Hooper pops up to ensure late Celtic win
Sometimes it’s good that football gets the headlines
There was a lot of press speculation and internet chat before this match about the minutes silence for Remembrance Sunday and you got the impression that some people were rubbing their hands at the thought that Celtic fans would disrupt it. So much so that a representative of one of the more unhinged Rangers fans site allegedly had someone in the crowd recording it, so any disturbance could be posted online and shared with the world.
There was disappointment for the nutters but everyone else was relieved that the minute passed without incident and people could get back to focusing on the football.
The first half wasn’t one of the more exciting 45 minutes of the season, Celtic looked the stronger team but there weren’t too many goal-mouth chances. In the second half, the first real chance came when Michael Higdon smashed a long-ranger off the bar but from there, it was virtually one way traffic.
You have to wonder what Neil Lennon was going on about in his post match chat when he said Celtic were fantastic. They weren’t Neil, yet again, the midfield looked over-exposed with the Mexican Efrain Juarez not finding his rhythm after a period of time out. However, Ki Sung Yueng was excellent in the middle of the pitch with a fine range of passing but you cant expect the South Korean to do everything. Lennon earned the win though with a number of substitutions, all of which pushed Celtic further up the park.
Daryl Murphy has his critics but the big striker won a lot of balls and helped Celtic hem the home side in. Niall McGinn got behind the St Mirren backline and started making space in the forward areas. And Paddy McCourt….well, he was coming deep to pick the ball up but just when Celtic needed him most, he turned up in the danger zone.
The winner was inspired once again by Paddy McCourt who had two St Mirren defenders dangling on a string before he played a sharp ball into the mixer. Hooper reacted first and when his initial shot was blocked, he was able to poke the ball home to send the Celtic fans mad.
Hooper stayed firmly on the field of play but the away fans were a bit over-excited and some entered the field of play. Ian Brines decided that Hoopers celebration was worthy of a booking, which appeared utterly farcical but no doubt the policeman will be able to say the card was within the rules. And to be honest, if you guaranteed Celtic an injury time winner every game, their fans would accept a booking for the celebrations.
The task for St Mirren is to keep that energy and enthusiasm going into their next games but to be fair to the Buddies, they have been on a reasonable run of form of late. Home defeats against the big Glasgow two is no disgrace and St Mirren will feel hard done by with the loss.
Which is fair enough but Celtic kept on going to the final whistle and ensured their fans had the last cheers on a day that may well be remembered at the end of the season.
Luck or determination?
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Hooper’s booking was a joke, not his best game but another goal is making him look a real star in the making.
Sorry Chaps, but the highlights on the Beeb Sport site clearly shows he did leave the field of play and would have been right up to the advertising hoardings were it not for the linesman positioning himself to prevent that. I doubt those fannies who encroached the pitch would have done so had Hoops not ran to them, last minute winner or not. Booking deserved. This trend in recent week of arming our enemy has to stop, we have a big enough fight on our hands as it is.
Glad for the points and it’s great to see Ki taking charge in the middle – even as recently as Tannadice I thought he couldn’t take or make a tackle and was still way too slow to react while on the ball – but he really looks settled now. WTF’s going on with Juarez? First start in ages and he’s still careering around like a hairy Gravesen. Miles off the pace, and that’s a worry.
Have to agree with aldo this business of fans reacting the way
way they did after Hoopers goal has to stop somebody is going to get a serious injury if this continues ffs it was only St Mirren we were playing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!