Celtic 4-0 Hamilton Accies

By Martin Conaghan

Shunsuke Nakamura opened the scoring for Celtic with a close-range strike

Celtic climbed back to the top of the Scottish Premier League table with a comfortable victory over Hamilton.

Shunsuke Nakamura gave the home side the lead after 25 minutes, firing in from an Aiden McGeady cross.

Georgios Samaras replaced Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink after 60 seconds and fired in the second in the 37th minute.

Scott McDonald slammed home a third in after 76 minutes and McGeady netted a late winner after James McArthur's penalty was saved by Artur Boruc.

Midfielder Barry Robson started the match at left-back, while in-form striker Samaras found himself rested on the bench.

Barely one minute after kick-off, Vennegoor of Hesselink limped off with a groin strain following a careless challenge on Hamilton's Alex Neil and Samaras took his place.

Fully 18 minutes expired before the first opportunity of the match arrived when Robson flighted in a ball to the back post.

Samaras nodded it down, but Hamilton keeper Tomas Cerny cleared off the line.

Four minutes later, the stalemate was broken when McGeady broke down the right hand side and delivered a delightful cross to the back post which Nakamura calmly collected and thundered into the back of the net from six yards out.

As the half-hour mark approached, McDonald was denied by the woodwork from close range.

Samaras doubled Celtic's lead and took his SPL tally into double figures with eight minutes of the first-half remaining. Nakamura collected a MacDonald lay-off and threaded a slick pass across the 18-yard line for the Greek international to power in.

Shunsuke Nakamura opened the scoring for Celtic with a close-range strike

On the stroke of half time, McGeady latched on to a McDonald pass deep inside the Hamilton penalty area, but tried to place the ball with only Cerny to beat and the Czech keeper blocked his shot.

The one-way traffic continued after the break with early chances for Samaras and McDonald as Hamilton struggled to gain a foothold on the game.

Brian Easton almost put the ball in the back of his own net in the 51st minute when he attempted to clear a McGeady cross.

With an hour played, Corcoran tried to out-jump the Celtic defence after Simon Mensing had flighted in a searching ball, but the former St Mirren man overstretched himself and the header drifted over.

Moments later, McCarthy broke free down the left-hand side and fired in a powerful drive from the edge of the Celtic penalty area, but failed to reach the target.

With 14 minutes left on the clock McDonald fired in Celtic's third. The Australian striker powered into the box and recovered from a challenge to double-back and slot home his third of the season.

The match still had some drama when Gary Caldwell appeared to fell McCarthy in the box and referee Conroy pointed to the spot.

MY SPORT: DEBATE What did you think of the match at Celtic Park?

James McArthur stepped up for the penalty-kick, but Celtic keeper Artur Boruc made a superb double-save by first diving to deny the shot, then leapt to pull off a reflexive save and block the re-bounded header.

The final say was left to McGeady in the 83rd minute when the Irish international benefited from a weaving run by Maloney.

The former Aston Villa man dribbled his way to the bye-line and cut back for McGeady to fire in past three Hamilton defenders.

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Celtic manager Gordon Strachan:
"It was sheer determination and ability against people who wanted to work, but unfortunately for them we have more ability than them.

"They gave it their best shot, and we gave it our best shot in terms of how we prepare for the game and how you're respectful to your opponents.

"When you put that together, then the skill will win and we had more of that, and more pace.

"I thought Barry Robson was tremendous, his energy and his will to win, his enthusiasm.

"He could play in a lot of positions now. He could play on the right, left-back, central midfield."

Hamilton manager Billy Reid:
"It was a fantastic experience for us, but we knew beforehand that they have flair players, and on their day if they play, they're going to hurt you.

"Even when big Vennegoor went down early, you see Samaras warming up and you realise the strength and depth of squad they've got.

"I thought middle to front, they were exceptional, but I'm a bit disappointed in how we played.

"We have four of five players who did themselves justice, but we have better players who are better than that, and that's the frustrating thing for us as a club. "

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Celtic: Boruc, Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Robson, Nakamura, Scott Brown (O'Dea 81), Crosas, McGeady, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras 3), McDonald, Samaras (Maloney 77). Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Donati, Hartley, Caddis.

Booked: Caldwell.

Goals: Nakamura 25, Samaras 37, McDonald 76, McGeady 83.

Hamilton: Cerny, Mensing, Elebert, Swailes (Corcoran 46), Easton, Neil, Graham (Thomas 77), McCarthy, Canning, McArthur, Lyle (Ettien 46).Subs Not Used: Murdoch, Casement, McClenahan, Akins.

Booked: Neil.

Att: 55,881

Ref: S Conroy

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BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Celtic's Aiden McGeady 7.35 (on 90 minutes).

Please note that you can still give the players marks out of 10 on BBC Sport's Player Rater after the match has finished.

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