five-star bhoys turn on the style

Gregor Kyle
CELTIC turned on the style in what could have been a potentially tricky fifth round Scottish Cup tie against Kilmarnock, with debut-Bhoy Georgios Samaras scoring in an excellent five-goal win.

The Greek striker came on as a late substitute to ram home Celtic’s fifth, but by then the game was all-over as a contest, with Gordon Strachan’s men having played with flair, confidence and invention in what was one of their most entertaining performances of the season so far.

This cup tie came at the tail-end of a busy week for the club, one in where the disappointment of the postponed midweek game with Motherwell was tempered by the acquisition of four late, transfer window signings.

There was no place in the starting XI for any of the new arrivals though, with the only significant addition, right-back Paul Caddis – a late substitute in last weekend’s win over Falkirk who made his first start this afternoon.

When the teams last met in the Scottish Premier League, a fortnight ago at Celtic Park, Alan Combe was all that stood between Kilmarnock and at least a five-goal hammering and as it transpired, the home side would again have good reason to thank their inspirational goalkeeper.

After a somewhat tentative start in bitterly cold conditions, Celtic succeeded in carving out a series of chances, almost all of which were blocked by Combe.

The first came in 14 minutes, after a quick break up the right flank and cross into the box for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink who stumbled, recovered and then fired in a shot from around 10 yards out which was parried by the keeper.

Then, six minutes later, the Killie man was at his brilliant best, producing a remarkable one-handed stop to again deny Scott McDonald after the little Australian was put through by the deftest of lay-offs from his Dutch strike partner.

But with Kilmarnock failing to clear their lines, Celtic took the lead thanks to their prolific frontman and a perfect near-post pass from their 19-year-old full-back.

Having initially been found by Shunsuke Nakamura, Caddis broke for the byline and showed his composure by looking-up before fizzing a ball across the deck which was simply steered past Combe. It was McDonald’s 20th goal of the season and undoubtedly one of his simplest finishes to date.

The goal did provoke an immediate response from the home side, with Jamie Hamill picking-up a yellow card for a late challenge on Artur Boruc, but still Celtic continued to threaten with Combe once again standing as a formidable barrier.

First there was the melee in where Vennegoor of Hesselink rattled the post before Combe dived to save from McDonald and the defence cleared his follow-up and then, just one minute later, Combe again denied Celtic’s Dutchman.

There were two chances for the home side in this opening 45 minutes, the first a shot from Martyn Corrigan which sent Artur Boruc scrambling across his goal to bat the ball away to safety and the second, a low drive across goal from Willie Gibson which zipped past three of his team-mates.

But Celtic certainly deserved their half-time lead and in the second period of play, it turned out that there was little that Combe could do to hold back the tide.

It in fact took Celtic just seven minutes after the restart to double their lead, with Shunsuke Nakamura’s inswinging corner kick nodded on at the near post by Massimo Donati and then headed home by Gary Caldwell.

Then, five minutes later, Aiden McGeady closed down a slack pass, won the ball and raced over the halfway line before rolling the ball into the path of Vennegoor of Hesselink who took a touch before rifling his shot past Combe.

This was by now a genuinely entertaining cup tie and one with plenty of life left in it, with Jamie Hamill pulling one back with a header after he did well to get on the end of a cross from Danny Invincible.

However, it took Celtic just one minute to restore their three-goal lead, with McDonald rattling the ball home after being found by Vennegoor of Hesselink.

The lead allowed Gordon Strachan to make one notable change, with the two-goal McDonald replaced by Georgios Samaras to a rousing ovation from the travelling support. Club captain, Stephen McManus was also withdrawn as a precaution, with the centre-back apparently struggling with a knock.

With the game drawing to a close and Celtic looking particularly confident in possession, it fell to debut-Bhoy Samaras to put the icing on the cake with a brilliant finish, cutting in from the right and placing the ball into bottom right hand corner.

There could have been more, with Samaras again coming close late in the game, Nakamura seeing a low drive saved and Celtic generally toying with the beleaguered home side.

But the manager and supporters will certainly be pleased, not only with this excellent performance, but the way in which his team is shaping-up for the second half of the season.

Scottish Cup – Fifth Round
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Rugby Park, Kilmarnock

KILMARNOCK… 1
(Hamill 66)
CELTIC… 5
(McDonald 22, 67, Caldwell 52, Vennegoor of Hesselink 57, Samaras 85)

WEBSITE MAN OF THE MATCH: Paul Caddis

KILMARNOCK (4-4-2) Combe; Corrigan, Ford, Wright, Hay; Fowler, Bryson, Hamill, Gibson (Fernandez 46); Wales; Invincible (Di Giacamo 75).
Subs not used: Harpur, Johnston, O’Leary.
CELTIC (4-4-2) Boruc; Caddis, Caldwell, McManus (O’Dea 76), Naylor; McGeady, Donati, S Brown (Sno 81), Nakamura; McDonald (Samaras 67), Vennegoor of Hesselink.
Subs: M Brown, Hartley.