Hoops’ front two KO Accies on Boxing Day
HAMILTON ACCIES 0 CELTIC 3 Edouard (pen 49), Griffiths (54), Turnbull (74) If Neil Lennon’s side made appropriately heavy weather of this one on a day of filthy winter weather in Lanarkshire, they ended winning it in cosy fashion.
Hoops fans have been accustomed to the occasional stumble in recent months and when the score was goalless at halftime, there must have been more than a few who thought, “Here we go again”.
Especially with Rangers having stretched their lead at the top of the Premiership – temporarily as it turned out – to 19 points with their win over Hibs earlier in the day.
Manager Neil Lennon has overseen a resurgence, however, and here his team dug deep to prevail on what was a brutally cold afternoon at the Fountain of Youth Stadium. Celtic’s line up had showed clear intent. Up front, they had Odsonne Edouard alongside fans favourite Leigh Griffiths in a formidable looking two-man attack.
Behind them in midfield, in a diamond four formation, were both Ryan Christie and David Turnbull.
On either flank, Jeremie Frimpong and Greg Taylor were two fullbacks who had clearly been given instruction to bomb forward.
The former, in particular, was deployed almost as a winger and he came so close to helping his team take the lead when driving down the right and picking out Griffiths with a whipped cross into the box.
The Scotland striker got a great contact and plenty of power on the ball but was frustrated as his header came back off the base of the post.
It was as close as Celtic were to come in the first half with David Turnbull seeing his efforts either blocked or saved time after time.
Accies, for their part, kept it nice and tight at
the back and waited for the chance to hit the visitors on the break.
David Moyo almost caught the Hoops defence out when scampering through after a mistake by Frimpong but the Dutchman showed his pace when darting back to recover.
Fired up by their manager’s half-time team talk, Celtic upped the tempo after the interval and quickly established dominance.
And manager Neil Lennon was rewarded for his boldness of selection with his two frontmen making the difference. Especially Edouard.
The French star first won a penalty, drawing a foul in the box from Aaron Martin, before converting coolly for 1-0.
Then he turned provider, teeing up Griffiths who finished with conviction to double his team’s lead.
That Celtic deserved their breakthrough was undeniable but it was a shock to see the game turn so completely in just a few minutes.
Accies manager Brian Rice, who had been catching more than his share of the wind and lashing rain as he paced the outer edges of his dugout, looked briefly forlorn.
Giving up is not in his character, though, and he was soon back encouraging his players on to greater efforts.
He was joined in his shouts by Lennon who was clearly desperate to do everything in his power to ensure his team did not give Hamilton any encouragement whatsoever.
His team took note for they finished the game off as a contest by adding a third.
Edouard was again at the heart of it. The rebound from his header off the post fell perfectly into the path of David Turnbull who slotted a right-foot shot into the net.
The former Motherwell man has been in top form recent weeks and here again he was at the heart of all that was good about Celtic’s play.
With Edouard and Griffiths also looking sharp there is plenty of reason for fans to feel good about the remainder of the festive programme that lies ahead.
Accies meanwhile can take heart from the fact that not all games will be this testing and, in fairness, they do continue to show plenty of spirit even when things are going badly against them.