How the league was won

May 25 2008 By Kevin Mcallion

CELTIC went on a rollercoaster journey before clinching three in a row during an emotional night at Tannadice on Thursday.

Their title defence was far from straightforward and a dismal December left them playing catch up as Rangers romped ahead.

Defeat at Ibrox in March then left Celtic's hopes hanging by a thread and it looked all over when Motherwell beat them at home a week later.

But Gordon Strachan's side won seven on the spin to complete a stunning comeback as their Old Firm rivals faltered. Here is Celtic's season game by game:

AUGUST 5, 2007: CELTIC 0, KILMARNOCK 0

THE SPL flag was unfurled at Parkhead but the champions couldn't find away through against a determined Killie side. Maciej Zurawski wasted the game's best chance to signal the beginning of the end of his Hoops career.

AUGUST 1, 2007: FALKIRK 1, CELTIC 4

(Higdon 5); (Milne 30 og, Miller 76, Nakamura 79, Vennegoor of Hesselink 81)

FALKIRK edged ahead thanks to aMichael Higdon strike but Kenny Milne's own goal levelled it and Kenny Miller fired Celtic in front 14 minutes from time.

Milnewas sent off for a foul that led to Shunsuke Nakamura's free-kick clincher. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink added No.4.

AUGUST 19: ABERDEEN 1, CELTIC 3

(Brewster 24); (Donati 61, Miller 85, 90)

MILLER was the hero in his last game for Celtic. The Scotland striker came off the bench to claim a memorable late double after Massimo Donati had wiped out an opener from veteran Craig Brewster.

AUGUST 25: CELTIC 5, HEARTS 0

(Berra 9 og, Donati 22, Brown 61, Vennegoor of Hesselink 63 pen, Nakamura 79)

THE Hoops turned in one of their slickest displays of the season to crush dismal Hearts who caved in after Christophe Berra's early own goal.

Donati and fellow big-money signing Scott Brown both got on the scoresheet before Vennegoor of Hesselink and Nakamura completed the rout.

SEPT 2: ST MIRREN 1, CELTIC 5

(Miranda 75); (Brown 22, McDonald 25, Vennegoor of Hesselink 53, Miranda 56 og, McManus 74)

GORDON STRACHAN freshened up his side after a gruelling midweek win over Spartak Moscow clinched entry to the Champions League group stage.

And Celts thumped St Mirren with a five-star display that featured the first of many SPL goals from Scott McDonald.

SEPT 15: CELTIC 5, INVERNESS 0

(Vennegoor of Hesselink 15, 59, Donati 41, Nakamura 56, McGuire 70 og)

THE goals continued to flow as Celtic hit five for the third league game in a row. Vennegoor of Hesselink continued his good form with a double but the highlight was a 25-yard gem from Nakamura.

SEPT 23: HIBS 3, CELTIC 2

(Fletcher 5, Gathuessi 41, Shiels 87); (McGeady 26, Caldwell 66)

KEEPER Artur Boruc had a nightmare as two dreadful blunders inflicted Celtic's first SPL defeat. Boruc let Steven Fletcher's longrange strike slip through him for the opener then fumbled Merouane Zemmama's shot to Dean Shiels for the winner.

SEPT 29: CELTIC 3, DUNDEE UNITED 0

(McDonald 7, 67, 72)

A FIRST hat-trick in the Hoops for McDonald sent Celtic top of the table on goal difference.

The Aussie grabbed the opener with a close-range header then two calm finishes made the game safe after the break.

OCT 7: GRETNA 1, CELTIC 2

(Yantorno 37); (Killen 86, McDonald 90)

A GREAT escape for Strachan's side who looked to be heading for an embarrassing defeat before two late goals.

Fabian Yantorno's free-kick set Gretna up for the biggest win in their history but Chris Killen's header hauled Celtic level and McDonald netted the winner.

OCT 20: RANGERS 3, CELTIC 0

(Novo 28, 79 pen, Ferguson 57)

RANGERS showed they would put up one hell of a fight for the title by sweeping the champions aside.

Nacho Novo did the damage with a double for Walter Smith's side.

OCT 27: CELTIC 3, MOTHERWELL 0

(McDonald 42, 59, 88)

McDONALD returned to haunt his former club with a hat-trick to help Celtic bounce back fromtheir Ibrox hammering. The man whose goals cost them the title in 2005 was becoming aHoops hero.

