CELTIC ULTIMATELY EASED to a comfortable 4-0 win over Motherwell after getting a penalty breakthrough in first-half stoppage-time, while St Mirren earned a stunning 2-0 win over Rangers.
The Bhoys are now 12 points clear of their Glasgow rivals. Aberdeen, meanwhile, are 13 points adrift having lost 4-0 at Kilmarnock today.
Arne Engels opened the scoring here after a tight 45 minutes after goalkeeper Aston Oxborough was penalised following a collision with Yang Hyun-jun.
Daizen Maeda, assisted by Ireland international Liam Scales, doubled the lead before substitutes Nicolas Kuhn and Reo Hatate netted as Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell tasted defeat for the first time in four visits to Parkhead.
Liam Scales. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Both managers made four changes for the first St Stephen’s Day game at Celtic Park since 2010.
Celtic had Cameron Carter-Vickers back from injury while Liam Gordon was among those dropping to the Motherwell bench.
The early flashpoint came in and around the Celtic box when Yang bumped into the back of Tawanda Maswanhise, who went down. Referee Ross Hardie booked the Motherwell forward for simulation and the game quickly moved on.
There was a lengthy VAR check at the other end after Kofi Balmer raised a hand as a cross flew out for a goal kick. The officials took their time looking for a handball but no touch was evident.
Oxborough made the first save 20 minutes in after Maeda bundled a loose ball towards goal.
The William Hill Premiership leaders had a better chance after Motherwell wasted two set-piece opportunities in quick succession and Lennon Miller’s slip inadvertently set up a counter-attack.
Oxborough saved Maeda’s shot with his foot and the goalkeeper and several defenders ultimately scrambled the ball to safety.
Motherwell were generally looking solid and Adam Idah could not make the most of two half-chances.
The half-time team talks were altered when Hardie pointed to the spot after Yang jumped in front of Oxborough, knocked the ball towards the byline and crashed to the floor as the goalkeeper stuck out his arms to collect a deflected cross.
The award stood after a VAR check and Engels sent Oxborough the wrong way from the spot.
Advertisement
There were more penalty appeals after the break with Balmer getting away with a risky touch on Maeda as the winger headed out of the box and Maswanhise appealing strongly for handball against Carter-Vickers.
Celtic had a huge let-off when former Hoops striker Tony Watt inadvertently blocked Marvin Kaleta’s header on the goal-line and the hosts soon scored from their own corner in the 57th minute. Liam Scales flicked on Engels’ delivery and Maeda ran in to head home from close range.
If the Motherwell players still retained hope of getting something from the game, the sight of Kuhn, Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi entering the field in a triple substitution in the 63rd minute might have tested their belief.
Kaleta showed plenty of ambition with a bursting run to set up Apostolos Stamatelopolous but the Motherwell sub dragged his shot well wide.
All doubt was extinguished in the 74th minute when Kuhn collected Anthony Ralston’s square ball and fired a shot from 25 yards which took a major deflection off Balmer and deceived Oxborough.
Hatate got in on the act on the 81st minute. The Japan midfielder made space 22 yards out after some quick passes and fired into the bottom corner.
Meanwhile, Kilmarnock heaped more misery on Aberdeen with a dominant 4-0 victory at Rugby Park.
The Pittodrie side saw their winless run extended to seven games after an abject display in which they were second best throughout.
Killie took a deserved lead when skipper Kyle Vassell forced the ball over the line at the second time of asking with 19 minutes on the clock and they would double their advantage just before the hour-mark after David Watson found space to flick beyond the keeper.
Innes Cameron came off the bench to coolly add a third in the 87th minute and there was still time for fellow replacement Bruce Anderson to complete a tremendous afternoon for the hosts in added time.
Derek McInnes’ men have moved within three points of a top-six place. Aberdeen remain in third, though continue to lose ground in their efforts to claim a spot in the top two.
St Mirren players celebrate at the final whistle. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Irish duo Roland Idowu and Killian Phillips, who are on loan from Shrewsbury Town and Crystal Palace respectively, both started in St Mirren’s surprise victory.
Rangers’ resurgence came to an abrupt end as Caolan Boyd-Munce’s stoppage-time strike gave St Mirren a win.
After a poor start to the league season, Philippe Clement had got his side firing, but they were well off the pace in the first half in Paisley and trailed at the break to an Oisin Smyth penalty on the half-hour mark.
With the introduction of midfielder Nico Raskin and Brazilian striker Danilo at the start of the second half, the Light Blues began to play with conviction and the latter levelled in the 61st minute, but the home side steadied and substitute Boyd-Munce drove in a dramatic winner in added time.
Another Rangers negative was defender Leon Balogun going off early in the first half after pulling up and, with John Souttar also sidelined, it could leave Clement short of centre-back options ahead of games against Motherwell and Celtic in the next week.
