SPL: Celtic 4-0 Hamilton Academical

Oct 5 2008

GORDON STRACHAN couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he piled praise on his players for jumping back to the SPL summit.

And the Celtic boss had every right to be chuffed after watching his side sweep Hamilton aside.

Yes, the quality of opposition wasn't great but on the back of a Champions League defeat this was a potential banana skin.

However, Celtic won at a canter thanks to goals from Shunsuke Nakamura, Georgios Samaras, Scott McDonald and Aiden McGeady. And they could easily have bagged seven or eight against the First Division champions.

Strachan said: "It could have been a difficult one on the back of the European game. It was wet and windy and we knew our attitude had to be right.

"But we played with energy. Aiden worked hard and played well. Nakamura played well and Marc Crosas was fantastic.

"Barry Robson could have been man of the match whileArtur Boruc played his part in the win. They all played well."

Hamilton couldn't live with Celtic at times although they missed a great chance to score when James McArthur's penalty was saved by Boruc at 3-0.

Strachan made four changes to the side that lost to Villarreal with Shaun Maloney, Paul Hartley and Samaras dropping to the bench and Lee Naylor out injured.

Robson took over from the Englishman at left-back while Crosas was restored to midfield.

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and McDonald formed the strikeforce but Strachan's plans were disrupted in the first minute.

The Dutch hitman went off with a stomach injury after a challenge from Accies full-back Brian Easton and was replaced by Samaras up front.

Vennegoor of Hesselink will be assessed today but will probably be forced to withdraw from the Holland squad for their forthcoming games with Iceland and Norway.

Strachan said: "The only downside from our display was that big Jan picked up an injury to his adductor muscle.

"We'll see how he is but we hope we're not without him for any length of time."

He wasn't missed yesterday and the Hoops opened the scoring in 26 minutes.

McGeady whipped in a cross that was misjudged by David Elebert before falling for Nakamura. The midfielder took a touch then drilled the ball home from five yards.

McDonald almost grabbed a second five minutes later when his strike from 10 yards smacked off Tomas Cerny's post.

But Samaras was more lethal in 37 minutes when he put his side two up. Nakamura sent a lovely ball in to the path of the Greek striker and he let it roll on to his right foot before firing low past Cerny from 15 yards.

McGeady then missed a great chance to increase the lead after he was well set up well by McDonald. Hamilton were disappointing in the first half, with Parkhead keeper Boruc totally redundant.

Accies gave their all but lacked the class and imagination to penetrate the opposition.

Billy Reid reacted and made two changes in a bid to liven up his side. Marc Corcoran and Stephen Ettien came on for Chris Swailes and Derek Lyle - a move that gave Hamilton more options.

But they nearly fell further behind in 53 minutes when Easton almost volleyed McGeady's cross in to his own net.

Celtic piled on the pressure in search of a third and played some lovely football.

McGeady was at the heart of it and moved inside from the right wing to occupy a more central role - almost like a classic inside left.

It suited him, while the movement in wide areas was also good from Strachan's side.

Robson seemed to enjoy his new role and was comfortable on the overlap as he delivered some inviting balls into the area.

However, Hamilton stuck at it and created a couple of chances.

Corcoran was given a free header from seven yards while McArthur let rip with a 20-yarder that had Boruc scrambling. But Celtic killed the game off in 76 minutes whenMcGeady slipped a pass to McDonald.

The Aussie beat Martin Canning to the 50-50 ball then rolled it past Cerny from seven yards for an impressive finish.

Just two minutes later Hamilton were awarded a penalty when Gary Caldwell fouled James McCarthy.

McArthur's run up was far from convincing and Boruc got down low to his right to save.

The Celtic keeper could only scoop the ball in to the air but McArthur's follow-up header was also saved by the Pole.

It wasn't the best way for McArthur to celebrate his 21st birthday weekend.

And gaffer Reid said: "That's probably the worst game James has played here but he'll bounce back and has a big career ahead."

Celtic piled on the misery in 82 minutes when McGeady grabbed their fourth.

Sub Maloney - on for Samaras five minutes earlier - danced past Simon Mensing and Canning and slipped a lovely pull-back into McGeady's path. The Republic of Ireland star then slotted in a right-foot shot from eight yards.

Reid and his players will need to put this pounding behind them and the international break may be coming at the perfect time.

The Hoops would love it to be so simple every week. But it won't be. Question is, will that be down to themselves or the opposition?

REF WATCH

STEVE CONROY had it easy. The game was played in a good spirit and both sides tried to entertain. Rating: 6/10.