Celtic 5-0 St Mirren

Celtic swept St Mirren aside this afternoon as a hat-trick from Gary Hooper and goals from Georgios Samaras and Dylan McGeough

Celtic came roaring out of the traps and blew St Mirren away this afternoon.  Georgios Samaras got the show underway on 4 minutes when he collected the ball after Marc McAusland failed to make a clean connection on the ball.  Samaras still had a lot to do and carried the ball into the box.  With defenders closing in from all around the Greek striker placed his shot instead of going for power.  St Mirren keeper, Craig Samson got a hand to the shot but the ball spun slowly towards goal and settled 8” over the line.

Four minutes later, a clearly confident Samaras drove into the St Mirren penalty box before cutting the ball left for Anthony Stokes, who’s fired cross was turned over the line from 3 yards by Gary Hooper.

Samaras was running the show but was hampered by a knock to the ankle which he took a few moments to recover from.  This coincided with St Mirren’s best period of play as the visitors gained more possession and territorial advantage in the period before half time.

Celtic started the second half just as brightly as they did the first as Hooper and Kayal could both have added to the score, however, the third would arrive 8 minutes into the second half.  Victor Wanyama played an excellent forward pass to Stokes who hit the goal line before cutting back for Gary Hooper.  Hooper collected with his back to goal but spun and shot in a sweeping move that left Samson with no chance.

Hooper completed his hat-trick on 57 minutes when he tried to play a one-two with Stokes but the ball was returned by a defender, allowing him to chip the on-rushing Samson.

18-year-old Dylan McGeough made his first impact as a Celtic player minutes after replacing James Forrest when he collected the ball 10 yards in front of his own box, ran 70 yards into the St Mirren box, before creating space and despatching Celtic’s fifth goal.  An unforgettable moment for the young player.

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