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Trivia
- Henrik Larsson went some way to silencing his critics as he helped Celtic plunge St Johnstone deeper into relegation trouble. The Swedish international's bottle was questioned last week after he passed the penalty-taking duties to John Hartson.
- The referee is Kevin Toner, son of ex-Celt & Kilmarnock great Willie Toner.
Review
There were 51 points separating the sides as the game kicked off at Celtic Park. Celtic sought to confirm that gulf in class as they laid early seige to the Saints defence.
But St Johnstone scored after five minutes in their first foray forward. Paul Hartley crossed to the back post and Dods rose above Tebily and sent a looping header into the far corner of the net.
The home fans packing Celtic Park had only four minutes of worry before Larsson equalised. Paul Lambert was allowed to advance towards the edge of the area and, when he played the ball into the Swede's path, the striker had evaded his marker sufficiently to blast the ball into the roof of the net from 16 yards.
Another two minutes and another goal, Miller allowing Thompson's curling but hardly powerful free kick to bounce over his body.
Hartson had the ball in the net with a superb half-volley only to be pulled up for offside.
Teams
Celtic:-
Douglas, Mjallby, Tebily, Valgaeren, McNamara, Lambert, Petrov, Moravcik (Petta 67), Thompson, Larsson, Hartson.
Subs not used:- Gould, Sylla, Maloney, Smith.
Goals:- Larsson 8, Thompson 10.
St Johnstone:-
Miller, Dods, McCluskey, Falconer, Murray, Lynch, Kane (Jones 81), Hartley, McCulloch (McClune 62), Djebaili, Russell (Connolly 76).
Subs not used:- Cuthbert, Macdonald.
Booked:- Kane, Djebaili.
Att:- 58,547
Ref:- K Toner.
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
- Match Report (BBC)
Pictures
Articles
Larsson silences critics
BBC
Celtic 2-1 St Johnstone
Henrik Larsson went some way to silencing his critics as he helped Celtic plunge St Johnstone deeper into relegation trouble.
The Swedish international's bottle was questioned last week after he passed the penalty-taking duties to John Hartson.
But Larsson produced the kind of finishing he showed during last season's record-breaking season to bring the Scottish Premier League leaders back into the game at Celtic Park.
Darren Dods had given the side languishing at the bottom a surprise early lead before Larsson pounced quickly to re-establish equalibrium.
Two goals in two minutes, the second from Alan Thompson, were enough to end thoughts of a shock result.
Celtic had made two changes from the side that beat Kilmarnock 2-0 at Rugby Park last week.
Lubo Moravcik and Olivier Tebily were in for the injured Neil Lennon and Bobo Balde.
There were 51 points separating the sides as the game kicked off at Celtic Park.
The home side sought to confirm that gulf in class as they laid early seige to the Saints defence.
A low drive from Petrov was pushed away by on-loan Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Alan Miller and Dods had to head over his own bar.
But St Johnstone scored after five minutes in their first foray forward.
Paul Hartley crossed to the back post and Dods rose above Tebily and sent a looping header into the far corner of the net.
The home fans packing Celtic Park had only four minutes of worry before Larsson equalised.
Paul Lambert was allowed to advance towards the edge of the area and, when he played the ball into the Swede's path, the striker had evaded his marker sufficiently to blast the ball into the roof of the net from 16 yards.
Another two minutes and another goal, Miller allowing Thompson's curling but hardly powerful free kick to bounce over his body.
Celtic could afford the luxury of another example of Larsson's fragile form when the Swede was clear six yards out but ended up missing his volley and backsiding the ball to safety.
Hartson had the ball in the net straight from the restart with a superb half-volley only to be pulled up for offside.
The Welsh striker then sent a drive into the side netting from the edge of the box.
But Celtic largely strolled to victory for the remainder of the second half.
Celtic: Douglas, Mjallby, Tebily, Valgaeren, McNamara, Lambert, Petrov, Moravcik (Petta 67), Thompson, Larsson, Hartson.
Subs Not Used: Gould, Sylla, Maloney, Smith.
St Johnstone: Miller, Dods, McCluskey, Falconer, Murray, Lynch, Kane (Jones 81), Hartley, McCulloch (McClune 62), Djebaili, Russell (Connolly 76).
Subs Not Used: Cuthbert, Macdonald.
Booked: Kane, Djebaili.
Att: 58,547
Ref: K Toner
Celtic v St Johnstone
19th January 2002
SPL
The 2-1 scoreline would suggest that Celts made heavy weather of beating St Johnstone but in actual fact they squandered a lot of chances and could have won by a much bigger margin.
St Johnstone opened the scoring when poor marking by Tebily allowed Darren Dods to head unchallenged over Douglas into the net.
Minutes later Moravcik saw a great run by Lambert. Paul carried the ball forward and played it to Larsson inside the box. Henrik's turn and strike was perfection and the ball soared into the net across the keeper.
A free kick from Thomson from 40 yards led to the next goal. His accurate shot went over the wall and took a bounce which the keeper misjudged and let bounce over him into the net. The unfortunate young keeper was to make another couple of mistakes in the game, notabley one in which he competely missed a passback he tried to kick clear. He was however St Johnstone's hero on many occasion, punching away crosses and making a fantastic one-handed save from a Thomson shot in the second half.
Celtic played a lot of good football in the game with Larsson coming close with an ambitious overhead kick in the first half. Hartson shot just wide in the second half and McNamara caused a lot of problems for Saints with his trickery down the right.
St Johnstone did come into the game for a period in the second half and had one really good chance which Rab Douglas did well to save.
In the end it was the Celtic fans that were glad to hear the final whistle as the team failed to get the killer third goal.
Man of the match: Paul Lambert
CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Mjallby, Valgaeren, Tebily; McNamara, Petrov, Lambert, Moravcik (Petta 69), Thompson; Larsson, Hartson Subs: Gould, Maloney, Smith, Sylla
ST JOHNSTONE (4-4-2):Dods, McCluskey, Falconer; Murray, Hartley, Kane (Jones 79), Lynch, McCullcoh (McClune 64); Russell (Connolly 76), Djebali
Subs: Cuthbert, McDonald