There was very little for Accies fans to enjoy in this 4-0 defeat at Celtic Park. The Champions scored twice in each half as Accies made very little of the limited possession they enjoyed. The best chance fell to James McArthur, but his second half spot kick was saved by Celtic 'keeper Artur Boruc.
Celtic 4 Hamilton Accies 0
Clydesdale Bank SPL
Celtic Park, Glasgow
Saturday, 4th October 2008
Accies were simply outclassed by the champions in this game. Although they played some pretty passing football on occasion, they had no answer to Celtic's superior ability in all positions. Billy Reid brought Chris Swailes into the team, with Tony Stevenson sitting this one out. This was in an attempt to solve the right back problem, with david Elebert moving to the right of a new look defence. before the game, Billy had said that the player he feared most was Celtic's top scorer Georgios Samaras, so it was a slight relief that he was only on the bench. This was not to last for long, as he replaced Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink after about a minute after the Dutch striker had been injured when fouling Brian Easton.
Accies started the game reasonably, but as the first half wore on they were pushed deeper and deeper by the home team. Celtic started to up the tempo and as they did so, they really seized control of the game and really stretched the Accies midfield and defence. A goal was always on the cards and it duly arrived after 25 minutes when Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura had time and space to control an Aiden McGeady cross at the back post before firing past Tomas Cerny. David Elebert should probably have dealt with the cross, but it's not fair to pick out individual players for errors when the team has been outclassed in this manner.
Celtic had their chances to increase their lead, with Scott McDonald thudding a right footed shot against Tomas Cerny's post. They did get the second goal they deserved after 37 minutes when Samaras side footed the ball past Cerny from the edge of the area. It was beginning to be a question of how many Celtic would score but Tomas Cerny was doing his best to limit the damage. One save at the feet of McGeady was superb.
This depressing pattern of play continued after the interval, although Billy Reid tried to shake things up by replacing Chris Swailes and Derek Lyle with Stephen Ettien and Mark Corcoran. Neither were able to make an impact on the game, with Celtic having most of the possession and Artur Boruc just a spectator at the far end.
The game went into a bit of a lull until Scott McDonald scored a third goal for Celtic after 76 minutes. Initially it looked like Martin Canning had done a good job to block the little Aussie's route to goal. Then he was away from Canning in a flash and tucking the ball under Cerny from close range. Accies picked up a bit after this and started to mount some attacks on the Celtic goal. It was good to see them starting to come out of their shell, although a consolation goal still looked unlikely.
Then, suddenly, James McCarthy made a run into the area and was brought down by Gary Caldwell. Referee Conroy stunned the home fans by awarding a penalty kick and James McArthur insisted on taking the spot kick, grabbing the ball away from Joel Thomas. James is not known for his dead ball ability and his poor spot kick was saved by Boruc, diving low to his right. the ball bobbled into the air and James got his head to it, but Boruc saved again before the ball was hoofed clear. If anything proved that this was not a good day for Accies it was this.
If anything, Boruc's saves and subsequent celebration dance for the fans lifted Celtic and they pounded forward in search of more goals. They only got one, with Aiden McGeady scoring from close range after Sean Maloney had skinned both Simon Mensing and Martin Canning on the goalline. Happily, this was to be the end of the scoring and the torture for Accies and their fans. Alex Neil was yellow carded for dissent, as was Gary Caldwell for a foul. James McCarthy was very fortunate not to suffer a similar fate for persistent fouling as was Barry Robson for throwing himself to the deck inside the area just before Simon Mensing tackled him.
The reality of this was that Accie offered only token resistance to Celtic and the margin of victory could have been a lot worse. Accies now have to pick themselves back up after the International break for the vital game against St Mirren at NDP. The challenge for Billy Reid is to make them forget about this game and remember that they are still a decent team. There's no disgrace in losing to a team assembled at high cost, earning astronomical wages and with the financial clout of Celtic. This was a case of a game that had to be endured rather than enjoyed and Accies will just have to get over it.
Celtic: Boruc, Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Robson, Nakamura, Scott Brown (O'Dea 81), Crosas, McGeady, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras 3), McDonald, Samaras (Maloney 77). Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Donati, Hartley, Caddis.
Booked: Caldwell.
Goals: Nakamura 25, Samaras 37, McDonald 76, McGeady 83.
Hamilton: Cerny, Mensing, Elebert, Swailes (Corcoran 46), Easton, Neil, Graham (Thomas 77), McCarthy, Canning, McArthur, Lyle (Ettien 46).Subs Not Used: Murdoch, Casement, McClenahan, Akins.
Booked: Neil.
Att: 55,881
Ref: S Conroy
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