2011-04-12: St Johnstone 0-1 Celtic, SPL

Match Pictures | Matches: 2010 – 2011 | 2010-2011 Pictures

Trivia

  • Celtic now 5pts in front; Rangers play next day play 3 times before Celtic play next league game (due to Scottish Cup).
  • Kayal scores his first Celtic goal
  • Rangers threesome let off by SFA after debacle in Scottish Cup. Absolute disgrace. (Diouf, Bhougherra, McCoist). The first two got fines of £5k, £2.5k despite manhandling the referee. McCoist won his appeal.

  • Paul McBride QC speaking to Radio Shortbread
  • "The SFA are tonight officially the laughing stock of world football.

    "And they have been shown now to be not merely disfunctional and not merely dishonest but biased, because McCoist – who undoubtedly said something that provoked a reaction from Neil Lennon that caused a four match ban for him – received no punishment at all.

    "We know that Bougherra, who manhandled the referee not once but twice doesn't get a ban. We know that El Hadj Diouf, who's involved in an altercation in the tunnel with a Celtic physiotherapist, refuses to leave the park when given a red card and throws his top into the crowd against Police advice, isn't given a ban either.

    "What is any sensible person to think of that set of affairs?"

Review

(by Celticinmysould of KDS forum)
I honestly don't know what the people who are saying we were 'crap, abysmal, shocking' etc tonight expect. The pitch at St. Johnstone is in a disgraceful condition and, unless you have players of the quality of Barcelona or Manchester Utd, it is going to be very difficult to play any silky football on it.

Celtic were not crap tonight. We played to the conditions we faced and we deserved to win the game. Every player in the team rolled their sleeves up and got stuck in tonight which was great to see. Considering how heartless the Celtic teams of the previous two seasons have looked, I don't think that is something that should be dismissed or unappreciated. Even players like Samaras, who I normally cannot stand, and Murphy did their bit tonight. I wouldn't say any player in the Celtic team had a bad game. Compared to Saturday this was a much better performance in my opinion.

Grinding out wins at this stage of the season is something we have had to sit and watch the Huns do, and watch ourselves be unable to do, for too long now. Let's just be glad that we won and that we once again have a team with the heart to win these kind of matches. Tonight was never going to be about sexy football and scoring 3 or 4 goals. On that pitch and at this stage of the season it was always going to be about digging in and grinding out a win.

We did it and I am proud of the Bhoys tonight.

Teams

St Johnstone

  • 15 Smith
  • 02 MacKay (Duberry 65)
  • 03 Grainger; yellow card (Novikovas 76)
  • 17 Gartland; yellow card
  • 19 Maybury
  • 10 Craig
  • 11Taylor
  • 20 Davidson (Millar 51)
  • 24 Adams
  • 32 May
  • 28 Robertson

Substitutes

  • 35 Clark,
  • 06 Duberry,
  • 37 Caddis,
  • 07 Millar,
  • 08 Novikovas,
  • 16 MacDonald,
  • 23 Jackson

Celtic

  • 26 Forster
  • 03 Izaguirre; yellow card
  • 12 Wilson
  • 21 Mulgrew
  • 22 Loovens
  • 08 Brown
  • 16 Ledley
  • 33 Baram Kayal
  • 09 Samaras (McCourt 89)
  • 15 Commons (Maloney 76)
  • 27 Murphy

Substitutes

  • 24 Zaluska,
  • 25 Rogne,
  • 18 Ki Sung-Yeung,
  • 20 McCourt,
  • 10 Stokes,
  • 13 Maloney,
  • 49 Forrest

Goals

  • Baram Kayal 45+1
Ref: Ian Brines
Att: 6,338

Articles

Pictures

KStreet

MOTM

Stats

Possession

  • St Johnstone 51%
  • Celtic 49%

Attempts on target

  • St Johnstone 2
  • Celtic 7

Attempts off target

  • St Johnstone 2
  • Celtic 5

Corners

  • St Johnstone 3
  • Celtic 5

Fouls

  • St Johnstone 11
  • Celtic 17

Articles

St Johnstone 0 – 1 Celtic: Beram Kayal pitches in as Celtic grind out a victory

Published Date: 13 April 2011
By Alan Pattullo
at McDiarmid Park
St Johnstone 0

Celtic 1

Kayal (45)

Neil Lennon watched from the sidelines as his awkward squad smoothed the way towards another three points last night, earned through Beram Kayal's winner at the end of the first half. It proved every bit as testing an evening as Rangers experienced here last week, but Celtic overcame both the stiff resistance and difficult underfoot conditions to re-establish a five point lead at the top of the SPL.

