St Johnstone’s unbeaten run is over.
The prospect of their Premiership hot streak reaching a magnificent seven was always a long shot but Celtic returning to top form on Christmas Eve made it pretty much mission impossible for the Perth men.
This wasn’t nearly as one-sided as Saints’ previous visit to Parkhead towards the end of last season, which ended up a 7-0 thrashing, but the result was never in serious doubt from the point the hosts took an early lead.
That there only ended up being three goals in it – and the McDiarmid Park side drew the second half 1-1 thanks to Drey Wright’s goal – meant there should be no lasting damage sustained.
Talking points
As is often the case, the Celtic goals blur into one.
Almost always they are the consequence of quicker thinking and movement than their opponents and that was certainly the case here.
From a Saints’ point of view it would be stretching credulity to talk it up as an ‘if only’ moment but Stevie May did have a good chance with a glancing header from a Graham Carey cross when the score was still goalless.
Player ratings
Matthews 7, Brown 5, Considine 6, Gordon 5, McGowan 6, Wright 6, Hallberg 5 (Mitchell 7), Phillips 6 (MacPherson 5), Carey 6 (Crawford 5), May 7 (Bair 4), Clark 6 (McLennan 5).
Saints’ star man – Remi Matthews
The Perth goalkeeper, making his first appearance since the World Cup break, wasn’t actually as busy as you might think.
You couldn’t fault him for any of the goals and he made a couple of excellent saves in the second half.
Manager under the microscope
With Adam Montgomery unable to play against his parent club, choosing his replacement at left wing-back was one of Callum Davidson’s biggest selection calls.
He went for James Brown.
It was a tough afternoon for the Englishman – as it was for all his defensive team-mates – but Brown has done well in that role on plenty of occasions in the past.
This wasn’t the day to be re-introducing either Callum Booth or Tony Gallacher.
That Melker Hallberg, Ryan McGowan, Alex Mitchell and Cammy MacPherson got plenty of minutes under their belt will be a benefit for the more winnable games coming up.
Man in the middle
Kevin Clancy didn’t get anything wrong but the same can’t be said for his assistants, Alan Mulvanny and John McCrossan.
Both got offside calls wrong and saw their decisions over-turned by VAR for Celtic’s fourth goal and Wright’s consolation.
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