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SPL CHAMPIONS
2001-02
- Celtic clinched the title in the same fashion that they have disposed of the rest of the Scottish Premier League this season – clinically and with something to spare.
Review
Paul Lambert played a one-two with Hartson inside the Livi box before setting up Larsson to finish from six yards.
Hartson added the second after 19 minutes, when Didier Agathe's cross found the Welshman unmarked on the penalty spot and he volleyed the ball past the exposed Javier Sanchez Broto.
Another six minutes, another goal as Hartson rose above an uncommitted Gary Bollan to head home Steve Guppy's cross.
The Englishman was again the provider after 33 minutes, this time for Larsson, Oscar Rubio being the static defender on this occasion as the Swede made it 4-0.
Larsson completed his hat-trick after 60 minutes, Lambert doing the donkey work after linking with Neil Lennon in similar fashion to the opening goal.
Barry Wilson gave Livi a consolation goal after 72 minutes, slotting the ball into the corner of the net from 16 yards after being put clear by substitute Noko Jokovic.
Teams
Celtic:-
Douglas, Mjallby, Sutton, Crainey (McNamara 76), Agathe, Lennon, Lambert (Smith 75), Petrov, Guppy (Moravcik 67), Larsson, Hartson.
Subs not used:- Gould, Boyd.
Goals:- Larsson 3, Hartson 19, 25, Larsson 33, 59.
Livingston:-
Broto, Petersen, Rubio, Andrews, Bollan, Lovell, Quino (Toure-Maman 45), Makel, Bingham (Jokovic 45), Wilson, Xausa (Brittain 60).
Subs not used:- McEwan, Santini.
Booked:- Wilson.
Goal:- Wilson 72.
Att:- 59,752
Ref:- W Young.
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
- Match Report (BBC)
- Celtic enjoy the party. (BBC)
- Games that won the title. (BBC)
Pictures
Articles
Five-star Celtic claim title
BBC
Celtic 5-1 Livingston
Celtic clinched the title in the same fashion that they have disposed of the rest of the Scottish Premier League this season – clinically and with something to spare.
Henrik Larsson, with a hat-trick, and John Hartson were the inevitable goalscorers as the Glasgow side made it two championships out of two under Martin O'Neill's stewardship.
Livingston had arrived at Celtic Park determined to gatecrash the party.
Jim Leishman's fourth-top side felt that the reigning champions were being disrespectful with their detailed preparations for after-match celebrations.
But even the most ardent opponents felt that there was an air of inevitability about it all, Celtic having only lost once in the SPL this season.
Henrik Larsson and John Hartson celebrate another goal
Henrik Larsson (left) grabbed a hat-trick
And, when Larsson put Celtic ahead after only two minutes and six seconds, it was simply a case of how many goals the 60,000 would be cheering before the main celebrations could begin.
O'Neill welcomed Chris Sutton back from injury and the versatile Englishman took his place in the back three in place of the suspended Bobo Balde.
Livingston had gone two months without a win and were seriously hampered in their quest for Uefa Cup qualification by injuries and suspensions.
Steve Tosh, David Fernandez and Massimiliano Caputo were banned, while Philippe Brinquin and Michael Hart were still recovering from knocks.
Yet the visitors' started brightly with their attacking 4-3-3 formation – well, for just more than two minutes that is.
Paul Lambert played a one-two with Hartson inside the Livi box before setting up Larsson to finish from six yards.
From then on, Celtic shone and by half-time were 4-0 up.
Didier Agathe breaks clear of Gary Bollan
Hartson added the second after 19 minutes, when Didier Agathe's cross found the Welshman unmarked on the penalty spot and he volleyed the ball past the exposed Javier Sanchez Broto.
Another six minutes, another goal as Hartson rose above an uncommitted Gary Bollan to head home Steve Guppy's cross.
The Englishman was again the provider after 33 minutes, this time for Larsson, Oscar Rubio being the static defender on this occasion as the Swede made it 4-0.
Larsson completed his hat-trick after 60 minutes, Lambert doing the donkey work after linking with Neil Lennon in similar fashion to the opening goal.
Barry Wilson gave Livi a consolation goal after 72 minutes, slotting the ball into the corner of the net from 16 yards after being put clear by substitute Noko Jokovic.
At least Livi had surpassed Scotland's scoreline in the Stade de France, but it mattered little as the East End of Glasgow waited for the title party to begin.
