Marc-Antoine Fortune's second-half brace helped Celtic win 4-1 away
to 10-man St Johnstone on Sunday to go within seven points of
Rangers.
Liam Craig gave Saints the lead from the spot in the 12th
minute after Glenn Loovens had tugged Steven Milne inside the box
and for the rest of the half the home side looked comfortable
enough.
However, the game turned in the visitors' favour after Perth
defender Graham Gartland was sent off seconds into the second half
for a professional foul on Fortune.
The former Nancy striker equalised with a wonderful angled
drive in the 64th minute and notched a second from close range,
either side of a Georgios Samaras drive, with substitute Paddy
McCourt sealing the win with a late solo goal.
Gartland's dismissal has to be taken into consideration but
the Parkhead side, without a single Scot in their starting line-up,
certainly looked in the mood and must be confident of taking three
points in the game in hand against Kilmarnock to put pressure on
Rangers.
Celtic got off to the worst possible start when Loovens
restrained Milne to prevent the Perth striker latching on to a
clever one-two with Kenny Deuchar and referee William Collum
pointed to the spot. Craig stepped up to send Celtic goalkeeper
Artur Boruc the wrong way with a well-taken penalty.
The visitors responded quickly and moments later midfielder
Zheng Zhi's effort sped through a packed penalty box only to be
cleared off the line by Saints midfielder Jody Morris.
Loovens' woes continued when he was replaced midway through
the first half after clashing heads with Deuchar, Paul Caddis
coming on as substitute and Darren O'Dea moving into the middle
alongside Josh Thompson.
As McDiarmid Park became enveloped in increasing darkness,
with the floodlights apparently not fully working, Celtic took time
to adjust to the switch.
However, on the half-hour mark, as Celtic broke with pace,
midfielder Aiden McGeady set up Niall McGinn wide on the right but
the Northern Ireland international smashed his shot high and wide.
The hosts looked comfortable in what remained of the first
half but two minutes into the four minutes of added time, after a
mistake by Gartland, McGinn smashed the ball against Perth
goalkeeper Graeme Smith from close range when it looked like an
equaliser was certain.
Around 14 seconds after the restart Gartland was shown a
straight red card by referee Collum for a tackle on Fortune at the
edge of the Saints box when he was judged to be the last defender.
McGeady drove the resultant free-kick against the Perth
side's defensive wall and the home side's punishment remained at
playing most of the second half with 10 men.
Moments later, Saints substitute defender Steven Anderson
came on for Milne as the home side reshuffled.
However, Celtic gained complete control of the game and in
the 53rd minute McGeady played a one-two with Fortune but slid his
shot from 12 yards high over the crossbar.
Samaras then mis-kicked eight yards out from McGinn's
cut-back before the Greece striker missed an even easier chance,
hitting the outside of the post from 10 yards after being set up by
Fortune.
Hoops boss Tony Mowbray threw on McCourt for right-back
Andreas Hinkel and the pressure on St Johnstone intensified. Smith
made a fine point-blank save from O'Dea's close-range volley but
the home side survived yet another corner, before Paul McGowan
replaced Zheng with Peter MacDonald replacing the tiring Deuchar
soon after.
But the Celtic goal eventually arrived in the 64th minute
when Fortune took a McGowan pass and from 16 yards fired a
wonderful drive past the flailing Smith and into the far corner.
St Johnstone somehow survived in the 73rd minute when O'Dea
missed from barely six yards out after Smith had parried McGeady's
shot into his path.
Smith then made a fine save from McCourt but the respite
lasted only seconds, until the 76th minute when Samaras pounced on
Thompson's knock-down inside the St Johnstone box to send a
left-footed volley low into the corner.
With 10 minutes remaining the beleaguered Smith did well to
parry McCourt's long-range drive but Fortune was perfectly placed
to send the rebound through the goalkeeper and into the far corner.
McCourt then rattled in a fourth after a trademark run to
give added gloss to the win which, it has to be said, looked less
likely at the break.
