Celtic’s 11-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership got reduced to 9 after tonight’s 0-0 draw to St Johnstone at Celtic Park. Their best chance came from Charly Musonda’s lobbed in free-kick towards Kristoffer Ajer who could not hit it away from the opposition keeper. Alan Mannus picked it up with ease and did well for the remainder of the game.
The first half was marked with an unenthusiastic Celtic side who struggled to get a proper grip on the game. Johnstone kept threatening with quick counters after picking up the loose balls from their own half.
On the half an hour mark, Blair Alston drilled in a box into the penalty area which only missed the goal by a matter of inches over the crossbar. The second half was pretty much a similar story in terms of dominance from the league leaders.
The complacency of being the domestic competition winners for six seasons in a row might have been their biggest curse tonight for the Hoops. The result can be forgiven but the fans would have enjoyed a more energetic display ahead of the Europa League clash against Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday.
Here are the Celtic player ratings for today’s game.
Dorus de Vries – 5/10
A terrible clearance in the early stages could have cost his side dearly but got bailed by Jack Hendry. Few of his passes were inaccurate.
Cristian Gamboa – 5/10
Back in the starting XI after a long time and the 28-year-old did look a bit rusty. He put in a decent shift from the right. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Jack Hendry – 5/10
Not very solid at the back. He was very clever with the ball as well and did not allow MacLean to settle in the Celtic half.
Kristoffer Ajer – 6/10
Could have gotten on the scoresheet tonight. The teenager still has to mature in terms of handling pacey attackers.
Calvin Miller – 6/10
He provided a lot going forward but was caught out of position on a couple of occasions. Can be attributed to the lack of playing time on a regular basis.
Eboue Kouassi – 5/10
He carried out his defensive duties well but struggled to formulate the Celtic attacks from the heart of the park.
Callum McGregor – 6/10
A tireless runner and a composed head alongside Kouassi. He drilled in an appetizing ball across penalty box which unfortunately did not meet any of the Celtic’s players’ feet.
Charly Musonda – 7/10
One of the best offensive threats for the Hoops tonight but not clinical enough. He still threatened with sharp touches and a few quick runs from the wide areas. The freekick was his best effort and might just be tired from the midweek Europa league game.
Tomas Rogic – 5/10
Not fit enough to appear for the full 90 minutes but still looked like his old self creatively.
Scott Sinclair – 6/10
Started off the game with a lot of energy but disappeared in the late stages.
Odsonne Edouard – 4/10
Very uneasy with the ball, Edouard failed to impose his talents on the opposition.
Substitutes :
Moussa Dembele – 5/10
Had to be brought on for the struggling Edouard and had one headed effort stray wide from goal.
James Forrest – 5/10
A fresh pair of boots was needed but Forrest did very little in the 30 minutes that he got.
Kieran Tierney – 6/10
He made an immediate impact after coming on to find Sinclair in open space.
