Rowbotham (Scotland).