Like hyenas preying on wildebeest, Celtic rip apart any notion of St Mirren being their nemesis
Going into the 37th minute of the Premiership champions’ Paisley challenge, the possibility of the Australian having spoken too soon was entering thoughts. The concession of an opener from Mark O’Hara – in an echo of Celtic’s 2-0 defeat at the ground in September, albeit this time from the penalty spot – and vice-like clamping of the visitors’ attacking threats by Stephen Robinson’s men had made sure of that.
But Postecoglou’s team now boast substance and slaying properties that have burgeoned across the five months since. And when a red-card costing intervention from St Mirren defender Charles Dunne gave them reason to pique their predatory instincts, they pounced with a bloodlust as if a pack of hyenas preying on a helpless wildebeest.
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Hide AdA five-goal, 35-minute mauling in the second period, during which half-time substitute Liel Abada – on for an ineffectual Dazien Maeda – proved ravenous, Celtic wrought such devastation, the afternoon ended with the visitors bagging a quintet of strikes for the third time in a month, two of these coming against the unfortunate Paisley team.
The contest flipped on its head as the result of what those of a home disposition would consider Dunne not using the grey matter in his cranium. But what Postecoglou instead chose to consider was a direct result of Kyogo Furuhashi deploying body and mind to induce a calamatious error. In truth, both explanations were relevant. Dunne was certainly at fault in underhitting a passback to his keeper as he came under pressure from the Japanese striker. The St Mirren centre-back more than compounded this initial mistake by yanking back Furuhashi after he had snuck goalside of him to pounce on the loose ball. Not every forward, though, would have been so alert to set up the panic-stations that led to Dunne doing himself in.
Referee David Dickinson was quick to brandish red but, having initially also pointed to the spot, he was then asked to consult his VAR monitor after operative Andrew Dallas adjudged the contact to have taken place a smidgen outside the penalty area. It was borderline judging from replays. The Celtic manager was terse in his analysis of a system he has little-love for. “It is what it is, mate. It doesn’t miss anything, VAR,” he said in his post-match media, having added “especially with us” in his radio interview minutes before.
No doubt this was a catty reference to the retrospective penalty awarded to St Mirren with which the contest had opened. Loud appeals from the home players had followed an Alex Greive flick coming off the away-from-his body arm of Greg Taylor as the pair tussled just inside the box. Dickinson was unmoved by any protestations but three minutes later, a break in play brought a tannoy announcement that there was an on-going VAR check for a penalty. Communicated to Dickson that he ought to take a look at the manner the ball struck Taylor, television evidence also suggested he arrived at the correct decision in then signalling for a spot-kick. An opportunity for a third goal in as many games against Celtic for O’Hara that the St Mirren captain made count, despite Joe Hart guessing correctly the midfielder would send the ball low to his right.
Even if they were pushed back before Dunne was dismissed, St Mirren will wonder whether they could have repelled Celtic for a further 45 minutes, had they began that period with their full complement as they were tasked with protecting an advantage.
In truth, the likelihood is that Celtic will still have found a way to win handsomely even in that scenario. The evidence the points to that conclusion is hardly of the scant variety. Not when Celtic re-established their nine-point advantage in the Premiership through recording a 24th win from 25 domestic confrontations without loss since their home-front invincibility was punctured in Paisley. Moreover, the fact the five-goal rampage in little more than half-an-hour means they have hit the net 250 times in their 99 games under Postecoglou demonstrates they are rarely other than meat and drink for 11-strong Scottish opponents.
It still did feel like a major turn of events for them to find goalscoring such a breeze following five halves at St Mirren Park when they had been stymied. The floodgates were prised open come 56 minutes courtesy of the ball being worked rapidly down the right. It led to an Abada back-heel into the bath of Mooy, who pinged a ball over that Jota, sliding in, was able to force over the line messily as Ryan Strain attempted to block. Five minutes later it was 2-1 when Johnston was able to rise O’Hara and head the ball off the back of his opponent and in. There were some post-match chat on Sky that the strike may not have belonged to the Canadian, and so not meant a first goal for him following his arrival in the January transfer window. “Good luck with that,” said the Celtic manager of any moves to deprive the player of a first strike for his new club. “Ali’s been really good for us and I thought he was solid defensively, as he has been, but he was a real threat [today]. He didn’t have to do a lot of defending but he had to do more on the attacking side and he contributed well, particularly with Liel on the right hand side.”
Abada’s driving from that area proved a menace that made a mauling. A dreamy touch took him into the box and allowed him to tee himself up to smash into the corner in the 70th minute, before he crossed for Matt O’Riley to knock-in on the half turn within a further 180 seconds. The flurry was completed by VAR not missing in favour of Celtic, Dickinson awarding a penalty after another trip to his monitor following Oh Hyeon-gyu hitting the deck after a push and pull of his jersey by Alex Gogic. It allowed the South Korean striker to place his name on the scoresheet with a little hop and skip run-up before tucking his 81st-minute penalty into the corner. By then, Celtic were hop, skipping and jumping all over what had early felt like an opponent that could once again prove a nemesis on their own patch.