RONNY DEILA praised the attitude of his players as Celtic doled out an 8-1 thrashing of Hamilton Academical to move six points clear at the summit of the Ladbrokes Premiership. Celtic claimed their first goal after just four minutes and even at that early stage it began to look as if a heavy defeat could well be on the cards. By half-time Celtic were 5-0 in front and, although the tempo predictably dropped after the break, the home side still ran in another three to underline their dominance. Hamilton, without a win to their name since late November, put up little resistance, allowing Celtic to tear through them almost at will. Come the conclusion of a staggering 90 minutes, the visitors were probably relieved that it did not reach double figures. A late consolation by substitute Eamonn Brophy was, despite his exuberant celebrations, nothing but a mere footnote. Celtic have now opened the year with four successive wins and Deila, unsurprisingly, wore the look of a contented man having just recorded the biggest win of his managerial career.
“It was a fantastic night, a very good performance,” he said. “We scored a lot of goals and could have scored more. I think we looked sharp today. I’ve seen in training in the last few weeks we have looked better and better. I felt a performance like this was going to come. We have been going since June 20 without a very long break. Now after Christmas we had some weeks when we could rest and just train and now you see more energy in the team. We could have had many more goals as we had so many chances.”
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises was that it took until Celtic’s fourth before Leigh Griffiths got in on the act but he would make up for lost time by going on to claim a hat-trick. The first two were both fired in from close range, while the third early in the second half was an audacious lob after Mikey Devlin’s attempted clearance had ricocheted against him. Griffiths could never be accused of being a flat-track bully given he scores against almost everyone these days but this was always going to be the sort of occasion that he was going to relish. When he was substituted to rapturous applause after 65 minutes it was almost possible to sense his frustration, like a kid reluctantly traipsing to the dinner table after being shouted through by his mum. He now has 27 goals for the season and is building a near untouchable claim to be crowned Scotland’s player of the season.
In contrast what a demoralising night this was for Hamilton. Already struggling for form and without a victory to their name since late November, they put up little fight against a Celtic side that was committed and clearly in the mood. The visitors had to lose by an eight-goal margin to replace Kilmarnock in the relegation play-off place and for long spells that looked a distinct possibility. Martin Canning, already under pressure given his side’s inexorable slide down the table, admitted it was “gutting” to lose so heavily but vowed to carry on in the post until told otherwise.
“When you concede goals in that manner – and lose three in 10 minutes – then you’re giving yourself no chance,” admitted the Hamilton player-manager. “We didn’t have enough leadership on the park to pull us together when we needed it. It’s bitterly disappointing. Will I get the chance to continue? We need to wait and see what happens. But I will continue to try and do the best I can.”
Celtic had lacked a spark in their previous home game against Partick Thistle and looked of a mood to atone here, scoring with three of their first four chances. Hamilton did not help themselves with the first, allowing Mickael Lustig to wander onto Stuart Armstrong’s floated free kick to glance the simplest of headers beyond McGovern.
There was nothing the visitors could do about the second as Nir Bitton assumed possession around 30 yards from goal before unleashing the most ferocious of shots that arced majestically into the top corner. With Hamilton teetering, Celtic showed they were not in a particularly charitable mood by adding a third moments later when Tom Rogic’s goalbound shot was diverted via McGovern by the unfortunate Mikey Devlin. Anyone arriving late in their seat must have cast a glance at the scoreboard and then rubbed their eyes in disbelief. “Well, that escalated quickly,” as Ron Burgundy might have said.
Then came the start of Griffiths’ contribution. A meandering Gary Mackay-Steven run set up his first and Celtic’s fourth, while his second was a tap-in from a Rogic cross. And all this with 12 minutes of the first half still to play.
Celtic made two changes at half-time and the substitutes combined for Celtic’s sixth goal after 53 minutes. James Forrest’s back heel found Scott Allan and when he supplied the return pass Forrest calmly planted a shot into the corner. A minute later and Celtic had their seventh as Griffiths completed his hat-trick.
Hamilton, remarkably, got one back when Brophy was able to squeeze a shot through Craig Gordon’s legs but the last word would deservedly belong to Celtic when Callum McGregor shot low into the corner to complete Hamilton’s misery. Neither side will forget this evening in a hurry.
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