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Trivia
- Inverness director of football Graeme Bennett has confirmed that Celtic's Paul Lambert has rejected an offer to become their new manager.
Review
Celtic eased the pain of their midweek CIS Cup defeat to Rangers with a comfortable win over Inverness.
Sutton gave Celtic the perfect start, scoring after only three minutes. Youngster McGeady provided the ammunition for Sutton, whipping in a cross from the left which the English striker sent past Caley keeper Mark Brown with a flying header.
John Hartson then missed a clear scoring opportunity after he got underneath a pass from Jackie McNamara and scooped his shot over the bar with less than 10 minutes on the clock. With 25 minutes gone, Caley fans were on their feet calling for a penalty after a hint of contact in the box following a clash between Barry Davies and Neil Lennon, but referee Dallas waved play on. Celtic saw a second chance to stretch their lead go begging after 34 minutes, with Camara outpacing the Caley defence to shoot at Brown. Celtic then had a narrow escape in the last minute of the first half when McBain sent a curling free-kick towards Hedman's goal – but the ball flew just past the upright.
Hartson ensured that Celtic would end the afternoon with the points when he volleyed home a right-footed effort after 52 minutes – his 12th goal of the season. Skipper McNamara did the good work, sending the ball across the box, Sutton chested the ball down and the big Welshman hammered home his shot.
There was a drama in the final period as Stanislav Varga fouled Hart in the box to hand the visitors the chance to get back into the contest. But Barry Wilson stepped up and tried to stroke the ball into the net and Hedman saved comfortably after diving to his right.
Hartson then made sure of the home win two minutes later after McNamara dribbled past the Caley defence and sent a ball across the front of goal which the Celtic striker gratefully tapped in.
Teams
Celtic:-
Hedman, McNamara, Varga, Balde, Valgaeren, McGeady, Lennon, Sutton (Pearson), Thompson, Camara (Juninho Paulista), Hartson.
Subs not used:- Marshall, Sylla, Lawson, Quinn.
Goals:- Sutton 3, Hartson 55, 75
Booked:- McNamara
Inverness CT:-
Brown, Tokely, Dods, Golabek, Munro, Wilson, McBain, Hart, Duncan, Juanjo, Bayne.
Subs:- Fraser, McCaffrey, Keogh, Thomson, Prunty, Fox, Black.
Ref:- H. Dallas.
Att:
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles
Celtic 3-0 Inverness
BBC
Celtic eased the pain of their midweek CIS Cup defeat to Rangers with a comfortable win over the Highlanders.
Chris Sutton opened the scoring after three minutes with a flying header which flew past keeper Mark Brown.
John Hartson then blasted a right-footed volley into the Caley net after 52 minutes to make it 2-0.
Caley's Barry Wilson had a penalty attempt saved by Magnus Headman, before Hartson sealed the win with a tap-in after 75 minutes.
The home side lined up without Didier Agathe and Stilian Petrov who was sidelined with a shoulder injury, but were bolstered by the return of striker Chris Sutton.
Aiden McGeady and Henri Camara also started, as did goalkeeper Magnus Headman who was given a rare start in place of the rested David Marshall, while Juninho was dropped to the bench.
It was Sutton who gave the hosts a perfect start, giving Celtic a one-nil advantage after only three minutes.
Youngster McGeady provided the ammunition for Sutton, whipping in a cross from the left which the English striker sent past Caley keeper Mark Brown with a flying header.
John Hartson then missed a clear scoring opportunity after he got underneath a pass from Jackie McNamara and scooped his shot over the bar with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
With 25 minutes gone, Caley fans were on their feet calling for a penalty after a hint of contact in the box following a clash between Barry Davies and Neil Lennon, but referee Dallas waved play on.
Celtic saw a second chance to stretch their lead go begging after 34 minutes, with Camara outpacing the Caley defence to shoot at Brown.
The Caley keeper blocked the attempt with his feet and the ball bounced to Sutton, but the striker lost his footing and couldn't get a shot away.
Celtic then had a narrow escape in the last minute of the first half when McBain sent a curling free-kick towards Hedman's goal – but the ball flew just past the upright.
Hartson ensured that Celtic would end the afternoon with the points after he volleyed home a right-footed effort after 52 minutes – his 12th goal of the season.
Skipper McNamara did the good work, sending the ball across the box, Sutton chested the ball down and the big Welshman hammered home his shot.
There was a drama in the final period as Stanislav Varga fouled Hart in the box to hand the visitors the chance to get back into the contest.
But Barry Wilson stepped up and tried to stroke the ball into the net and Hedman saved comfortably after diving to his right.
Hartson then made sure of the home win two minutes later after McNamara dribbled past the Caley defence and sent a ball across the front of goal which the Celtic striker gratefully tapped in.
Celtic: Hedman, McNamara, Varga, Balde, Valgaeren, McGeady, Lennon, Sutton, Thompson, Camara, Hartson. Subs: Marshall, Sylla, Juninho Paulista, Pearson, Lawson, Quinn.
Inverness CT: Brown, Tokely, Dods, Golabek, Munro, Wilson, McBain, Hart, Duncan, Juanjo, Bayne. Subs: Fraser, McCaffrey, Keogh, Thomson, Prunty, Fox, Black.
Referee: H Dallas
O'Neill pleased to pick up points
BBC
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill
Celtic 3-0 Inverness
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill praised his side after the win over Inverness.
He said: "We started brightly, we got the goal early on and it was a good strike by Chris (Sutton)."
"But John Hartson missed a good chance to make it 2-0 and then, in that part of the game, we were just passing the ball around.
"We just defended on our half-time lead and, in the second period, we picked up a second goal and thought that would have been enough."
Inverness director of football Graeme Bennett has confirmed that Celtic's Paul Lambert has rejected overtures to become their new manager.
"We approached Celtic in the middle of the week for permission to speak to Paul Lambert," said Bennett.
"The response that came back to us was that he was not really interested in the position."
Lambert's Celtic contract expires in the summer and he has been attending coaching courses with the German FA.
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill revealed that it took just seconds for Lambert to reject Caley Thistle's invitation.
"Caley Thistle are looking at a number of people and Peter Lawwell, the chief executive, said to me that he (Lambert) was one of the people they were interested in," said O'Neill.
"I spoke with Paul and the conversation lasted for about 15 seconds for a number of reasons.
"Paul is in the final year of his contract and even though he is not playing at the minute I think he sees himself playing a part for us.
"He wants to go into football management eventually and he is doing his coaching course at the moment.
"Also, with Jim McInally going to Morton, there is space for Paul to do some sort of coaching with the kids for the time being."