Scottish Premier League - Round-up: 7-up Celtic

Eurosport - Sat, 28 Feb 17:53:00 2009

A Shunsuke Nakamura hat-trick and a Scott Brown double gave rampant Celtic a 7-0 victory against 10-man St Mirren to send them within four goals of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premier League.

2008-2009 SPL Celtic Shunsuke Nakamura - 0

Buddies defender Jack Ross was sent off in the first half at 1-0 for a penalty-box foul on Scott McDonald with St Mirren 'keeper Chris Smith saving Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink's spot-kick, but that failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the champions who put in their most productive 90 minutes of the season.

Nakamura's first-half double had given Celtic a comfortable lead but they ran riot after the break, scoring five, with Spanish midfielder Marc Crosas grabbing his first goal and Saints' John Potter scoring an own goal to complete a nightmare afternoon for the visitors.

Celtic joined Rangers on 60 points and closed in on their Ibrox rivals' goal difference after Walter Smith's men only scrape past Hamilton 1-0 earlier in the day thanks to a Barry Ferguson goal.

The Rangers captain was born and raised in the Lanarkshire town but, with the title race so close, there was no room for nostalgia as he grabbed his first goal of the season.

Ferguson had not found the back of the net since May last year but picked the ideal opportunity to rediscover his goalscoring touch.

An under-strength Heart of Midlothian moved five points clear in third as Michael Stewart fired the only goal away to top-four rivals Dundee United.

Hearts played without a recognised striker for the whole match, but Stewart drove home a 62nd-minute winner with their only shot on target.

United were handed a lifeline in the shape of a controversial late penalty, but Janos Balogh saved Francisco Sandaza's poor effort.

Aberdeen dropped two precious points in their bid to qualify for Europe in a disappointing goalless draw with Kilmarnock at Pittodrie - and they nearly finished empty-handed.

Darren Mackie had a goal chalked off for offside and Javan Vidal shot wide in a painfully dull first period.

But the visitors had the better openings in the second half with Jamie Hamill being denied excellently by Jamie Langfield before Craig Bryson hammered the ball off the post.

Motherwell extended their unbeaten run in the league to nine games with a 2-1 victory at bottom club Inverness.

An error by Ryan Esson enabled John Sutton to put the visitors 1-0 up but Caley were level before half-time through a Grant Munro goal.

Cillian Sheridan, on loan to Motherwell from Celtic, grabbed the winner eight minutes into the second period.

Hibernian and Falkirk did little to ease the pressure on their respective managers Mixu Paatelainen and John Hughes in an Easter Road stalemate.

Both teams have found wins hard to come by lately and this was a result that neither wanted.

The visitors created the better chances and Inverness' defeat meant they eased two points clear of their relegation rivals.

However, the Hibernian fans made their own frustration clear as boos sounded around Easter Road at full-time, with the home side slipping further behind in the race for a top-six finish.

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Comment 7 - 26 of 26

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  1. yeh james i suppose the last 3 titles were a figment of­ my imagination .

    it will be four

    From simonk, on Sun 1 Mar 8:11PM

  2. bhoys against bigotry and on to four in a row..nacho­ for captain lol

    From zzgus f, on Sun 1 Mar 8:02PM

  3. point 32 only in your wee world of delusion

    From jamesm watp, on Sun 1 Mar 5:01PM

  4. there is a difference between the original ira and the­ more recent provo ira. one was a valid resistance army­ and the other murderous scum.what about that fact has­ escaped you pair of retards?

    From jasonsinclairx, on Sun 1 Mar 3:24PM

  5. steven j ..still looking for a morsel of attention.very­ unstable little man with little imput on the football­ front ,yet very candid on the sectarian issue's.my­ advice to you is consult a psychiatrist and tell them­ all u want is'' to be loved'' .CHEER UP­ SON !!!

    From nice_mr_mofo_bastard, on Sun 1 Mar 2:48PM

  6. ah james and his we are the people drivel
    get a new­ line james its getting boring .
    4 in a row is still­ going to happen

    From simonk, on Sun 1 Mar 1:23PM

  7. dont let this result fool you its still rangers title­ we are the people

    From jamesm watp, on Sun 1 Mar 12:45PM

  8. pt 10 your right about what you said paul g is all­ about football but the likes of haigy he should be­ banned from this page and all the other pages

    From paul, on Sun 1 Mar 11:41AM

  9. ,jhuh

    From Craig, on Sun 1 Mar 11:37AM

  10. 21 - The song was SEASONS IN THE SUN, by Terry Jacks­ (1976, I think). The words sang on the terraces were WE­ HAD JOY, WE HAD FUN. WE BEAT RANGERS 7-1. WON THE­ LEAGUE, WON THE CUP, TOLD THE HUNS TAE GET TAE F**K!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Sun 1 Mar 6:18AM

  11. steven j, they were fighting for their country, they­ were forced to become "murdering scum" as you­ call them, their land was invaded, if Britain had been­ invaded by the Nazis you would have had two options,­ become a Nazi or fight them, so what would you be­ steven? "murdering scum" or a Nazi? be­ interested to know.

    From inverkenny, on Sun 1 Mar 4:56AM

  12. there is nothing wrong with the IRA, the Irish are a­ proud people and im sad to hear Celtic fans turning­ away from singing their praises, that is not sectarian,­ but singing about being "up to your knees in­ fenian blood" is, and giving Nazi salutes is­ racist, so get a grip, say hello to the Provos.

    From inverkenny, on Sun 1 Mar 1:22AM

  13. hey dont get me wrong i know there are celtic fans­ singing stuff that also should be stopped . but nowhere­ near the same scale . but if we dont try and stop our­ own fellow fans what hope have we got with our rivals

    From simonk, on Sat 28 Feb 11:54PM

  14. its th west of scotland? a cancer in society !!im still­ hearing i r a chants,as a celtic fan first and foremost­ i would like for that to stop..its th glasshouse­ theory!

    From zzgus f, on Sat 28 Feb 10:25PM

  15. zz i know that comment was mild .but it goes against­ everything it means to be a celtic supporter in my book­ .
    if the rangers fans that spout rubbish here cant and­ wont evolve it does not mean we should go into the­ gutter to match their sick verbal abuse

    From simonk, on Sat 28 Feb 9:55PM

  16. BORO 2 LIVERPOOL 0 Superb result for the wee men from­ Teesside eh

    From butchkins, on Sat 28 Feb 9:32PM

  17. BORO 2 LIVERPOOL 0 Superb result for the wee men from­ Teesside eh

    From butchkins, on Sat 28 Feb 9:32PM

  18. simon that comment was mild..somedays on this page its­ verbal histeria,with th river rats such as haig and th­ sloth spouting bile about no suspender, and th fact­ that big jock knew he had eleven scottish bhoys that­ could win a european cup... at least with paul­ g its total football and nothing else so let it be as­ it is hail hail

    From zzgus f, on Sat 28 Feb 8:56PM

  19. hey nev is there any reason to stoop so low . comments­ like that have no place on a football forum .

    From simonk, on Sat 28 Feb 7:58PM

  20. paul g every point matters have you looked at the­ table? celtic and rangers are exactly the same barr a­ few goals so we'll see how things stand at the end­ of the season.

    From brackishboy69, on Sat 28 Feb 7:32PM
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