2013-01-27: Celtic 2-3 St Mirren, League Cup

Match Pictures | Matches: 2012 – 2013 | 2012-13 Pictures

Trivia

• League Cup semi final
• Treble is off as we squander the match.
• Hearts v St Mirren in final now.
• Mulgrew missed a penalty, conceded a penalty and scored a goal.
• Celtic have now lost last three games at Hampden!
• One week left of transfer window. Bangura shifted away again on one year loan deal back to Sweden (this time to Elsfborg).
• Funeral of Celtic great Sean Fallon held on Wednesday past.
• Rangers (Sevco) drew with Brechin in the league. Ha ha ha….

Review

(by Albert ein-jock-stein of KDS)
A complete and utter abomination of a performance. Neil Lennon's record at Hampden now stands at P-9 W-4 (45%) D-0 L-5 (55%) with the defeats coming against Ross County, Rangers, Kilmarnock, Hearts and now St Mirren. Not to mention today was Lennon's 25th defeat as Celtic manager.

Zaluska – At fault for the 3rd goal, shaky throughout and he is simply not good enough for us. Declined after years of being on the bench.
Matthews – Mixture of mere competence and naive defending, particularly tackling and Goncalves caused him trouble.
Wilson – Diabolical at Hampden last season and wasn't much better today. If he must play, atleast play him on the left. Rogne is a much better defender.
Mulgrew – Shocking performance. Missed our penalty. Gave away their stonewall penalty. Bullied by Steven Thompson. Late consolation goal irrelevant.
Izaguirre – A shadow of the player he was in 2010/11. Not the worst out there but he was ran ragged by Gary Teale. Needs to develop positional ability.
Brown – Best of a bad bunch. Still not great by any means, great assist for Hooper's goal.
Wanyama – Ineffective and lacked his usual determination and drive. Hopefully his mind isn't elsewhere.
Ledley – Very poor. He never gets the criticism he deserves because the perception is he is 'quietly effective' but he offered nothing today. Epitomised invisibility.
Lassad – Ineffective. Offered nothing in an attacking sense and doesn't appear to have the heart or battling qualities for these types of occasions.
Samaras – Poor. For some reason we never get the best out of him at Hampden and his 'pass' in the first half was unbelievably shocking. A true WTF moment.
Hooper – Second best player but that doesn't say much. Scored his 23rd goal of the season but too often his first touch and link up play went missing.
Lustig – Solid enough when he came on.
Commons – Poor when he came on, offered nothing productive and his 'shot' at the end was embarrassing.
Stokes – Tried but failed to offer a direct threat to Samson's goal when he came on.

I believe that for some bizarre reason, Hampden is now a stadium that creates a psychologically traumatic effect for our players. Complacency must also play a part, perhaps the players believe their own hype and that they are automatically superior to every team they face domestically. Three consecutive seasons with a realistic chance of a treble obliterated and now three consecutive defeats at Hampden in the past 10 months alone. Historically, we've only won the League Cup 14 times, lost more finals than we've won and in the 13 seasons that Neil Lennon has been an employed member of our club – as player, coach and manager – we have won the CIS Cup just 3 times. A final negative stat for you all to read is that the last time we won a game domestically after being behind was November 2011 (1 year and 2 months ago) 2-1 against Motherwell at Fir Park. The positives? It's less painful to lose a semi final than a final. The prospect of losing the CIS Cup Final to Hearts on St Patrick's Day would have been agonisingly painful. Oh and for once, we can't blame the referee and one Willie Collum; if anything he made more decisions that favoured us i.e giving us a penalty that should never have been awarded.

Congratulations St Mirren and Danny Lennon, hope you beat Hearts in the final.

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Stats

St Mirren Celtic
Possession
53%47%
90mins

Shots
6 15

On target
4 5

Corners
7 6

Fouls
9 10

Articles

St Mirren sink sorry Celtic’s treble dream

The Scotsman

By ALAN PATULLO
Published on Sunday 27 January 2013 23:17

THERE will, of course, always be days like this. It is just that, as far as Celtic are concerned, they have become increasingly common in significant games at Hampden Park.

