Wright’s big day ends in home thrashing

Agony for record-breaking boss as on-fire Hoops stick six past sorry Saints side

ST JOHNSTONE 0 CELTIC 6

Dedication is what you need if you want to be a record breaker.

However, there was also desperation, frustration and aggravation for St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright as his team were thrashed by Celtic.

It would have been nice had the occasion of the Northern Irishman’s 198th top-flight match in charge of the Perth club – one clear of the great Willie Ormond’s previous record – been an auspicious one.

Unfortunately for Wright, though, he watched his team get ripped apart at McDiarmid Park by the Hoops, who were five up at half-time.

Man-of-the-match James Forrest had grabbed four for himself by then and it eventually finished at six, with Saints playing 42 minutes of the second half with 10 men thanks to Danny Swanson’s red card. The visitors were happy to play the ball about thereafter but still added goal number six through Callum McGregor on 85 minutes.

Saints had made two changes to the side that kicked off against Hearts last time out. Matty Kennedy and Chris Kane dropped to the bench, with David Wotherspoon and Swanson coming in.

On four minutes, there was a scare for Celtic when an attempted clearance from keeper Craig Gordon struck home striker David McMillan but, thankfully for the Scotland goalie, the ball ran to safety.

There a glorious chance for the Perth side on six minutes when a Blair Alston cross found Swanson. The midfielder caught it on the half-volley but Celtic survived.

The hosts had another go a couple of minutes later when a fine delivery from Drey Wright was nodded goalwards by skipper Joe Shaughnessy.

Gordon rode to the rescue again, getting down low to make the stop.

Play swung up to the other end and Forrest fired in a shot that Clark did well to reach then McGregor’s follow-up was also blocked. Saints had started quite well despite Clark seeing plenty of the ball but they suffered a self-inflicted wound on 15 minutes.

Scott Tanser slipped and allowed Forrest to race upfield from his own half. The wide man played in Odsonne Edouard and the St Johnstone keeper was called into action again. Sadly for Clark and his team, the loose ball broke perfectly for Forrest and he fired home the opener despite Clark getting a hand to it.

The ubiquitous Clark then fingertipped away an Edouard low shot but he was beaten again on 22 minutes.

It was Edouard’s turn to score, with a nice first touch enabling him to take a Kieran Tierney pass at pace and then ping a shot into the far corner from 12 yards out.

On 27 minutes, the outstanding Clark got his hand to a Leigh Griffiths freekick before a brilliant move from the champions made it 3-0 on the half-hour.

The fabulous Forrest started it all off, printing forward before sending the ball to Tom Rogic. The Australian was quick with the one-two and Forrest was in the clear and slammed home the third by giving Clark no chance.

On 38 minutes, it was four as the home defence caved in to hand Forrest his hat-trick. Rogic was the creator again, sending the Scotland star clear and Forrest poked the ball past Clark.

Just seconds before the break, it was 5-0.

Remarkably, Forrest was on target again after Rogic sent him away. The winger still had a lot to do but he kept his cool before picking his spot.

St Johnstone brought on Steven Anderson for Richard Foster but the damage was done. Just three minutes into the second period, it went from extremely bad to even worse for the hosts when Swanson was shown a straight red card for a terrible tackle on Forrest.

The good news for Saints was that Celtic dropped the tempo considerably after that, while the hosts looked a tighter unit with 10 men than they did with 11.

However, sub Lewis Morgan fired not too far over the St Johnstone bar from 20 yards then McGregor hit the hosts for six. The Scotland midfielder prodded the ball past Clark after another sweeping Celtic move had seen him get played in by captain Mikael Lustig.

Mercifully, that was the end of the scoring and the Saints players wandered up the tunnel, no doubt looking forward to a wee lie down.

Scotland fans, meanwhile, will be hoping on-fire Forrest can produce another display like this in Israel on Thursday night.

SNS. James Forrest, above, is congratulated by Leigh Griffiths after scoring his fourth – and Celtic’s fifth goal; right: Forrest beats Zander Clark for his second; far right: Saints players are downbeat after Celtic’s sixth.

Callum McGregor races away to celebrate after scoring Celtic’s sixth of the afternoon.

Tommy Wright was in charge of his 198th top-flight game for Saints.