Celtic: Douglas, Mjallby, Sutton, Crainey (McNamara 76), Agathe, Lennon, Lambert (Smith 75), Petrov, Guppy (Moravcik 67), Larsson, Hartson. Subs Not Used: Gould, Boyd.
Goals: Larsson 3, Hartson 19, 25, Larsson 33, 59.
Livingston: Broto, Petersen, Rubio, Andrews, Bollan, Lovell, Quino (Toure-Maman 45), Makel, Bingham (Jokovic 45), Wilson, Xausa (Brittain 60). Subs Not Used: McEwan, Santini.
Booked: Wilson.
Goals: Wilson 72.
Attendance: 59,752
Referee: W Young.
Celtic enjoy the party
BBC
Celtic captain Paul Lambert lifted the Scottish Premier League trophy on Saturday to achieve the first back-to-back title triumph at Parkhead for 20 years.
Henrik Larsson hit a hat-trick and John Hartson grabbed a brace in the 5-1 win over Livingston to leave Celtic in an unasailable position with four games of the league campaign remaining.
Scotland skipper Lambert earned the man-of-the-match award with yet another fabulous all round contribution.
"The first half was as good as we have played at home all season," enthused the midfielder.
"We knew we had one more big push to do it and we have come up with the goods again.
"It is a massive achievement. Everybody here knows how hard it is.
"When you win something, you have to work really hard to do it. It is a credit to everybody in the dressing room and the backroom staff and everyone connected with the club.
"Even when we played in the Champions League, we were coming back from very hard games and still having to pick up points here.
"We managed to do that and that was very pleasing to do."
Hat-trick hero Larsson played down his own contribution to the title triumph.
Larsson said: "I have never made a secret of the great service we have had up front.
"Alan Thompson has been playing well and Paul Lambert gave me two good goals today.
"We have players who can score goals from the back to the front and that is what you need in football.
"It is very hard to rely one or two players. John and I got the goals today but the service was absolutely tremendous.
"You never get used to winning trophies. It feels absolutely fantastic. "The title is the trophy we have been playing for all season and the way we did it was tremendous."
Celtic forward Hartson paid tribute to the Parkhead crowd for their support throughout the campaign.
"It doesn't come much better than this. To play in front of this crowd every other week is a dream come true for me," the Welsh international said.
"It is fitting that we won the league here – the fans have been unbelievable.
"The service in the team is different class here. You saw Didier Agathe flying down the right – up to the last minute.
"I wanted to get past 20 goals this season, which I have done, but there are a couple more games to go yet."
Games that won the title
BBC
BBC Sport Online's Alasdair Lamont looks at six games that were crucial in helping Celtic retain their Scottish Premier League title.
Dundee 0-4 Celtic (Saturday 15 Sep)
Celtic started the new season where they left off the year before, winning five and drawing one of their first six matches.
Their seventh game was a potentially tricky trip to Dens Park, where Ivano Bonetti's side had posed problems for a number of teams with the quality of their football.
A tight first half saw Celtic keeper Rab Douglas make a couple of excellent saves before Henrik Larsson headed the Bhoys in front on the stroke of half-time.
Larsson doubled the lead in the second half before Stilian Petrov killed Dundee off with a stunning strike. Shaun Maloney added a late fourth for the visitors.
The awesome attacking display by the champions laid down the gauntlet to potential challengers.
Alan Thomspon
Alan Thomspon grabbed a late second
Rangers 0-2 Celtic (Sunday 30 Sep)
Both sides were unbeaten going into the opening Old Firm derby of the season, although three draws meant that Rangers already trailed Celtic by four points.
But Celtic's hold over their city neighbours was about to become even stronger.
A brilliant Petrov free-kick put Celtic in front early on following a mistake by Stefan Klos.
After that Rangers never looked like coming back and Celtic could even afford the luxury of a missed penalty.
Alan Thompson scored an excellent individual goal in the last minute to cap a solid performance by Celtic.
The Bhoys fans started thinking about another SPL title barely two months into the new campaign.
Henrik Larsson
Larsson scored from the penalty spot
Motherwell 1-2 Celtic (Saturday 13 Oct)
Celtic's next league outing was at Fir Park, three days after their Champions League win over Rosenborg.
Motherwell were not expected to pose a significant barrier to Celtic's juggernaut-like charge to the championship.
However, a Lubo Moravcik free kick was all Celtic had to show for their efforts three-quarters of the way through the game.
