Celtic romp in the rain as Caley crumble
Nice weather for ducks….and Celtic fans
After Kyle Lafferty grabbed a hat-trick on Tuesday night, you probably could have got decent money on Georgios Samaras grabbing three for Celtic on Wednesday night. The cruel fans would draw parallels between the diddy players scoring the goals in the diddy cup but there was a job to do…and both sides did it.
Its a bit churlish to be critical of Celtic after they won 6-0…so we certainly wont be…but it has to be said that at time they were pretty sloppy. Inverness Caley had the better of the opening exchanges and looked brighter at the start of the second half but when Celtic got their game going, they were by far and away the better team.
You could sense the momentum building in Celtic and it was no surprise when Samaras opened the scoring, directing Joe Ledley’s well driven shot into the net. It was 2-0 not long after when Gary Hooper turned in the box and remained cool to glide the ball home.
Samaras then hit the bar when he controlled well and ran in on the goalkeeper but it seemed to be a typical moment from the Greek striker. When moments later he was presented with a similar chance, he tried to compose himself and his chipped effort should have been hooked away but for once, luck was on the side of Samaras.
After the break, where Celtic initially placed Forster under a bit of pressure with needless backpasses on a tricky surface, Samaras created his hat-trick through tenacity, dig and then a good finish…although perhaps Tuffey should have reacted better to palm the shot away.
The three goals may have been more than normal but it was a standard Samaras performance. At times exhilarating, at other times frustrating. Its clear that many Celtic fans have had enough of the player but to his credit, he never hides.
Sometimes he probably should but he kept returning for the ball and was always looking for the pass.
The Greek striker was hooked to give him an ovation and from there, Anthony Stokes took over with 2 goals. His first was from the penalty spot after he was taken out by Tuffey and then the last goal of the game was the best. Stokes rifling him from outside the box, leaving the Celtic fans rather content in the rain.
The downside for Celtic would have been the loss of Izaguirre with injury and some poor defensive work from Glen Loovens. Joe Ledley looked to be pulling the strings in midfield and although some of Efrain Juarez’s passing was slack, he continually made good runs to support his forwards.
Part of the reason Juarez was able to make good runs was down to the movement of Stokes and Hooper. Quite often, either of the strikers would drop deep, pulling the defence out and opening space for a ball over the top and a player rushing through.
When you consider this is how Samaras got two chances in the first half, this movement could be worth looking out for when Celtic play with these two up-top.
Caley weren’t that bad, they’ll play worse and win in some SPL games but as soon as Celtic got the two first half goals, there really wasn’t the belief to trouble Celtic.
A long trip home for the boys from up north but a pleasing but not entirely trouble free night at the office for Neil Lennon.
Then again, 6-0….you would take that sort of troubling game every time if you were a Celtic fan.
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