Scorers: St Mirren – Goncalves 8, McGowan (pen) 64, Thompson 69; Celtic – Hooper 45, Mulgrew 90

Referee: W Collum

This, their third straight defeat at the national stadium, again raised some uncomfortable questions for Neil Lennon to answer.

On those rare occasions when St Mirren defeat Celtic, they tend to do it with style. Although Celtic hit the bar twice and missed a penalty, it is possible to argue that the scoreline flattered the Parkhead side in the end. Charlie Mulgrew’s rasping drive from 25 yards brought his team to within a goal of St Mirren but there was no time for any further play. The centre-half’s goal, well-struck though it was, could not atone for his penalty miss at the start of the second-half, when the score was 1-1. His side-footed effort lacked the venom required although Craig Samson still deserved huge credit for the save, having flung himself to his right.

Celtic equalised in the final minute of the first-half, and they determined to quickly gain the upper hand after the interval. However, Mulgrew’s miss seemed to set them back further. If anything, Celtic’s play was even more disjointed in the second half, and they conceded two goals in six minutes to go 3-1 down with 20 minutes still to play.

As the clock counted down, many of their supporters started to drift away from a place that is fast becoming a cemetery of hopes for them and their team. “We can see you sneaking out,” the St Mirren fans sang with glee. Who would have thought it? Certainly not Frank McGarvey, the former Celtic and St Mirren player, who last week insisted the Paisley side had “almost no chance” of creating a cup shock.

Perhaps the surprise would have been Celtic winning at Hampden. Since that 2-0 defeat by Ross County in his first semi-final in charge, Lennon has seen his side win on only four of their last nine visits to the national stadium, though this, he seemed to suggest afterwards, was the worst performance they had posted under him here.

Celtic’s travails should not detract from the quality of St Mirren’s play, however. They were in control for the majority of the 90 minutes and did not let the loss of an equaliser on the stroke of half-time, or the concession of a penalty so shortly after the interval, affect them. Indeed, while Celtic visibly wilted after Mulgrew’s effort was saved, St Mirren gained great succour from their goalkeeper’s heroics.

Celtic had allowed their opponents’ midfield to dominate and St Mirren accepted the invitation to establish an early foothold on the game, with John McGinn and Conor Newton setting the tone for excellent performances. St Mirren made the breakthrough after only eight minutes with a sweeping move instigated by skipper Jim Goodwin’s fine sliding challenge to rob Georgios Samaras of possession. He then fed Esmael Goncalves, who took the ball for a run before laying it off for McGowan.

Another two passes were completed before Newton swung the ball into the area, where the on-loan Goncalves had taken up good position between the two Celtic centre-halves. He lunged at the ball and managed to make an effective connection with his shin, the ball ending up in the net after bashing off a post.

Celtic were simply unable to get going. The rutted-looking Hampden turf can’t have helped; nevertheless, it was a surprise to see just how poor Celtic’s control of the ball was. St Mirren were playing on the same patch of grass and yet managed to look so much slicker in possession. Celtic did, though, have glimpses of goal. Hooper expertly brought down a long ball by Scott Brown that had been missed by Goodwin and then sent in a shot that clipped Samson’s bar. A few minutes later Samaras saw a header hit the bar and go over.

Celtic drew level in the 45th minute, Hooper scoring his 23rd goal of the season at the back post after Brown’s cross. Having levered their way back into the game, Celtic’s subsequent failure to make any kind of headway caused Lennon even greater distress on the sidelines. Mulgrew’s penalty woe was an obvious setback though it was also undoubtedly harsh on Goodwin, the player penalised for handball after doing well to block a Lassad shot. When Mulgrew – whose hands were in the air, rather than by his side – handled a Gary Teale effort 15 minutes later, Willie Collum, the referee, had no option but to point to the spot again. The impressive Paul McGowan showed Mulgrew how to do it, and sent Lukasz Zaluska the wrong way.

