There can be few complaints about the result. We gifted Celtic some simple goals in the first half and the only consolation is they didn't end up scoring more than one after the break. The defending was a shambles and a few players need dropped - the problem being we have no one to replace them. We must improve as we are shipping goals all over the place and if this keeps up we are in real danger of being involved in a relegation battle. Thank goodness Celtic took their foot off the gas in the second half or we'd have been in even bigger trouble.
David Barron started in place of Sam Parkin as we reverted to a simple 4-4-2, with David van Zanten and Graham Carey on the wings. Injury to Thomas Reilly saw youngsters John McGinn and Jack Smith make the bench. Gary Hooper and Tony Watt led the line for Celtic with Charlie Mulgrew a danger from set pieces and Victor Wanyama and Joe Ledley also in from the start despite the upcoming game with Barcelona.
For a brief moment it looked as if this could be a fruitful afternoon for Saints. After little happened in the opening 10 minutes, van Zanten whipped in a terrific cross that Lewis Guy met on the volley and Fraser Forster made a decent save to keep it out, although he did need two bites of the cherry. That was as good as it got, Craig Samson called into action a few minutes later to make a simple save from a Joe Ledley shot. Simpleness was the common theme as what happened a minute later was far too easy for the visitors. Lassad was given all the space he needed to drive the ball across goal and Hooper was left with a simple tap in, the ball bouncing off him into the net. Usually when you're up against one of the most in-form strikers in the UK it's a good idea to have someone marking him.
Perhaps we felt that hadn't been easy enough for the champions as a few minutes later came a Samson shocker. There were no complaints when Lee Mair was booked for scything down Watt but Mulgrew's delivery looked easy enough to deal with. Instead, Samson dropped it and Efe Ambrose gleefully forced it home before setting off for a somersault. Two down after 18 minutes and it was as good a game over, with damage limitation now already beginning to loom large in the minds of the Buddies. Admittedly we did create a chance five minutes later when Guy wriggled free near the corner flag and cut the ball back. It was out of Steven Thompson's reach but almost perfect for Kenny McLean, however the midfielder's shot was pretty much straight at Forster.
But another Celtic set-piece - a corner this time - finished us off after half an hour. When Adam Matthews put the ball into the box it bounced off Paul Dummett and fell just right for Wanyama to fire it past Samson. Not content with that, Wanyama added a fourth five minutes later, bringing a decent passing move to an end with a superb curling finish from 25 yards. At this rate we were looking like conceding double figures, it was that bad. The break saw Barron hooked and Dougie Imrie take his place as van Zanten returned to rightback. Celtic's Kelvin Wilson, who seemed to have a knock, was replaced by Emilio Izaguirre.
We had a glimmer of a chance when Thompson got onto the end of a cross but his header was always going wide and the same could be said of a shot from Watt. Guy almost conjured up a great chance for Thompson when he did brilliantly to get the better of Ambrose and squared the ball but once again his strike partner couldn't get anything on it. Samson got away with another slip when he failed to hold Beram Kayal's shot, Ledley deemed to be offside as he raced in to score the fifth.
Ledley had the visitors' next chance as well, Samson this time doing enough to divert the shot around the post. Another rare opportunity arose at the other end as Thompson headed Carey's corner over. It was a brief show of resistance as Hooper fired in a shot that was straight at Samson before Wanyama and sub Miku went close from a corner.
But the best chance came at the other end after Carey reclaimed possession and cut the ball back for Thompson, only for his shot to be blocked by Forster and Carey to blast the rebound off target. Thompson was, unsurprisingly, our main goal threat as he headed wide from a Vanzy cross before firing narrowly over from Jim Goodwin's delivery. It was the skipper's last involvement - incredibly he'd avoided a booking - as he was replaced for the last 15 minutes or so by young John McGinn. It was the midfielder's debut and probably the only bright spot on a dire day, Miku almost making things worse when he had a goalbound effort deflected behind for a corner before Hooper's woeful attempt at a lob was easily dealt with by Samson.
Four minutes from time a miserable day for Saints was capped off when Celtic got their fifth. This time the cross came from the left, Izaguirre delivering for Watt to send an unchallenged header past Samson. The Hearts fans will be delighted we conceded a fifth goal to Celtic in the 86th minute... The sixth almost came in stoppage time as Wanyama headed against the bar as he very nearly grabbed a hat-trick before Samson made a great save to deny Hooper. Thankfully for us they made do with five.
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