The sense that this title race has become a series of ***-for-tat exchanges between the Old Firm continued yesterday, with Celtic able to match the away victory achieved by Rangers last week in the same Perthshire twilight. They might even have replicated the 2-0 scoreline had Scott Brown's late effort not hit the underside of the bar, before rebounding out.

Substitute Michael Duberry was also fortunate not to concede a late penalty after he grabbed the ball with his hands when falling while under pressure from Georgios Samaras in the box. Referee Iain Brines did not award a foul against Samaras, but neither did he whistle for the penalty it therefore should have been. Bafflingly, he simply waved play on.

Had the scores been level, the new resolve from Lennon to treat the officials with more respect might have been severely tested. As ever, he was quick to salute the away fans at the end following their efforts to attend the match, which kicked off at 6pm. A few hundred more managed to make it to the game compared to last week's attendance when Rangers visited, but the concern that fans are being treated shabbily remains a valid one. Indeed, the match was held up briefly at the start when balls were kicked onto the pitch from outside the ground in protest.

Lennon had given ample indication that he might select his team with the poor state of the pitch very much in mind. Indeed, it had seemed that he was more concerned about the surface than the opposition, whose ability to hurt teams has been compromised recently by a dreadful absence of cutting edge in front of goal.

The pitch's troughs and furrows have helped swallow any bid to be too creative – and that goes for away sides too. As well as only scoring once in their last five home league matches, St Johnstone have conceded just three times in the league on their own park this year.

Lennon took all this on board and came up with what he hoped would be an answer to the clearly difficult conditions. Daryl Murphy was brought in, making his first start since a win over St Johnstone on Boxing Day.

It wasn't hard to see why he had been asked to form a striking partnership with the equally lofty Samaras.

It seemed to signal an aerial assault on the St Johnstone goal, and, true enough, Celtic's best early chances fell for the heads of Murphy – from a Charlie Mulgrew corner – and Samaras. But Kris Commons, too, saw an audacious shot from outside the box, after a punch from St Johnstone keeper Graeme Smith, just clear the bar.

St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes had been at pains to stress he had no intention to play a weakened side, but he ended up playing one which was short of a man. Substitute Chris Millar felt his groin tighten and, conscious of Saturday's Scottish Cup semi-final against Motherwell, immediately left the pitch. Having already used all three substitutes, St Johstone played the last ten minutes with ten players.

St Johnstone will bid to reach the Scottish Cup final for the first time in their history against Motherwell so the hand of history rests on McInnes's shoulder and few could complain if his choice of personnel was influenced by such a significant occasion for the club. Yet the changes he made were not necessarily the obvious ones. Murray Davidson, a regular presence in the midfield and someone likely to be a central presence at Hampden, started, although he was withdrawn early in the second half. Duberry was named on the bench and later replaced Dave Mackay. Danny Invincible, meanwhile, dropped out completely. Goalkeeper Peter Enckelman was also absent as he rested a knee complaint.

Danny Grainger patrolled his usual beat at left-back and looked to make up for his mistake last week, which helped Rangers on their way to victory. Celtic were at least made to work hard for their goal.Samaras passed up the opportunity to put his side ahead on the half-hour after Celtic unpicked the home defence with a neat move. Smith made a good block with his legs.

It was a reminder that good football was possible on the surface, although such flowing moves had to be savoured. The ball was to be found mostly in the air. On such a rutted pitch, the first instinct for defenders is to hit the strikers, particularly when they are as physically robust as Murphy and Samaras. But with those such as Commons, Joe Ledley and Kayal, and later Shaun Maloney, on the field, Celtic looked for some invention too.

Indeed, the visitors' goal, in first-half injury time, relied almost exclusively on midfielders. Sadly for St Johnstone, one of them was wearing a blue shirt. Steve May, who sat in behind Jordan Robertson for much of the game, lost possession when attempting to help out in defence.

But the move was still reliant upon a neat flick from Brown, who pushed the ball towards Kayal. His finish found the corner of the net and served to deflate the home side, who had held ambitions of at least holding Celtic until half-time. The concession of a goal is especially wounding to a team struggling so obviously to score.
It doesn't also help when the opposition goalkeeper pulls off the kind of save which Fraser Forster did from Liam Craig, after 61 minutes.

Forster flew to his left to tip the midfielder's effort past the post but, otherwise, St Johnstone rarely looked like forcing a change of luck in front of goal.

