Celtic recapture league title

Celtic sealed the title with victory against St Mirren

Celtic 1-0 St Mirren

It may not have been the most convincing of performances, but few of the huge Celtic crowd cared as they cheered their favourites on to a second Premier League title in four seasons.

A Tommy Johnson strike in the 38th minute was enough to secure the victory and end the championship race with five games remaining.

Despite numerous good chances in the first half, Celtic could not add to their goal tally and the second 45 minutes were rather subdued.

St Mirren briefly threatened to spoil the party and forced a couple of good openings.

Celtic are now two-thirds of the way to a domestic treble - a remarkable feat given that this is Martin O'Neill's first season in charge at Parkhead.

Celtic were able to field the same side that forced its way past Dundee in midweek. With Chris Sutton suspended, Tommy Johnson continued his partnership up front with Henrik Larsson.

Attacking options

St Mirren arrived at a Parkhead searching for their first away win of the season.

The visitors have only avoided defeat once on their travels, drawing at fellow strugglers Dundee United.

Manager Tom Hendrie selected an attacking line-up, with Steven McPhee, the on-loan striker from Coventry, given a start along with Jose Quitongo.

Graham Fenton, largely ignored by O'Neill when both were at Leicester, was another attacking option for the visitors.

Roared on by a 60,440 crowd - the biggest gate in Scotland this season, Celtic were on the offensive right from the start.

St Mirren were tossed and turned every which way as wave after wave of Celtic attacks crashed forward, sweeping their opponents aside with a high-tempo passing game and carving open goal-scoring chances galore.

Wild shot

Johan Mjallby struck the post with a header, while Johnson and Moravcik went close with raking shots. Desperate defending saw Barry McLaughlin then Jamie McGowan almost turn the ball into their own net and Buddies goalkeeper Ludovik Roy moved smartly off his line to block at the feet of Johnson.

Larsson looked certain to score when he dragged the ball wide of an advancing Roy, but the high-scoring Swede scuffed his shot from an acute angle and allowed the keeper to get back and clear the danger.

With so many players committed to attack, Celtic were caught napping at the back when Fenton found himself racing through on goal, but the striker slashed a wild shot wide of the mark.

Tommy Johnson celebrates with Henrik Larsson

The breakthrough came seven minutes before the half time break, when Larsson surged forward and, with the St Mirren defence nervously backing off, picked out Johnson with an astute pass.

The former Aston Villa striker appeared to have lost his chance with a poor first touch, but was able to recover and slide a low shot under the diving Roy and into the net.

An Alan Thompson header hit the crossbar within minutes of the restart, but the home side had lost much of their earlier rhythm and St Mirren threatened to snatch an unlikely equaliser.

Rab Douglas was able to thwart the speedy McPhee, while Ricky Gillies went close with an ambitious hooked shot and Fenton dragged a shot wide.

The match rather petered out in the last half hour. However, Celtic went close to adding a second goal when a Larsson shot slid inches past the post.

Substitute Jackie McNamara, Neil Lennon and Didier Agathe all tried their luck with shots, but there was to be no more scoring.

---

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Mjallby, Vega, Agathe, Lennon, Lambert, Moravcik, Thompson, Larsson, Johnson.

Subs: Gould, Boyd, McNamara, Healy, Crainey.

St Mirren: Roy, Baltacha, McGowan, Barry McLaughlin, Walker, Kerr, McKenzie, Gillies, Quitongo, Fenton, McPhee.

Subs: Scrimgour, Nicolson, McGarry, Yardley, Renfurm.

Referee: J Underhill