It was a signature win for the Buddies, who revealed before the game that former Gers defender Declan John had extended his contract with the club until the end of the season.
John made his first start for the Saints, while striker Toyosi Olusanya returned from suspension, with Alex Gogic was reinstated to the defence.
Jack Butland returned in goal for Rangers after dropping out minutes before the win over Dundee at the weekend to rush to the birth of his daughter — and he was culpable for the home side’s penalty.
Balogun, holding midfielder Connor Barron and attacker Nedim Bajrami returned to an in-form Gers side who had to look back to October for their last defeat in 90 minutes.
The early stages were all hustle and bustle before Balogun pulled up with an injury.
The first real goalmouth action of note, however, came when Butland raced out needlessly and unconvincingly to barge Greg Kiltie to the ground as the Saints player went to take control of a long ball.
Referee David Dickinson immediately pointed to the spot and Smyth, who scored a late free-kick winner against Ross County on Saturday, sent the keeper the wrong way with an accomplished penalty.
Clement and Vaclav Cerny were booked by Dickinson soon afterwards for complaining too long about St Mirren’s Marcus Fraser blocking off Hamza Igamane’s run to no punishment.
Saints keeper Ellery Balcombe did not have a save to make until he gathered a tame shot by the Moroccan striker just before the break.
Clement had to take action and he brought on Raskin and Danilo for Barron and Bajrami and there was instant improvement.
Skipper James Tavernier came close with a free-kick from 25 yards and then Balcombe saved a shot from Danilo before Cerny crashed a right-footed drive against an upright.
But after making a goal-line save from Danilo, the Paisley keeper was eventually beaten from close range by the Gers substitute as the St Mirren goal continued under siege.
Igamane blasted a shot over after combining with Cerny, who then powered in a drive from distance which just cleared the bar.
At the other end Saints substitute Alex Iacovitti and Robin Propper jumped at a corner and the ball rebounded off the near post.
The game swung from end to end.
A mistake by Propper allowed Olusanya to race clear, but Raskin got back to see off the danger.
Among the usual plethora of substitutes, 17-year-olds Callum Penman and Evan Mooney replaced John and Olusanya, but it was another replacement, Boyd-Munce, who proved the match-winner in the third of six added minutes.
He met a Mooney pass and drilled a shot low past Butland from 20 yards to sink the Gers.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Celtic ease to victory, Irish loanees help St Mirren stun Rangers
Updated at 20.09
CELTIC ULTIMATELY EASED to a comfortable 4-0 win over Motherwell after getting a penalty breakthrough in first-half stoppage-time, while St Mirren earned a stunning 2-0 win over Rangers.
The Bhoys are now 12 points clear of their Glasgow rivals. Aberdeen, meanwhile, are 13 points adrift having lost 4-0 at Kilmarnock today.
Arne Engels opened the scoring here after a tight 45 minutes after goalkeeper Aston Oxborough was penalised following a collision with Yang Hyun-jun.
Daizen Maeda, assisted by Ireland international Liam Scales, doubled the lead before substitutes Nicolas Kuhn and Reo Hatate netted as Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell tasted defeat for the first time in four visits to Parkhead.
Both managers made four changes for the first St Stephen’s Day game at Celtic Park since 2010.
Celtic had Cameron Carter-Vickers back from injury while Liam Gordon was among those dropping to the Motherwell bench.
The early flashpoint came in and around the Celtic box when Yang bumped into the back of Tawanda Maswanhise, who went down. Referee Ross Hardie booked the Motherwell forward for simulation and the game quickly moved on.
There was a lengthy VAR check at the other end after Kofi Balmer raised a hand as a cross flew out for a goal kick. The officials took their time looking for a handball but no touch was evident.
Oxborough made the first save 20 minutes in after Maeda bundled a loose ball towards goal.
The William Hill Premiership leaders had a better chance after Motherwell wasted two set-piece opportunities in quick succession and Lennon Miller’s slip inadvertently set up a counter-attack.
Oxborough saved Maeda’s shot with his foot and the goalkeeper and several defenders ultimately scrambled the ball to safety.
Motherwell were generally looking solid and Adam Idah could not make the most of two half-chances.
The half-time team talks were altered when Hardie pointed to the spot after Yang jumped in front of Oxborough, knocked the ball towards the byline and crashed to the floor as the goalkeeper stuck out his arms to collect a deflected cross.
The award stood after a VAR check and Engels sent Oxborough the wrong way from the spot.
There were more penalty appeals after the break with Balmer getting away with a risky touch on Maeda as the winger headed out of the box and Maswanhise appealing strongly for handball against Carter-Vickers.
Celtic had a huge let-off when former Hoops striker Tony Watt inadvertently blocked Marvin Kaleta’s header on the goal-line and the hosts soon scored from their own corner in the 57th minute. Liam Scales flicked on Engels’ delivery and Maeda ran in to head home from close range.