Yesterday, Samaras chose to post one of those performances that make Celtic fans howl with frustration; indeed, it was similar to the one he gave against Ross County here in 2010. At one point an attempted pass to a team-mate landed 40 yards behind him and helped spring another St Mirren attack. He wasn’t alone in being patently off-form. Commons came on for Lassad immediately after St Mirren’s second goal, while Samaras made way for Anthony Stokes soon after.

In the 69th minute, Steven Thompson volleyed Marc McAusland’s cross from the right past Zaluska. It was a brilliant finish. St Mirren then played out the rest of the game in relative comfort. Celtic were restricted to long-range efforts by the end. One of them did manage to evade Samson, who saw Mulgrew’s shot whip past him into the net. It was the defender’s failure to score from 12 yards that defined his team’s day but St Mirren’s victory owed everything to their own impressive endeavours.

Celtic: Zaluska; Matthews, Wilson, Mulgrew, Izaguirre; Brown, Wanyama, Ledley, Samaras; Lassad, Hooper. Subs: Fasan, Stokes, Commons, Lustig, Kayal.

St Mirren: Samson, Carey, Van Zanten, McAusland, McGinn, Goodwin, Newton, Goncalves, Thompson, McGowan, Teale. Subs: Guy, Barron, Mair, Imrie, Adam.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon says team played ‘like spoilt kids’

The Scotsman

By ALAN PATTULLO
Published on Monday 28 January 2013 00:00

A FURIOUS Neil Lennon has accused his players of behaving “like spoilt kids” after he saw the Parkhead side again blow their chances of a treble with a defeat at Hampden Park.

Eight straight wins and clean sheets against St Mirren since a 4-0 loss in March 2010 had established Celtic as firm favourites to face Hearts in the final of the Scottish Communities League Cup. But Danny Lennon’s team were deserved victors and Charlie Mulgrew’s late goal to make it 3-2 only served to flatter Celtic.

St Mirren, who have reached their second League Cup final in three years, took an early lead through on-loan Portuguese striker Esmael Goncalves before Gary Hooper equalised for Celtic on the stroke of half-time.

Mulgrew then saw a penalty saved by Craig Samson just after the interval. St Mirren took great heart from this boost and scored twice more, through a penalty from Paul McGowan and Steven Thompson’s fine volley.

It meant Neil Lennon has once again seen his hopes of landing a treble as manager extinguished. At least his side got as far as the final last year before being frustrated in this aim. “The treble is gone, we have only ourselves to blame,” said Lennon. “Criticism will come our way and rightly so.” Lennon placed great emphasis on the missed penalty from Mulgrew after 49 minutes. He confirmed that Mulgrew was the designated penalty-taker before the match, but he is clearly angry at the continued difficulties being experienced by Celtic from 12 yards out.

“We got a penalty and, for some reason, Charlie wants to side-foot it when I want him to put his laces through it,” said Lennon. “I am sick to death of us missing penalties. I am sick of it. That was the game-changer.

“Our reaction was poor after the second and third goals. There was a lack of discipline in our shape and in our play. Some of them behaved like spoilt kids out there. I dealt with it in the dressing-room and I am not going to speak about it again to the players. We have to get ready for another big game on Wednesday [against Kilmarnock].”

Asked about the mood of the dressing-room afterwards, Lennon said: “They are bitterly disappointed. No-one said a word, they had no choice but to listen to me. We have three more games before Juventus [Champions league last 16]. That’s as poor as we have played domestically for a long, long time.”

Lennon made it clear that he was not pinning the blame on Mulgrew, who also conceded the penalty which saw St Mirren take a 2-1 lead when he was penalised for raising his hands to block Gary Teale’s cross. No-one, he said, emerged with pass-marks, except perhaps Gary Hooper, who scored his 23rd goal of the season and also hit the bar.

“Charlie Mulgrew is the best dead ball player I have seen for a long, long time, certainly in Scotland, maybe in Britain,” said Lennon. “But I was amazed he side-footed [the penalty]. I thought he would have whipped it or put some power in it. I would be interested to see what the stats are for missed penalties in my time here. But I am not pointing the finger at Charlie. There was still a long way to go in the game. I was bitterly disappointed with our performance.

