Celtic leave it late to beat stoic St Johnstone
Within seconds of having to settle for a goalless draw for the first time in 70 games, Celtic proved the worth of maintenance of nerve and deployment of superior resources as they edged a crucial victory which scarcely reflected the preceding contest.
St Johnstone, whose diligence merited reward, were denied the lead just after half time when Craig Conway smashed a drive off the post but, as time began to run out for the champions, Neil Lennon summoned from the bench half a team of outfield players in Scott Brown, Ryan Christie, Leigh Griffiths, Patryk Klimala and Tom Rogic.
Amongst the clutch of replacements, it was the two strikers who inflicted the decisive blows, Griffiths with a header and Klimala with an angled strike, both of which were facilitated by fatigue in the St Johnstone defence.
Even by the standard of closed-door games, the absence of spectators seemed to suck the drive out of Celtic for much of the proceedings, although that lack presumably owed as much to the Hoops’ trip to Sarajevo for the Europa League qualifier which saw them make the group stage, where they drew glamorous opponents in the form of AC Milan
The first half was so unproductive that, as the interval approached, the only incident of note had been a cross from Conway which was met by David Wotherspoon with a header that drifted away from Vasilis Barkas and left the Celtic goalkeeper disorientated while the danger was cleared. Almost on the break, Odsonne Edouard directed a bobbling shot into the arms of Zander Clark and Wotherspoon responded with a fiery attempt just over the top but, those apart, there were few moments worth much discussion during the break.
Conway almost transformed the situation with his shot off the upright three minutes after the restart and when, in Saints’ next foray upfield, a Scott Tanser free kick swirled just past Barkas’ far post, Lennon decided that the time had come to recast his personnel. Ryan Christie replaced David Turnbull, whose first start for Celtic had been a low-key event, while Klimala came on for Edouard, who had turned in another desultory performance.
The immediate impact was three successive corner kicks to Celtic, although they came to nothing, as did the menace from a Mohamed Elyounoussi cross which was ineffectively attacked by Klimala. When Saints began to tire visibly as the contest entered its final quarter hour, Brown and Griffiths arrived to add to the pressure on Callum Davidson’s side
A mere 15 seconds of normal time remained when Hatem Elhamed delivered a cross which, for once, did not attract a St Johnstone player’s insistent attention. Instead, Griffiths – on his first appearance since before lockdown - was allowed to make unopposed contact with a header beyond the exposed Clark.
If St Johntsone’s dismay was entirely evident, their shock at the next development was palpable. Klimala, seemed to have lost his opportunity when brought to ground by a challenge from Liam Gordon, but the Swiss forward regained his footing first to finish with an angled drive past Clark. Celtic thus went ahead of Rangers on goal difference while St Johnstone fell to the foot of the Scottish Premiership table by the same measure, to leave Davidson incredulous at the disposal of fortune.
“Our players performed to a very high standard and limited Celtic to very few changes," the Saints manager said. “I am absolutely gutted for them more than anything else. Celtic bring five quality substitutes on and they are chasing the game.”
