THE OLD RUN TWO
Quickfire double from Forrest and Sinclair gets Celts back on track as the Invincibles march on
TWO frantic minutes sealed Hamilton’s fate as Celtic fired their unbeaten record to a super 69th game on the trot.
But this wasn’t as straightforward as the score would suggest as Brendan Rodgers’ Invincibles continue to show signs of vulnerability and fatigue.
Two quickfire goals inside as many minutes by James Forrest and Scott Sinclair were enough to see them through after Danny Redmond had cancelled out Olivier Ntcham’s 12th-minute opener.
But the second half was no cakewalk as a spirited Hamilton side carved and conspired to blow three huge chances.
Had they even managed to convert one of them it might have given the Hoops a scare for the closing stages, having seen a two-goal lead snatched from them by Hibs in Sunday’s 2-2 draw.
The sight of his players wilting in the last 20 minutes at Easter Road moved Rodgers to ring the changes. Kieran Tierney, Jozo Simunovic and Mikael Lustig, three players who had also endured the strain of international commitments of late, were benched with Nir Bitton, Kristoffer Ajer and Stuart Armstrong drafted in.
Martin Canning’s approach was even more radical. Just six players who started the weekend defeat to St Johnstone survived the cull with David Templeton notably among those benched.
The unfamiliar left-back role Callum McGregor was asked to fill for Celts didn’t prevent him asking the usual searching questions.
Bitton was the beneficiary of his early surge, the Israeli forcing Gary Woods into a solid stop with a 30-yard drive.
The predictably flat atmosphere seemed to have no effect on Celtic’s appetite. Armstrong grazed the roof of the net with a strike before Ntcham worried Woods with a floating shot that stemmed from Armstrong’s corner.
Even from this early stage the French midfielder looked in the mood and in the 12th minute he fired the Hoops ahead with a beautifully-taken goal.
Sinclair’s dash for the line on the left and clipped cutback found Ntcham in space 12 yards out and shaping up perfectly to execute a crisp volley into the roof of the net.
In command so early it seemed a procession was on the cards. But Hamilton weren’t reading the same script as they opened up whenever they could, determined to ask questions of their hosts.
Fortunately for Celtic, Bitton had the answer in 18 minutes when a combination by Dougie Imrie and Darian MacKinnon found Redmond ready to pull the trigger 18 yards out – only for the Israeli to sneak up in the nick of time to pop a cork down the barrel before he could get his shot off.
But after another Ntcham effort from distance was beaten away by keeper Woods leaping to his left, Accies pushed forward for another pop after 29 minutes – and this time they hit the bullseye.
MacKinnon’s low ball fed in from the left went raking across the front of the box to find Redmond prowling with intent.
One touch and a rapid leftfoot stinger was just too hot for Gordon to handle as it tucked neatly inside his top-left corner.
An absolute peach of a strike and it was a deserved reward for a confident Accies side who had come here in no mood to sit in and weather the storm.
A 36th-minute trip on charging Amstrong earned Grant Gillespie a booking and a free-kick for Celtic that Odsonne Edouard – starting again ahead of Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele – sent looping just over with a header.
But just when Accies looked like making a game of this, they were floored by a clinical double whammy five minutes before the break.
Forrest skipping on to the end of Armstrong’s searching little through ball caught Woods off guard as he rounded the keeper and tucked away his shot from a tight angle.
Within 60 seconds Celtic had stretched their lead further as the Accies defence were guilty of standing off Sinclair – never a good idea for a guy of his talents – and he punished them severely, clipping a delightful dink that curled inside the far post.
The away side must have been desperate to just get in and regroup before the damage got any worse.
But keeper Woods got a sore face as if he wasn’t hurting enough when Edouard barged into him on
the line. That challenge earned the on-loan PSG striker a booking for his trouble.
But the real slap in the face was for boss Canning watching his side lose the initiative in a damaging two-minute spell.
Edouard was twice denied by Woods making good blocks at the Frenchman’s feet within the first 10 minutes of the second half, prompting Canning to change things up before it got worse.
Gillespie, only making his first start after battling back from an injury lay-off stretching back to August, had been finding Sinclair too hot to handle so in his place came Ioannis Skondras. It worked to an extent but here’s the problem for teams taking on Celtic.
For every threat you manage to subdue there’s another handful poised to step in and give you another headache.
Step forward Griffiths, introduced after 67 minutes amid the galaxy of starry lights dotted around the cavernous stands of Celtic Park in honour of the Lisbon Lions.
Hours earlier he had posted a brilliant tweet in response to questions whether he has been frustrated at Edouard repeatedly starting games ahead of him – “Here’s yer answer. NAW I’ve no!” Now here was his chance to shine on the platform he’s known best for excelling.
Yet his arrival was nearly upstaged at the other end when Hamilton blew two golden chances to haul themselves back in the game.
First, Docherty’s drive for the line and tantalising cut-back found Rakish Bingham on the six-yard line, needing to only steer it on target for a certain goal. Instead his rash swipe hooked it across the face of goal and wide.
But if that was a huge let-off the next one on was a humdinger. Once again it was Docherty driving forward on a powerful 50-yard solo dash into the box. But with the option to either pass or shoot, he did neither – squirting a nothing effort straight to grateful Gordon.
The close calls didn’t finish there. Simunovic – who had not long replaced Dedryck Boyata – made a weak touch back towards his keeper and Bingham gleefully skipped on to it to clip a low finish across Gordon.
Only the back post saved the Celts as it cannoned back out to safety in the final confirmation that this just wasn’t going to be Hamilton’s night. Make that 69 unbeaten and counting.