“It was soulless, it lacked intensity, it lacked desire and it lacked will to win, all the attributes this team has shown in the last six to nine months. I don’t know where this performance came from. We did not start well, so we changed it after 10-15 minutes and looked better. We hit the bar twice, but that happens. We scored a good goal. We looked a lot more like ourselves when we came out in the second half.”

And, after a third straight defeat at the national stadium, Lennon conceded: “It seems to be a bogey ground but this is the worst we have played,” he said. “I could take losing to Kilmarnock in the final and in the semi-final [to Hearts] last year, because the performances were decent. But that was awful today, from what I perceive to be top-class players. Maybe I need to look at this week in the window, and change things.

“I would like to congratulate [St Mirren manager] Danny Lennon. He’s a good guy in the game.

“But when your team does not turn up, there is not a lot you can do. I don’t want to take anything away from St Mirren and their day. However, I cannot be too enthusiastic about our own performance.”

BBC

By Andy Campbell BBC Sport Scotland
Comments (143)

St Mirren stunned tournament favourites Celtic with victory at Hampden to set up a Scottish Communities League Cup final meeting with Hearts.

Esmael Goncalves marked his Buddies debut with the opening goal, only for Gary Hooper to level before half-time.

Charlie Mulgrew had a penalty saved before conceding the spot-kick that gave St Mirren the lead a second time.

Paul McGowan scored from 12 yards and Steven Thompson netted a stylish volley before Mulgrew's late consolation.
St Mirren forwards Paul McGowan and Esmael Goncalves

McGowan and Goncalves were both on target in St Miren's Hampden victory

The Paisley side will return to Scotland's national stadium in March to meet Hearts, who beat Inverness on penalties in Saturday's semi-final.

Having not scored against Celtic in their previous eight meetings, Danny Lennon's side belied their underdog status with an incisive opener in the eighth minute.

Conor Newton dinked the ball towards the six-yard box and Goncalves' outstretched foot directed the ball in off the post.

St Mirren took great confidence from their goal and John McGinn tested Lukasz Zaluska with fierce low drive.

Celtic gradually steadied themselves and opened up their opponents with consummate ease when Joe Ledley combined with his captain Scott Brown.

The skipper nutmegged Jim Goodwin as he skipped towards goal but Marc McAusland did enough to deflect the shot out of play.

Hooper came even closer for Neil Lennon's side when he superbly controlled a long ball and rattled the top of the crossbar with a measured volley.
Play media

Interview – St Mirren boss Danny Lennon

Victor Wanyama and Georgios Samaras were both off target with efforts as the Scottish Premier League leaders continued to look menacing.

And the pressure finally told on the stroke of half-time when Hooper stayed onside to tap home Brown's inch-perfect low cross.

Celtic had the chance to go in front early in the second period after Lassad's shot had been blocked by the hands of Goodwin and referee Willie Collum pointed to the spot.

Mulgrew took the responsibility but his effort from 12 yards was palmed away by Samson.

The Celtic defender's afternoon then went from bad to worse as he blocked Gary Teale's cross with an arm and referee Collum awarded St Mirren a penalty of their own.
Play media

Interview – Celtic manager Neil Lennon

Former Celtic player McGowan confidently stroked the ball past Zaluska to give the Buddies a crucial advantage.

And Thompson gave his side some breathing space with the third goal, stooping to turn McAusland's cross into the corner of the net.

Celtic tried to respond but Mulgrew and substitute Anthony Stokes were unable to trouble Samson.

And St Mirren maintained a threat of their own with Teale hammering in a shot that forced a block from Zaluska.

A low drive by Mulgrew found its way through a ruck of legs and into the net but within seconds the final whistle sounded to the delight of the St Mirren faithful.

