IT took some doing for Celtic to go from their best performance of the entire season to one of their worst at home under Brendan Rodgers and yet they somehow managed it.
My goodness, it was a hard watch, and if ever a match deserved to finish without a goal then this was it – although St Johnstone just might feel this could have been a day in which they could well have sneaked a win given how poor – bland, probably, is a better word – their hosts were.
In saying that, neither team did enough to take three points and Tommy Wright, the St Johnstone manager, would have bitten your hand off for a draw pre-match. If only his team, which have not been up to scratch at all of late, had a bit more belief about them.
Rodgers had more than half an eye on Europa League progression as he made seven changes to the team which beat Zenit St Petersburg last Thursday; a game which was everything this one was not.
This strategy made sense but the rejigged team did not click. However, Celtic actually stretched their lead at the top of the Premiership to nine points – a year ago the gap was 27 – and none of the players who will be involved in Russia on Thursday appeared to take a knock, so it was hardly a disaster.
“Come on Rodgers, this is your fault,” shouted a man in the main stand who has clearly been in a coma since July 2016.
True, Celtic have not played as well this season as the previous one, which was a unique campaign never to be equalled, but some of the more vocal critics really need to get a grip. Or be forced to watch videos of the 1990s.
Tom Rogic made his first start since December 5. The Australian was rusty and lasted only an hour, but at least that’s another player back. This was about the only bright spot on a forgettable afternoon.
As for St Johnstone, they worked hard, defended stoutly and created chances. Perhaps this will be a performance which gets the Perth men going again.
Celtic took less than five minutes to threaten, a Charly Musonda free-kick was met by Kristoffer Ajer whose header from six yards out brought out the best in St Johnstone goalkeeper Alan Mannus.
While this early chance hinted at one-way traffic, that was not to be the case at all.
St Johnstone weren’t getting a lot of the ball – one or two touches at the one time early on – but they kept their shape and, allied to a lack of a final pass, this meant they were able to survive the 90 minutes without being breached.
It also helped that Mannus enjoyed a solid game in goal.
The men from Perth soon worked out that this was not going to be a day when the champions ran riot, which meant there was an opportunity for them, and they came close to an opener on 28 minutes.
Read more: Tam McManus: Result in Russia would be fillip for Celtic, Scotland and youths
It was too easy for right-back Blair Alston to find space and time to send in a cross, aimed accurately towards David Wotherspoon whose header rippled the top of the net.
And within minutes, a free-kick was played short to Richard Foster and the resultant shot from 20 yards wasn’t a million miles away. The locals weren’t amused. The rather pedestrian pace of Celtic’s play did not help their mood. The passing was slow, mistakes were made at the back from defenders over-complicating their jobs.
The first 45 minutes won’t be troubling any highlights package.
Celtic needed a shake and should have scored within 90 seconds of the restart. Scott Sinclair raced through the middle, St Johnstone’s defenders furiously back-peddled, he slipped the ball to Edouard whose first touch was awful – in truth he never looked like scoring – and when he did eventually shoot, the deflected effort was easily taken by Mannus.
Within moments, St Johnstone’s George Williams’s head was in his hands after a half-volley did not miss the far post by much.
Some things were at least happening now.
With 53 minutes on the clock, Musonda turned this way and then the other, with Alston’s hand always on his jersey, before he created a chance for himself and the shot from outside the area was pushed away by Mannus.
James Forrest, Moussa Dembele and Kieran Tierney were all thrown on but little changed.
As the game entered injury time, Sinclair’s low ball across goal was missed by three Celtic players inside the six-yard box. For Celtic, all thoughts turn to Thursday and St Petersburg. In truth, their minds were on the second-leg yesterday.
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