CELTIC 3 ST MIRREN 0: Bhoys bounce back from Ibrox off-day… but Rodgers goes on the offensive over fans’ lack of patience
For half an hour, St Mirren proved a tough nut for Celtic to crack.
And with every backward pass, every failed attack, the home support had to keep their impatience and frustration in check. Wrongly, according to Brendan Rodgers.
“It was 0-0 for the first 20 minutes,” said the Celtic manager, “and if we made a backwards pass the crowd would be on to the team.
‘That can’t happen. One, if you understand football, and two, if you can understand it, when teams come here, they will make it very difficult.
“You can’t show up every week and score three or four in 20 minutes. Teams are well organized, teams are well set up, you have to work on the game.
‘I don’t need the cheering when it’s 3-0, and the support when it’s three, four and five-nil.
Two-goal Nicolas Kuhn celebrates his second of the afternoon with Arne Engels
Rodgers hails skipper Callum McGregor at full-time before turning his ire on the supporters
Trusty was recalled to defense in place of Scales and scored his first goal for the club
‘This team needs it. So if we decide to go back to change the point of attack, clap on the players, don’t panic.
“Don’t attack them, because we’re trying to launch another attack.”
As time expired, Rodgers and his team emerged from a rough week that ended with cuts, bumps and bruises, but no sign of any lasting damage.
The Scottish champions answered questions about their ability to bounce back with a reassuring win over St Mirren. On a day when Philippe Clement’s Rangers dropped more points against Hibernian, the gap at the top fell to 13 points.
Despite losing the skirmish, Celtic show no sign of losing the war.
With summer signings Adam Idah, Arne Engels and Auston Trusty restored to the starting line-up, an unspectacular performance never again Real caught fire, but came a lot closer to expectations than the passive fare at Ibrox.
Making his first league appearance since December 7, Trusty justified his inclusion with his first Celtic goal, shortly after Nicolas Kuhn had broken St Mirren’s stubborn resistance with the opener after 33 minutes.
After frustrating Celtic for a long time, Trusty’s half-time goal gave the hosts peace
The German – Celtic’s top scorer this season – claimed his 16th goal of the season after a terrible mistake by returning Saints keeper Zach Hemming, who gifted the champions a third goal that deserved their dominance.
Since beating Rangers on Boxing Day, Stephen Robinson’s side have now lost three against Dundee, Kilmarnock and Celtic as they cling to a top-six spot.
The Saints manager pointed to Hemming’s lack of recent games and absolved the loan signing of any blame. Back from Middlesbrough for a second loan spell after Ellery Balcombe was recalled by Brentford, Hemming had almost nothing to do until the time came to pick the ball out of the net and his day took a very downward turn.
Celtic came alive after 33 minutes of simmering frustration from the stands.
Luke McCowan, one of three changes to the team that lost to Rangers, sent Daizen Maeda down the left flank into rare space. Despite suspicions of offside, a VAR check showed the opposite.
So often wayward with his final ball, this one was low and controlled by Maeda, who picked out Kuhn. The winger took his tally for the season to 15 by scoring enough with his low strike to drive the ball too close to Hemming’s body for the keeper to keep him out.
Returning loanee Zach Hemming collides with Fraser and Gogic, giving Kuhn his second
Celtic’s top scorer drives off after scoring his second goal, much to Hemming’s dismay
When a late defensive clearance presented Maeda with the opportunity to once again burst into space and smash the ball towards goal, Hemming raced miles off his line to deal with it in an unconventional manner.
For the first time since the opening minutes, St Mirren looked ragged as Marcus Fraser gestured for his teammates to calm down and relax.
That’s easier said than done when the champions have the wind at their backs and home advantage.
St Mirren’s composure failed them fatally as Celtic claimed second place after some atrocious defending of a corner.
Auston Trusty’s first goal in green and white came after a difficult few weeks for the American international. The 26-year-old was taken off the pitch at half-time in the Premier Sports Cup final against Rangers and subsequently succumbed to a dose of flu.
Trusty was offered a reprieve after Liam Scales endured a day to forget at Ibrox and marked his first league appearance since December 7 by nodding an Arne Engels corner down into the corner of the net two minutes before half-time. Defender Richard Taylor’s role in the goal was one to forget, with the number 5 completely shutting down.
Trusty’s header marked an excellent return to the starting line-up after a seasonal flu
Rodgers just smiled at the red-hot Kuhn, but was less positive about his post-match offers
That loss of concentration before half-time must have been a huge source of frustration for Robinson. The dam had now really broken through.
A power outage on the east side of Glasgow early in the second half offered St Mirren’s best hope of avoiding more damage. As the floodlights switched to a backup power source, the big screens, the club’s TV transmitter and the on-field VAR monitor went black, at least for a while.
Celtic’s third goal was a personal disaster for the returning Saints signing Hemming. The on-loan keeper brilliantly managed to deny Kuhn his second goal of the match when a lightning counter from Celtic saw the excellent McCowan collect from Kasper Schmeichel and send the German through on goal.
As every goalkeeper knows, the road from hero to zero is treacherous and sometimes painfully short. Just a minute later, Hemmings gifted Kuhn his 16th goal of the season when he inexplicably let a relatively innocent English heel slip from his grasp during an argument with Fraser.
There might have been worse players who could palm the ball up to three meters away. From memory it is difficult to think of one.
Given the chance to stake his claim for a starting spot ahead of Kyogo Furuhashi, Idah blasted a volley off the crossbar, with the offside flag denying the Irishman the fourth goal as he turned into the net from close range.
St Mirren had their one – possibly only – chance when substitute Jonah Ayunga threatened to capitalize on a Cameron Carter-Vickers miscue, with Kasper Schmeichel keeping a clean sheet.
In the final minutes of a comfortable win, some supporters broke into song in honor of returning prodigal son Kieran Tierney. Another source of anger for the manager, Rodgers, accused them of ‘disrespect’ towards current left-back whipping boy Greg Taylor and general fans.
When his side lost 3-0 to Rangers at the end of the week, it was a bold stance.
CELTIC (4-3-3): Schmeichel6; Johnston 7, Carter-Vickers 6.5, Trusty 7, Taylor 6; McCowan 7 (Hatate 70), McGregor 6.5, English 7; Kuhn 8 (Yang 70), Idah 6 (Furuhashi 84), Maeda 7 (Palma 84). Booked: No. Manager: Brendan Rodgers.
ST MIRREN (3-5-2): Hemming 4; Fraser 5, Gogic 5, Taylor 4.5; Bwomono 5, Phillips 6, Boyd-Munce 6 (Idowu 83), O’Hara 5.5 (Smyth 63), Tanser 5 (John 84); Kiltie 4 (Oseni 63), Olusanya 5.5 (Ayunga 63). Booked: Fraser. Manager: Stephen Robinson.
Referee: Grant Irvine.