St Johnstone 0 Celtic 1 – David Potter’s McDiarmid Park Musings
A satisfactory, even a happy night for Celtic, and the “treble treble” still lives, but some themes remain. In the first place, there was absolutely no reason for not wearing the green and white hoops tonight (yes, yes, I know it’s all about selling crappy replica strips but Celtic should really be above that, should they not?), and we are still short of goals.
That said, this was a chalk and cheese performance when compared with Sunday. It would have been a travesty if St Johnstone had taken this one to extra time, for Celtic were so dominant with Kieran Tierney outstanding once again, and the introduction of Tom Rogic and Lewis Morgan a significant factor as Celtic raised the ante.
The defence, including the much abused and pilloried Jack Hendry, was virtually faultless – and it looks likely that, for one reason or another, we are going to need Jack Hendry in the next few weeks. Scott Bain is not so clean a shot stopper as Craig Gordon, but his distribution is far better.
And Mr Boyata? Well, there is no way of keeping him out of the news these days, is there? He had had a great game, and although the referee was looking for a way of getting him (the game was on TV, after all!) Boyata really should know well enough not to give the referee the opportunity to brandish a red card. The noble art of keeping one’s mouth shut is very much one to be cultivated, Dedryck! You would not have been popular if the Saints had turned their one man advantage into a late and undeserved equaliser.
Scott Brown? A great performance, but I sometimes wonder if he should try a shot more often. Goal scoring is not one of the things that Scott is famous for, but there is such a thing as a surprise weapon, and it might have paid dividends against such a stuffy and well-organised defence as St Johnstone had last night.
It was nice to see Olivier Ntcham back, but one does feel, yet again, that Callum McGregor may have shaded a little since last year. That miss just on the half-time whistle was the mark of a man who has lost just a little confidence.
The idea of pairing Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths was at least a partial success, but Leigh had at least two chances that were easier to put away than the one he eventually scored. It was nice to see him running to the crowd after he scored, as well. The boy’s heart is definitely in the right place!
There was always the fear that if we didn’t score a goal, St Johnstone might, but this was a poor performance from the local side who will struggle to stay in the Premier League on that showing. Like Kilmarnock, the penny has not yet dropped about housing all their fans in the one stand and allowing Celtic to populate the other three. But it is good to go to a stadium where they encourage and help the buses to get away promptly, rather than do their best to be obstructive and awkward, and if you think I have Celtic Park in mind, you are correct.
Mr Beaton actually was having a good game, until he and Boyata fell out in injury time. It was all so silly on the part of both protagonists.
And so it is Hearts in the semi-final. When and where will probably became clear today or tomorrow, but they will be tough opponents. But Aberdeen on Saturday first. We face such challenges with renewed confidence after last night.
David Potter
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