If the Motherwell players still retained hope of getting something from the game, the sight of Kuhn, Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi entering the field in a triple substitution in the 63rd minute might have tested their belief.
Kaleta showed plenty of ambition with a bursting run to set up Apostolos Stamatelopolous but the Motherwell sub dragged his shot well wide.
All doubt was extinguished in the 74th minute when Kuhn collected Anthony Ralston’s square ball and fired a shot from 25 yards which took a major deflection off Balmer and deceived Oxborough.
Hatate got in on the act on the 81st minute. The Japan midfielder made space 22 yards out after some quick passes and fired into the bottom corner.
Meanwhile, Kilmarnock heaped more misery on Aberdeen with a dominant 4-0 victory at Rugby Park.
The Pittodrie side saw their winless run extended to seven games after an abject display in which they were second best throughout.
Killie took a deserved lead when skipper Kyle Vassell forced the ball over the line at the second time of asking with 19 minutes on the clock and they would double their advantage just before the hour-mark after David Watson found space to flick beyond the keeper.
Innes Cameron came off the bench to coolly add a third in the 87th minute and there was still time for fellow replacement Bruce Anderson to complete a tremendous afternoon for the hosts in added time.
Derek McInnes’ men have moved within three points of a top-six place. Aberdeen remain in third, though continue to lose ground in their efforts to claim a spot in the top two.
Irish duo Roland Idowu and Killian Phillips, who are on loan from Shrewsbury Town and Crystal Palace respectively, both started in St Mirren’s surprise victory.
Rangers’ resurgence came to an abrupt end as Caolan Boyd-Munce’s stoppage-time strike gave St Mirren a win.
After a poor start to the league season, Philippe Clement had got his side firing, but they were well off the pace in the first half in Paisley and trailed at the break to an Oisin Smyth penalty on the half-hour mark.
With the introduction of midfielder Nico Raskin and Brazilian striker Danilo at the start of the second half, the Light Blues began to play with conviction and the latter levelled in the 61st minute, but the home side steadied and substitute Boyd-Munce drove in a dramatic winner in added time.
Another Rangers negative was defender Leon Balogun going off early in the first half after pulling up and, with John Souttar also sidelined, it could leave Clement short of centre-back options ahead of games against Motherwell and Celtic in the next week.
It was a signature win for the Buddies, who revealed before the game that former Gers defender Declan John had extended his contract with the club until the end of the season.
John made his first start for the Saints, while striker Toyosi Olusanya returned from suspension, with Alex Gogic was reinstated to the defence.
Jack Butland returned in goal for Rangers after dropping out minutes before the win over Dundee at the weekend to rush to the birth of his daughter — and he was culpable for the home side’s penalty.
Balogun, holding midfielder Connor Barron and attacker Nedim Bajrami returned to an in-form Gers side who had to look back to October for their last defeat in 90 minutes.
The early stages were all hustle and bustle before Balogun pulled up with an injury.
The first real goalmouth action of note, however, came when Butland raced out needlessly and unconvincingly to barge Greg Kiltie to the ground as the Saints player went to take control of a long ball.
Referee David Dickinson immediately pointed to the spot and Smyth, who scored a late free-kick winner against Ross County on Saturday, sent the keeper the wrong way with an accomplished penalty.
Clement and Vaclav Cerny were booked by Dickinson soon afterwards for complaining too long about St Mirren’s Marcus Fraser blocking off Hamza Igamane’s run to no punishment.
Saints keeper Ellery Balcombe did not have a save to make until he gathered a tame shot by the Moroccan striker just before the break.
Clement had to take action and he brought on Raskin and Danilo for Barron and Bajrami and there was instant improvement.
Skipper James Tavernier came close with a free-kick from 25 yards and then Balcombe saved a shot from Danilo before Cerny crashed a right-footed drive against an upright.
But after making a goal-line save from Danilo, the Paisley keeper was eventually beaten from close range by the Gers substitute as the St Mirren goal continued under siege.
Igamane blasted a shot over after combining with Cerny, who then powered in a drive from distance which just cleared the bar.
At the other end Saints substitute Alex Iacovitti and Robin Propper jumped at a corner and the ball rebounded off the near post.
The game swung from end to end.
A mistake by Propper allowed Olusanya to race clear, but Raskin got back to see off the danger.
Among the usual plethora of substitutes, 17-year-olds Callum Penman and Evan Mooney replaced John and Olusanya, but it was another replacement, Boyd-Munce, who proved the match-winner in the third of six added minutes.
He met a Mooney pass and drilled a shot low past Butland from 20 yards to sink the Gers.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Celtic Killian Phillips Liam Scales Roland Idowu Soccer Top Bhoys