NOV 3: KILMARNOCK 1, CELTIC 2

(Wright 55); (McDonald 34, 36)

CELTIC won last year's SPL with a 2-1 triumph at Rugby Park and repeated the trick to stay top.

McDonald continued his hot streak with a quickfire first-half double but Frazer Wright pulled one back to make it a nervy second period.

NOV 24: CELTIC 3, ABERDEEN 0

(Vennegoor of Hesselink 14, McGeady 27, McDonald 49)

KEEPER Boruc was lost to injury in the warm-up but stand-in Mark Brown was rarely called on as the Dons were beaten in a canter.

Winger Aiden McGeady tormented the defence and scored a superb goal for the second.

DEC 1: HEARTS 1, CELTIC 1

(Velicka 90 pen); (McDonald 73)

JAMBOS hitman Andrius Velicka sparked a dismal month for the Hoops by firing a last-gasp leveller from the spot.

McDonald looked to have won it for Celtic but Gary Caldwell foolishly pushed Ibrahim Tall in the box at the death.

DEC 8: CELTIC 1, ST MIRREN 1

(Riordan 85), (McGinn 74)

OUTCAST Derek Riordan came off the bench to prevent a shock defeat.

Stephen McGinn stunned the Parkhead crowd when he fired the Buddies ahead only for Riordan to salvage a point with a cool late finish.

DEC 11: CELTIC 4, FALKIRK 0

(McDonald 9 pen, McGeady 41, 67, 82)

AN outstanding display from McGeady sparked Celtic back to life after two disappointing results.

The winger scored his first Hoops hat-trick, showing the form that would lead to Player Of The Year accolades.

DEC 16: INVERNESS 3, CELTIC 2

(Rankin 42 pen, Proctor 57, Cowie 61); (Vennegoor of Hesselink 24, 26)

REAL doubts began to creep in about Celtic's title chances after they blew a two-goal lead.

Shoddy defending gifted Caley victory after Vennegoor of Hesselink's double and the champions failed to take advantage when Mark Proctor was sent off 22 minutes from time.

DEC 22: CELTIC 1, HIBS 1

(Jarosik 78); (Murphy 20)

FESTIVE cheer was in scant supply at Parkhead as Strachan's side shipped two more precious points.

Afantastic strike from David Murphy put Hibs ahead but Jiri Jarosik's last goal for Celtic spared them from defeat.

DEC 26: DUNDEE UTD 0, CELTIC 2

(Vennegoor of Hesselink 68, McManus 74)

FORGOTTEN defender Bobo Balde came in from the cold and helped seal a much-needed win with a man of the match display. But Paul Hartley was just as vital with two superb set-pieces to set up goals for Vennegoor of Hesselink and Stephen McManus.

DEC 29: CELTIC 3, GRETNA 0

(McDonald 35, Brown 49, McGeady 89)

THE revival continued with a routine win over SPL whipping boys Gretna.

Brown netted the second but it would be the last goal of a disappointing debut season from the former Hibs midfielder.

JAN 19, 2008: CELTIC 1, KILLIE 0

(Corrigan 64 og)

KILLIE almost repeated their opening-day defiance with another dogged display but were eventually undone by a Martyn Corrigan own goal.

JAN 27: FALKIRK 0, CELTIC 1

(McDonald 45)

LUCK was on Celtic's side as they snatched an ugly victory with an offside McDonald goal. This proved a crucial triumph as they kept pace with Rangers.

FEB 10: ABERDEEN 1, CELTIC 5

(Miller 62); (Nakamura 17, McGeady 34, McDonald 44 pen, 48, Robson 74)

CELTIC roared back to top form with McGeady at his mesmerising best.

The Irish ace scored the second from long range and his trickery that set up McDonald's headed fourth will live long in the memory. Newsigning Barry Robson netted a fine free-kick with his first touch.

FEB 16: CELTIC 3, HEARTS 0

(Vennegoor of Hesselink 14, McDonald 51, Hinkel 76)

HEARTS put up little fight as the Hoops warmed up for their Champions League crunch against Barcelona by staying in the title hunt.

Vennegoor of Hesselink and McDonald took their combined tally to 31 for the season and new Bhoy Andreas Hinkel added a thunderous third.

FEB 24: ST MIRREN 0, CELTIC 1

(Nakamura 87)

MORE luck for the champions on their travels with Nakamura hitting a controversial late winner.

The Japanese star won a dodgy free-kick from Gary Mason then curled home a stunning 25-yarder.