St Johnstone: Smith, Maybury, MacKay (Duberry 65), Gartland, Grainger (Novikovas 76), Taylor, Adams, Davidson (Millar 51), Craig, Robertson, May. Subs not used: Clark, MacDonald, Jackson, Caddis.

Celtic: Forster, Wilson, Loovens, Mulgrew, Izaguirre, Kayal, Brown, Ledley, Commons (Maloney 76), Murphy, Samaras (McCourt 89). Subs not used: Zaluska, Stokes, Ki, Rogne, Forrest.

Referee: Iain Brines

Attendance: 6,338

BBC

St Johnstone 0-1 Celtic

By Clive Lindsay
Beram Kayal scored his first goal for Celtic to defeat St Johnstone and lift his side five points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Kris Commons and Georgios Samaras had already been denied by goalkeeper Graeme Smith before Kayal flicked the ball in on the stroke of half-time.
Liam Craig forced a good save from Celtic's Fraser Forster as Saints improved after the break.
Celtic were denied a late penalty following a Michael Duberry hand ball.

But they did enough to secure a win that stretched the Perth side's run to 10 league games without a win, the last five of those without a goal.
The game had a farcical start, with a number of footballs coming onto the field of play to cause confusion as part of a fans' protest at the 1800 BST kick-off required to avoid a live television clash with the Champions League.
Celtic were looking to avoid a comedy of errors on the much-criticised bobbly McDiarmid Park surface by adopting a more direct approach.
And Daryl Murphy, who had not featured since February, was the surprise inclusion in Neil Lennon's side alongside Georgios Samaras in attack.
Celtic skipper Scott Brown returned to midfield while Mark Wilson came in at right-back after being rested for the weekend win over St Mirren.
Saints boss Derek McInnes had one eye on Saturday's Scottish Cup semi-final against Motherwell, leaving key players Duberry and Chris Millar on the bench.
The home side nevertheless made a lively start on the firey surface, although it was Celtic who gradually began to dominate possession and the chances.
Smith could only parry a powerful, 25-yard free-kick from Commons.
And, when the goalkeeper punched a cross clear, Commons' first-time volley from a similar distance flew a few yards over.
Saints, also without the suspended Steven Anderson, looked to be missing the commanding presence of Duberry at the heart of the defence and Murphy sent a 14-yard header flashing just over the home crossbar from a corner.
Samaras raced into the box and curled a low drive that would have found the far corner of the net had goalkeeper Smith not stuck out a leg to divert it clear.
The home side were occasionally dangerous on the break and ought to have had a free-kick on the edge of the box when Brown hauled down Stevie May.
Just as it looked like Saints would survive until the break, Celtic made the breakthrough in first-half stoppage time.
Joe Ledley's through ball was flicked on by Scott Brown and, following a couple of deflections, Kayal's back-heel spun into his own path and he directed it just past the outstretched fingers of Smith and into the far corner of the net from 12 yards.
St Johnstone lost influential midfielder Murray Davidson, seemingly following a head knock, with Millar coming on only five minutes into the second period.
However, it was the home side who threatened to add to the scoring when Craig advanced towards the Celtic box and fired a 25-yard drive that goalkeeper Forster did well to punch clear one-handed.
Saints, who had already used their three substitutes, ended the game with 10 men after replacement Millar limped off with an injury that could make him a doubt for the semi-final.
The game delivered a conclusion as farcical as the start when Samaras appeared to trip Duberry, the St Johnstone defender clearly handled the ball as he fell to the ground, but no foul or penalty was given by referee Iain Brines.
There was still time for Murphy to scoop the ball over from four yards, Brown to fire against the underside the crossbar and for goalkeeper Smith to flick Shaun Maloney's follow-up header off the line.

