Celtic 2 St Johnstone 0 - Roll on Killie!

Forster; Lustig, Rogne, Loovens, Mulgrew; Commons, Brown, Ledley, Samaras; Stokes & Hooper
Zaluska, Matthews, Izaguirre, K Wilson, Ki, Blackman & McGeouch

A strange line up for Celtic, many supporters expected Izaguirre to start but instead he brought in Loovens to partner Rogne. Lustig also got his first start at Parkhead.

Celtic started very well with Samaras making a 30 yard run within the first minute until Liam Craig took him down. Samaras continued to threaten down the right wing until the game started to slow down. St Johnstone were marking Stokes and Hooper very well, even if the two strikers got on the ball their first touch wasn't great. Samaras and Brown were the only people really taking the ball forward.

The best chance for Commons in the first half came was a shot in the 16th minute just inside the box but he dragged it half a yard wide of the far post.

Stokes was taken down on the 21st minute during a counter attack, but he managed to play the ball through for Hooper and the ref gave Celtic an advantage. Hooper managed to get a shot away but it went straight into the hands of Mannus.

St Johnstone did push up against Celtic but they didn't get many clean chances except from a shot from outside the box that was blocked by Lustig.

The best chance for Celtic came in the last few minutes. Commons sent in a corner, Samaras was taken down by Sheridan, Mannus couldn't catch the ball which led to Mulgrew and Stokes taking shots from a few yards, both of them were blocked by St Johnstone defenders.

It wasn't a terrible first half for Celtic, we got chances but St Johnstone stopped Celtic from getting very clean chances to really test Mannus.

For the first 10 minutes of the first half Lennon didn't change anything and Celtic really needed a change as the game was heading to a draw so Adam Matthews came on for Mikael Lustig. This gave Celtic more pace down the right which wasn't being used for most of the game. Commons upped his game a little as well and forced Mannus to make a very good save from a long ship shot that looked like a cross.

Lennon decided to make another change on the 62nd minute, he brought Ki on for Stokes. Several fans wanted Celtic to go more attacking but Lennon pushed Brown onto the right and Samaras upfront. This change had an impact straight away as Samaras won a freekick roughly 20 yards from the box. Commons sent in a great ball and Samaras headed it past Mannus.

St Johnstone counter attacked in reaction to the goal but this was a bad mistake, Commons took the ball off Liam Craig who claimed for a foul. He dragged the ball up to the halfway line and made a fantastic switch over to right, Samaras dragged the ball to the by-line. He sent in a great cross that was put into the net by Chris Millar who tried to stop Hooper from getting the ball.

Celtic were in a comfy position from here and Lennon made a final change, Blackman came on for Hooper who moved onto the left wing.

Celtic's final chance came from a 30 yard freekick after Commons was taken down for the 10th time in the game. Mulgrew aimed for the bottom right corner but Mannus made a comfy save.

It wasn't a great game but the points is what mattered, Lennon made one big decision that really won Celtic the game, putting Samaras upfront. Hooper and Stokes both didn't have a good game but St Johnstone did defend well for most of the game.

Roll on Killie!