Three cheers
While close rivals Aberdeen and Kilmarnock played out a 0-0 draw, Celtic extend their lead at the top with a 3-0 victory over Hamilton Accies.
CELTIC 3 HAMILTON ACADEMICAL 0
ON the face of it, this match would appear to anyone not present to be another routine home win for Celtic, but it was a strange old afternoon.
That Celtic deserved their victory was beyond question. They created enough chances to win three or four matches, yet they were indebted to Ryan Fulton for the first two goals as the Hamilton goalkeeper’s performance on the day veered wildly between the sublime and the ridiculous.
As it was, a fortunate goal in the first half from Callum McGregor and further strikes from Ryan Christie and Scott Sinclair moved the champions three points clear of second-placed Kilmarnock. But the topic of conversation on the supporters’ buses and in pubs after the match would not have been centred on what happened in this forgettable game.
Instead, the message to the Celtic board from the fans about the subject currently occupying their minds was loud and clear, when they unveiled a banner at the start of the game that read “10-in-a-row is not a project, back Rodgers or lose him”. Whether that message will be heard, the manager himself remains unconvinced.
“We know where we want to improve – whether we can or not, we’ll have to wait and see what we can get done,” said Rodgers, who celebrated his 46th birthday with another three points.
“There’s a few days to go yet. The plan would be to do something but if we don’t, okay. That’s where we’re at.”
And where this Celtic team are at after the winter break is more than enough to dismiss the likes of Hamilton on their home patch, even if it wasn’t as straightforward as the romp against St Mirren last Wednesday.
They fired an early warning shot across Hamilton’s bows as a cleverly worked corner saw Fulton forced into a save as McGregor volleyed Mikey Johnston’s delivery on target.
The keeper made an even better stop after a wonderful weaving run from Scott Sinclair from the left saw the winger in on goal, but Fulton got a fingertip on his effort to divert the ball on to the bar.
Rodgers gave Timothy Weah his first start for the club, and he should have had his third goal since arriving as Scott Martin undercooked a backpass to allow him in on goal. But Fulton again did well to close the angle and smother the striker’s shot.
If you are related to the Hamilton keeper, this is where you might want to stop reading. After all his heroics, he dropped a howler five minutes before the break to give Celtic the breakthrough. A low shot from 20 yards from McGregor should have been meat and drink, but the effort slipped through his hands and then his legs as it squirmed into the net.
Remarkably, Accies could have been level moments later as Tony Andreu picked up the ball from Aaron McGowan’s blocked shot and poked just wide from the edge of the area.
Celtic managed to create an opening for Sinclair on the hour, but his poor touch allowed Ziggy Gordon to make a great sliding block.
Rodgers made a double change soon after in an attempt to liven things up a bit, with Oliver Burke and James Forrest coming on for Weah and Johnston. They made an immediate impact, Forrest bursting into the
area and cutting back for Burke, but Hamilton had enough bodies back on the line to scramble his effort clear.
The Celtic pair then got into a fankle to blow a glorious chance as a long ball was misjudged by Fulton as he came out to head clear, allowing Burke to race in on goal. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Forrest ran into his path, and the split-second of hesitation allowed Accies to get bodies back and block to safety again.
The home side were almost made to pay for their profligacy as from nowhere, Steven Boyd suddenly found himself goal-side of the Celtic defence. Kris Ajer slid in and got a foot to the ball to take it away from the Hamilton attacker, then watched in relief as it slithered just past the post.
Fulton’s Jekyll and Hyde afternoon continued as he then gifted Celtic a second. An in-swinging cross from Mikael Lustig should have been collected easily enough, but the keeper palmed it up off the arriving Christie and into the roof of the net.
That knocked the stuffing out of Hamilton, and it was no surprise to see Celtic hit a third.
Scott Brown and Nir Bitton worked the ball wide to Lustig, whose cross from the right found Sinclair free at the back post to head home.
The plan would be to do something. If we don’t, okay. That’s where we’re at