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/9454408.stm

Published: 2011/04/12 18:55:56 GMT

© BBC 2011

  • Final Result
  • Full Time
  • 90:00+3:26 The final whistle is blown by the referee.
  • 90:00+2:44 Joe Ledley gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Jordan Robertson. Free kick taken by Liam Craig. Jamie Adams produces a right-footed shot from inside the area that clears the crossbar.
  • 90:00+1:58 Jordan Robertson crosses the ball.
  • 90:00+0:57 Graham Gartland challenges Joe Ledley unfairly and gives away a free kick. Free kick taken by Charlie Mulgrew.
  • 90:00+0:57 Booking Graham Gartland goes into the book.
  • 90:00+0:19 The official flags Emilio Izaguirre offside. Free kick taken by Graeme Smith.
  • 88:53 Georgios Samaras concedes a free kick for a foul on Alan Maybury. Free kick taken by Graeme Smith.
  • 88:53 Substitution Georgios Samaras leaves the field to be replaced by Patrick McCourt.
  • 88:27 Shaun Maloney takes a shot. Save by Graeme Smith.
  • 88:08 Scott Brown takes a shot.
  • 87:05 Daryl Murphy is caught offside. Indirect free kick taken by Graeme Smith.
  • 86:20 The ball is delivered by Emilio Izaguirre, Daryl Murphy produces a left-footed shot from close range which goes wide of the left-hand upright.
  • 85:20 The ball is delivered by Beram Kayal, Graham Gartland gets a block in.
  • 83:32 Inswinging corner taken by Charlie Mulgrew from the left by-line, Graham Gartland manages to make a clearance.
  • 82:30 Charlie Mulgrew crosses the ball, Jamie Adams manages to make a clearance.
  • 81:08 The official flags Georgios Samaras offside. Graeme Smith takes the free kick.
  • 79:44 Free kick awarded for a foul by Emilio Izaguirre on Cleveland Taylor. Graeme Smith takes the indirect free kick.
  • 78:21 The referee gives a free kick against Georgios Samaras for handball. Graeme Smith takes the indirect free kick.
  • 75:52 Substitution Daniel Grainger goes off and Arvydas Novikovas comes on.
  • 75:21 Substitution Shaun Maloney comes on in place of Kris Commons.
  • 74:32 Centre by Beram Kayal, Graeme Smith makes a save.
  • 70:41 Emilio Izaguirre gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Cleveland Taylor. Michael Duberry restarts play with the free kick.
  • 70:41 Booking Booking for Emilio Izaguirre for unsporting behaviour.
  • 68:45 Emilio Izaguirre crosses the ball, clearance made by Michael Duberry.
  • 68:16 Charlie Mulgrew takes the outswinging corner, clearance by Jamie Adams.
  • 66:56 Unfair challenge on Mark Wilson by Daniel Grainger results in a free kick. Free kick crossed by Kris Commons, Alan Maybury makes a clearance.
  • 66:56 Booking Daniel Grainger is given a yellow card.
  • 64:48 Foul by Mark Wilson on Liam Craig, free kick awarded. Free kick taken by Daniel Grainger.
  • 64:48 Substitution Michael Duberry replaces David MacKay.
  • 63:48 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Scott Brown by Jamie Adams. Glenn Loovens crosses the ball from the free kick right-footed from right channel, clearance by David MacKay.
  • 62:32 Liam Craig takes a shot. Save made by Fraser Forster. Inswinging corner taken by Daniel Grainger from the right by-line, Beram Kayal makes a clearance.
  • 61:37 Kris Commons takes a shot. Save made by Graeme Smith.
  • 61:00 Unfair challenge on Georgios Samaras by Jamie Adams results in a free kick. Emilio Izaguirre takes the free kick.
  • 57:39 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Kris Commons by Alan Maybury. Indirect free kick taken by Fraser Forster.
  • 56:53 Emilio Izaguirre gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Cleveland Taylor. Graeme Smith restarts play with the free kick.
  • 55:28 Kris Commons produces a cross, clearance by Graham Gartland.
  • 53:49 Beram Kayal challenges Steve May unfairly and gives away a free kick. Graeme Smith takes the indirect free kick.
  • 53:24 Corner from the right by-line taken by Mark Wilson, Daniel Grainger makes a clearance.
  • 51:58 Daniel Grainger crosses the ball, Charlie Mulgrew makes a clearance.
  • 50:32 Substitution Chris Millar on for Murray Davidson.
  • 48:50 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Jamie Adams by Daryl Murphy. Free kick taken by Graeme Smith.
  • 47:31 Cleveland Taylor fouled by Emilio Izaguirre, the ref awards a free kick. Daniel Grainger delivers the ball from the free kick left-footed from right channel. The assistant referee flags for offside against Murray Davidson. Fraser Forster restarts play with the free kick.
  • 46:27 Daryl Murphy concedes a free kick for a foul on Daniel Grainger. Free kick crossed by Daniel Grainger, clearance made by Georgios Samaras.