Live Text Commentary
90:00 +4:12 Full time

Full Time The match has reached full-time.
90:00 +3:22 Goal scored

Goal – Charlie Mulgrew – St Mirren 3 – 2 Celtic Charlie Mulgrew finds the net with a goal from just outside the area to the bottom right corner of the goal. St Mirren 3-2 Celtic.
90:00 +2:35 Substitution

Substitution Lewis Guy on for Esmael Goncalves.
90:00 +1:26

Gary Teale takes a short corner.
90:00 +1:07

Steven Thompson fouled by Mikael Lustig, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick taken by Gary Teale.
89:13

Kelvin Wilson takes the free kick.
89:13 Substitution

Substitution Paul McGowan leaves the field to be replaced by Lee Mair.
89:13

Free kick awarded for a foul by Gary Teale on Kelvin Wilson.
87:31

Joe Ledley has a headed effort from close range and clears the crossbar.
85:37

Shot comes in from Anthony Stokes from the free kick.
85:37 Booking

Booking The referee books David Barron for unsporting behaviour.
85:26

Foul by David Barron on Joe Ledley, free kick awarded.
84:49

Corner taken by Kris Commons from the right by-line, Steven Thompson makes a clearance.
83:33

Kris Commons has an effort at goal from outside the area missing to the wide right of the target.
83:33

Kris Commons has an effort at goal from outside the penalty box missing to the wide right of the target.
81:53

Graham Carey has an effort direct from the free kick.
81:53 Booking

Booking Joe Ledley is booked.
81:48

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Paul McGowan by Joe Ledley.
80:57

Gary Teale has a drilled shot. Lukasz Zaluska makes a save.
78:12

Free kick awarded for a foul by Jim Goodwin on Kris Commons. Charlie Mulgrew has an effort direct from the free kick.
77:12

Unfair challenge on Kelvin Wilson by Steven Thompson results in a free kick. Kelvin Wilson takes the direct free kick.
75:33 Substitution

Substitution David Barron is brought on as a substitute for John McGinn.
74:20

Effort from the edge of the area by Anthony Stokes goes wide of the left-hand upright.
73:06 Substitution

Substitution Mikael Lustig on for Victor Wanyama.
73:06 Substitution

Substitution Georgios Samaras leaves the field to be replaced by Anthony Stokes.
73:06

Joe Ledley produces a drilled left-footed shot from deep inside the penalty box which goes wide of the left-hand post.
70:40

Headed effort from deep inside the penalty area by Charlie Mulgrew misses to the left of the goal.
68:11

Assist on the goal came from Marc McAusland.
68:11 Goal scored

Goal – Steven Thompson – St Mirren 3 – 1 Celtic Steven Thompson scores a goal from inside the penalty area to the bottom left corner of the goal. St Mirren 3-1 Celtic.
67:20

Paul McGowan fouled by Kelvin Wilson, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick crossed by Graham Carey, clearance made by Kelvin Wilson.
65:04

Gary Teale sends in a cross, clearance made by Charlie Mulgrew.
63:41 Goal scored

Goal – Paul McGowan – St Mirren 2 – 1 Celtic Placed penalty scored by Paul McGowan. St Mirren 2-1 Celtic.
62:16 Substitution

Substitution Kris Commons comes on in place of Lassad Nouioui.
62:16 Booking

Booking Charlie Mulgrew receives a yellow card for unsporting behaviour.
62:09

Charlie Mulgrew handles the ball and concedes a .
61:42

Outswinging corner taken by Gary Teale from the right by-line, Joe Ledley makes a clearance.
60:02

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Paul McGowan by Scott Brown. Free kick crossed by Graham Carey, clearance by Charlie Mulgrew.
59:38

Conor Newton sends in a cross.
59:05

Centre by Gary Hooper.
58:31

Esmael Goncalves challenges Adam Matthews unfairly and gives away a free kick. Lukasz Zaluska takes the free kick.
56:50

Joe Ledley concedes a free kick for a foul on John McGinn. Direct free kick taken by Graham Carey.
55:57

Outswinging corner taken from the left by-line by Charlie Mulgrew.
53:35

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Charlie Mulgrew by Steven Thompson. Free kick taken by Kelvin Wilson.
52:59

Joe Ledley produces a left-footed shot from just outside the box that goes wide right of the target.
51:35

