IF you want Hampden in the sunshine, you sometimes have to negotiate McDiarmid Park in the rain.
Celtic won their 34th consecutive domestic cup tie to reach the Scottish Cup semi-finals, and there can’t have been many grittier wins than this among them. Given that record though, to suggest it was a triumph that owed to fortune would be doing Celtic a great disservice.
Rather, it was a result that owed more to Neil Lennon’s side dipping into their reserves of experience and knowhow, as well as one moment of real quality from Ryan Christie, as his devilish free-kick delivery evaded everyone and nestled into the net. There was some dubiety around whether Christopher Jullien got the final touch, but the identity of the scorer was secondary to the importance of the goal itself.
The goal tally from the previous nine meetings between these sides sat at 30 to nil in Celtic’s favour, but this was never likely to be another bloodbath on the Perth mudbath. It was fitting that the game was held on the Sabbath, with the heavy pitch and the sodden, mud-caked players a scene that wouldn’t have looked out of place in any Sunday league game up and down the country.
Given those adverse conditions, the football on display at times didn’t much rise above that level, although in fairness to the players, they remained committed and did produce chances at either end.
There was only one change for the hosts from their draw here with Rangers last weekend, Scott Tanser coming in at left-back for Callum Booth.
Visiting manager Lennon reverted to the back three that has served Celtic so well since the winter break, with Nir Bitton coming in for Jozo Simunovic after his horror show against Copenhagen on Thursday night and Leigh Griffiths returning to partner Odsonne Edouard in attack. Crucially, Christie would also return after sitting out Thursday night through suspension.
The home side started brightly and had a couple of early sniffs, Matt Butcher volleying wide after Fraser Forster had punched clear a cross.
Celtic soon started to apply some pressure of their own though, and Zander Clark was forced into his first save as Callum McGregor’s low shot threatened to squeeze under him, the Saints keeper’s rear-end just generous enough to keep the ball out.
Jamie McCart’s header from a David Wotherspoon free-kick then flashed just past at the other end, before the game was dragged down to the level of the quagmire of a surface it was being played on.
A terrible attempt at a cross-field pass from Christie game Saints encouragement though, the impressive Drey Wright seizing upon the ball and forcing Forster into a save that brought a corner. McCart subsequently forced the Celtic keeper into another decent stop as he headed Wright’s delivery on target.
The more direct style of St Johnstone was more suited to the conditions, with Celtic struggling to create much of note as the first-half wore on, their passes sticking on the pitch and the home defenders able to pick the ball off as visiting players focused on getting their first-touch right, a feat they didn’t always manage.
They managed to string together a decent more just after the re-start, Christie and James Forrest combining to unlock the home rearguard before the latter dragged wide, and they should have had the lead shortly afterwards.
A mistake from Jason Kerr saw the ball squirm through his legs to Edouard, who cut inside well to open up the goal but then directed the ball high and wide as he tried to apply the finish from 12 yards.
Clark then spilled a Forrest shot that only just evaded Griffiths following in as the visitors finally got a handle on the conditions, before a driving run from McGregor produced a chance for Christie, the attacker evading a couple of tackles in the area before firing wide.
Lennon threw on Tom Rogic for Griffiths, and he produced a lovely exchange with Edouard that gave Christie the best chance of the game, but he fired at Clark from close range. The ball was helped back in and Edouard’s flick brought out another great save from the keeper, with Jullien’s follow up somehow squirming wide off a Saints body.
Saints came off the ropes swinging though, and Kris Ajer’s daft foul on Stevie May gave them a great opportunity on the edge of the area that Tanser fired into the wall. Jullien then denied May with a great block from the edge of the area as the action swung from end to end.
Celtic broke and McGregor, who was nursing an arm injury picked up when Nir Bitton fired a clearance off him from close range, played Forrest away down the right. His progress was halted by a thumping challenge from McCart that brought the defender a caution, with further punishment to follow.
Christie swung the ball in towards Jullien at the front post, and while he appeared to touch it past Clark to nestle in the far corner, he said afterwards that he hadn't made contact, though his run was crucial in where the ball ended up. It was perhaps a slightly harsh outcome on the dogged hosts, but Celtic, as they have shown so often, just know how to get the job done.
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