  • 45:01 The game restarts for the second half.
  • Half Time
  • 45:00+1:15 The first half comes to an end.
  • 45:00+0:10 GOAL – Beram KayalSt Johnstone 0 – 1 Celtic Beram Kayal finds the back of the net with a goal from close range to the bottom left corner of the goal. St Johnstone 0-1 Celtic.
  • 43:11 Daryl Murphy crosses the ball, clearance by Daniel Grainger.
  • 41:53 Jordan Robertson is caught offside. Mark Wilson takes the indirect free kick.
  • 41:13 Georgios Samaras concedes a free kick for a foul on Daniel Grainger. Indirect free kick taken by Graeme Smith.
  • 40:21 Foul by Jordan Robertson on Mark Wilson, free kick awarded. The free kick is swung in left-footed by Charlie Mulgrew, Daniel Grainger manages to make a clearance.
  • 40:09 Kris Commons produces a cross, Jamie Adams makes a clearance.
  • 39:17 Cleveland Taylor produces a header from inside the area that goes over the crossbar.
  • 36:47 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Kris Commons by Liam Craig. Charlie Mulgrew has an effort direct from the free kick, save by Graeme Smith.
  • 35:07 Unfair challenge on Steve May by Beram Kayal results in a free kick. Cleveland Taylor takes the direct free kick. The ball is crossed by Cleveland Taylor. Cleveland Taylor takes a shot. Blocked by Scott Brown. Corner taken left-footed by Daniel Grainger, The ball is sent over by Graham Gartland, Fraser Forster makes a save.
  • 33:36 David MacKay sends in a cross, Emilio Izaguirre manages to make a clearance.
  • 32:48 The ball is delivered by Steve May, Charlie Mulgrew manages to make a clearance.
  • 31:37 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Daniel Grainger by Georgios Samaras. Free kick taken by Graeme Smith.
  • 29:57 Georgios Samaras takes a shot. Graeme Smith gets a block in.
  • 27:59 Mark Wilson delivers the ball, David MacKay makes a clearance.
  • 27:21 The assistant referee flags for offside against Cleveland Taylor. Charlie Mulgrew restarts play with the free kick.
  • 26:38 Centre by Georgios Samaras.
  • 25:21 Daniel Grainger fouled by Daryl Murphy, the ref awards a free kick. Graeme Smith restarts play with the free kick.
  • 23:27 Charlie Mulgrew takes the inswinging corner, Daryl Murphy has a headed effort from close in and clears the bar.
  • 23:16 A cross is delivered by Mark Wilson, clearance made by Jamie Adams.
  • 22:39 Georgios Samaras sends in a cross, clearance by Alan Maybury.
  • 21:57 Corner taken by Charlie Mulgrew played to the near post.
  • 20:17 The ball is crossed by Kris Commons, save made by Graeme Smith.
  • 19:06 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Emilio Izaguirre by Jordan Robertson. Charlie Mulgrew takes the free kick.
  • 18:41 The ball is sent over by Beram Kayal, Georgios Samaras takes a shot. Graeme Smith makes a save.
  • 16:30 Unfair challenge on Joe Ledley by Murray Davidson results in a free kick. Glenn Loovens crosses the ball in from the free kick, clearance by Daniel Grainger.
  • 15:49 Effort from just outside the box by Kris Commons goes over the bar.
  • 15:41 Kris Commons crosses the ball, Graeme Smith makes a save.
  • 15:26 Scott Brown produces a cross, clearance made by David MacKay.
  • 14:29 Jordan Robertson fouled by Emilio Izaguirre, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick crossed left-footed by Daniel Grainger from right wing, Georgios Samaras manages to make a clearance.
  • 13:14 Unfair challenge on Daniel Grainger by Scott Brown results in a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Daniel Grainger.
  • 12:35 Handball by Liam Craig. Indirect free kick taken by Fraser Forster.
  • 11:32 Foul by Charlie Mulgrew on Jordan Robertson, free kick awarded. Free kick crossed right-footed by David MacKay, Glenn Loovens manages to make a clearance.
  • 9:26 Daryl Murphy fouled by Graham Gartland, the ref awards a free kick. Shot comes in from Kris Commons from the free kick, Graeme Smith makes a save.
  • 8:24 The ball is crossed by Alan Maybury, save by Fraser Forster.
  • 5:50 The ball is sent over by Emilio Izaguirre, Shot on goal by Georgios Samaras from just inside the area clears the crossbar.
  • 4:58 A cross is delivered by Liam Craig, blocked by Mark Wilson. Inswinging corner taken by Cleveland Taylor from the left by-line, clearance by Daryl Murphy.
  • 4:18 The ball is swung over by Georgios Samaras, Alan Maybury manages to make a clearance.
  • 2:15 Cleveland Taylor gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Emilio Izaguirre. Emilio Izaguirre takes the direct free kick.
  • 0:00 The referee gets the game started