Adam Matthews challenges Esmael Goncalves unfairly and gives away a free kick. Graham Carey restarts play with the free kick. Steven Thompson is flagged offside by the assistant referee. Lukasz Zaluska takes the indirect free kick.
51:35

Esmael Goncalves fouled by Adam Matthews, the ref awards a free kick. Graham Carey restarts play with the free kick. The referee blows for offside against Steven Thompson. Indirect free kick taken by Lukasz Zaluska.
49:40 Penalty

Placed penalty taken by Charlie Mulgrew saved by Craig Samson. St Mirren 1-1 Celtic.
48:17 Booking

Booking Jim Goodwin goes into the book.
48:12

Jim Goodwin is penalised for a handball.
45:49

Effort from the edge of the box by Scott Brown goes wide of the left-hand post.
45:01

The second half begins.
45:00 +0:20 Half time

Half Time The whistle is blown to end the first half.
44:14

Assist on the goal came from Scott Brown.
44:14 Goal scored

Goal – Gary Hooper – St Mirren 1 – 1 Celtic Gary Hooper finds the back of the net with a goal from close range to the top left corner of the goal. St Mirren 1-1 Celtic.
43:36

The ball is swung over by Gary Teale, clearance by Kelvin Wilson. Esmael Goncalves produces a right-footed shot from just outside the box that misses to the right of the goal.
39:53

Corner taken left-footed by Charlie Mulgrew, Kelvin Wilson takes a shot. Jim Goodwin makes a clearance.
37:39

Charlie Mulgrew gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Esmael Goncalves. Direct free kick taken by John McGinn.
36:41

Inswinging corner taken by Gary Teale from the left by-line, save made by Lukasz Zaluska.
36:11

Unfair challenge on Steven Thompson by Charlie Mulgrew results in a free kick. Free kick taken by David van Zanten.
34:13

Corner taken by Charlie Mulgrew, save made by Craig Samson.
31:47

Corner taken right-footed by Gary Teale, clearance by Scott Brown.
31:08

Short corner taken by Gary Teale from the left by-line.
28:56

The ball is delivered by Gary Teale.
28:56

A cross is delivered by Gary Teale.
27:49

Georgios Samaras takes a shot.
26:39

Inswinging corner taken from the left by-line by Adam Matthews, Jim Goodwin manages to make a clearance.
24:37

Victor Wanyama takes a shot from a long way out which goes wide of the right-hand upright.
22:02

Effort on goal by Gary Hooper from 6 yards.
20:00

Charlie Mulgrew delivers the ball.
19:22

Inswinging corner taken by Charlie Mulgrew, save made by Craig Samson.
15:50

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on John McGinn by Charlie Mulgrew. Conor Newton takes the direct free kick.
14:04

Free kick awarded for a foul by Victor Wanyama on Paul McGowan. Free kick taken by David van Zanten.
11:49

David van Zanten concedes a free kick for a foul on Georgios Samaras. Joe Ledley takes the free kick.
11:22

Gary Teale sends in a cross, clearance made by Charlie Mulgrew. Shot by John McGinn from 20 yards. Save made by Lukasz Zaluska.
9:39

Direct free kick taken by Charlie Mulgrew.
9:39 Booking

Booking The referee shows Conor Newton a yellow card for unsporting behaviour.
9:32

Conor Newton concedes a free kick for a foul on Joe Ledley.
7:37

Conor Newton provided the assist for the goal.
7:37 Goal scored

Goal – Esmael Goncalves – St Mirren 1 – 0 Celtic Esmael Goncalves finds the net with a goal from inside the six-yard box to the bottom left corner of the goal. St Mirren 1-0 Celtic.
6:02

The referee penalises Paul McGowan for handball. Free kick taken by Kelvin Wilson.
3:27

The ball is swung over by Emilio Izaguirre.
1:40

Free kick awarded for a foul by Graham Carey on Georgios Samaras. Free kick taken by Victor Wanyama.
0:57

Outswinging corner taken from the right by-line by Gary Teale, Gary Hooper manages to make a clearance.
0:30

Short corner taken by Gary Teale.
0:00

The game gets underway.

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