Then a Greg Strong strike handed Motherwell the equaliser and it seemed they would hold on for a draw.
But referee John Rowbotham awarded Celtic a contentious penalty with a minute to go and Larsson kept his nerve to hammer home the winner and maintain Celtic's seven-point lead at the top of the SPL.
Larsson celebrates his winner
Larsson was Celtic's saviour again
St Johnstone 1-2 Celtic (Saturday 3 Nov)
Celtic were still unbeaten in the league and had shown their knack of claiming late wins against Kilmarnock the week before, when Joos Valgaeren had scored in injury time.
Another tough midweek game in the Champions League, this time a home win over Juventus, meant that the Celtic players had had little rest before travelling to St Johnstone.
An own goal by Darren Dods put Celtic in front, but the Saints defender atoned by scoring an equaliser for the SPL's bottom club.
Both sides had chances before Nick Dasovic conceded an injury-time free kick to Celtic.
The prolific Larsson stepped up and curled an exquisite shot past Alan Miller into the St Johnstone net.
Lubo Moravcik
Moravcik bagged the first goal
Celtic 3-2 Livingston (Wednesday 26 Dec)
Celtic had lost their unbeaten league record the previous week at Aberdeen.
Now they faced another of the SPL's form teams, Livingston, who had already held them to a draw in their previous meeting.
Celtic led twice thanks to goals from Moravcik and Larsson but were pegged back by strikes from Oscar Rubio and Quino.
When Valgaeren was ordered off with 11 minutes remaining, Livi must have fancied their chances of an unlikely win.
But they did not reckon on Larsson, who popped up in injury time to score a decisive goal for the champions.
Stilian Petrov
Petrov scored Celtic's goal
Rangers 1-1 Celtic (Sunday 10 Mar)
With eight games remaining, Celtic were 10 points clear of Rangers with a game in hand.
Fans of both sides were agreed on one thing – Rangers had to win to have even the slightest chance of overtaking Celtic.
A 2-1 win in the CIS Cup semi-final a month earlier had given the Ibrox side some hope.
But Martin O'Neill's men were not about to stand for two Old Firm defeats in a row.
Petrov once again proved to be a thorn in Rangers' side, scoring the opening goal after John Hartson had one controversially disallowed off for offside.
Rangers came back into the game in the second half and scored a wonderful equaliser through Dutch international Arthur Numan but they could not break through to grab a winner.
The final whistle sparked celebration among Celtic's supporters and players as the title was wrapped up in everything but name.
Celtic v Livingston
25th February 2002
Scottish Cup
http://www.100megsfree3.com/celticcrazy/rep2/6apr2002.html
Celtic wrapped up the title with an emphatic win against Livingston. Last season's title decider had been a nervous affair but Celtic showed they were up for it from the start. Within 4 minutes Paul Lambert had danced into the box and laid on a perfect ball for Larsson who stuck it home with ease.
Didier Agathe did the damage in 19 minutes, outrunning the defence and setting up Hartson who finished with a flourish.
When Steve Guppy made inroads down the left he turned on to his right foot and Hartson beat Bolland to the ball to power a header into the net.
In 33 minutes, Guppy was again the provider and Larsson stole in in front of the defender to head home.
The second half was a bit more subdued but Celtic added to their tally on 60 minutes. When Lambert again pushed forward he took the ball from Lennon and laid in a cross from the right which Larsson knocked home in a carbon copy of the first goal.
After a Lambert injury scare some substitutions followed with Moravcik, Smith and McNamara coming on for Guppy, Crainey and Lambert.
Livingston had 2 or 3 chances and when Wilson beat Mjallby to a through ball he did well to beat Douglas and give the visitors a consolation goal.
5-1 on the day and back to back titles for the Celts. Our heroes came out with t-shirts bearing the slogan "Hoops we've done it again!" The fans were in raptures and the team deservedly took their plaudits after an astonishing season with only one defeat and 3 draws and a 100% record at Celtic Park.
CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Mjallby, Sutton, Crainey; Agathe, Lambert (Smith 76), Lennon, Petrov, Guppy (Moravcik 70); Larsson, Hartson
Subs: Douglas, Moravcik, McNamara, Boyd, Smith
LIVINGSTON (3-5-2): Broto; Rubio, Andrews, Bollan; Peterson, Quino (Jockovic 46), Lovell, Makel, Xuasa (Brittain 61); Wilson, Bingham (Sheriff)
Subs: McEwan, Santini