FEB 27: CELTIC 2, INVERNESS 1

(McDonald 45, Samaras 61); (Niculae 70)

ANERVY end for Celtic after McDonald and Georgios Samaras had them cruising at 2-0.

However, Brown's dreadful pass across his own box gifted Marius Niculae a goal and the Hoops were forced to hold on.

MAR 1: HIBS 0, CELTIC 2

(Naylor 64, Samaras 75)

LEE NAYLOR picked the perfect time to score his first Celtic goal in a vital away win. The full-back netted after a storming run into the box and loan star Samaras came off the bench to nod the second.

MAR 12: CELTIC 0, DUNDEE UTD 0

AFTER crashing out of Europe to Barcelona and scraping a Scottish Cup replay at Pittodrie, Celtic needed to get back on track.

But they couldn't find a way past Craig Levein's battlers and dropped more points at home to leave their title hopes hanging by a thread.

MAR 23: GRETNA 0, CELTIC 3

(McDonald 42, Vennegoor of Hesselink 70, Samaras 88)

A SHOCK cup defeat by Aberdeen left Celtic with just the league to play for and they stayed in contention by beating the SPL's crisis club.

McDonald got them going with a goal just before the break then fellow hitmen Vennegoor of Hesselink and Samaras killed the game off late on.

MAR 29: RANGERS 1, CELTIC 0

(Thomson 45)

STRACHAN lost to Old Firm rival Smith for the fourth game on the spin and it looked like Celtic's title was slipping away.

The Hoops had the better of the first half but never recovered from Kevin Thomson's goal just before half-time.

APR 5: CELTIC 0, MOTHERWELL 1

(Lappin 33)

SOME fans called for Strachan's head after a shock defeat left the Hoops six points behind Rangers having played two games more.

Simon Lappin fired Well ahead and the Hoops couldn't battle back even after Bob Malcolm was sent off early in the second half.

APR 13: MOTHERWELL 1, CELTIC 4

(McManus 24 og); (McManus 17, McDonald 30, Vennegoor of Hesselink 43, 57)

A BATTLING display saw Celtic refuse to surrender their crown.

They could have crumbled after a McManus own goal hauled Well level but strike pair McDonald and Vennegoor of Hesselink led a brave charge to victory.

APR 16: CELTIC 2, RANGERS 1

(Nakamura 20, Vennegoor of Hesselink 90); (Novo 55)

UNDER-FIRE hitman Vennegoor of Hesselink grabbed a last-gasp winner to settle a thrilling Old Firm clash.

Nakamura fired Celtic ahead with a fantastic long-range strike but Novo levelled with another superb hit.

McDonald then missed from the spot after Carlos Cuellar saw red for handling a goalbound Nakamura effort.

APR 19: CELTIC 1, ABERDEEN 0

(Samaras 56)

REF Iain Brines gave a helping hand as the Hoops ground out a nervous win.

Samaras nodded Celtic ahead after the break but Dons had a late goal controversially disallowed when Brines wrongly ruled Zander Diamond had handled.

APR 27: CELTIC 3, RANGERS 2

(McDonald 4, 43, Robson 70 pen); (Weir 17, Cousin 29)

THE Parkhead faithful started to believe again after seeing their heroes claim another massive derby success.

McDonald netted the opener then equalised after David Weir and Daniel Cousin had headed Rangers in front.

The Aussie was also brought down for the second-half penalty Robson blasted home to seal victory.

MAY 3: MOTHERWELL 1, CELTIC 2

(Porter 60); (McDonald 62, Samaras 79)

FAR from pretty but the Hoops edged victory to heap the pressure on Rangers.

Chris Porter looked to have ended their challenge with the opener but McDonald hit back just two minutes later.

And sub Samaras nodded the winner from a corner wrongly awarded to Celts.

MAY 11: CELTIC 2, HIBS 0

(McManus 37, McDonald 87)

THE nerves jangled again at Parkhead as Celtic blew a series of chances before McDonald finally killed Hibs off.

The Easter Road men also had their moments and Boruc had to be at his best to keep a crucial clean sheet.

MAY 22: DUNDEE UTD 0, CELTIC 1

(Vennegoor of Hesselink 72)

CELTIC completed their incredible comeback to snatch the title with Vennegoor of Hesselink's header.

Aberdeen's win over Rangers meant Strachan's men could have afforded to lose but they finished the job themselves.

Jubilant Parkhead players dedicated the championship to coach Tommy Burns who died a week earlier.