Celtic 1 - 0 Inverness CT

League Match
Saturday, November 1st, 2014, 3:00 PM at Celtic Park, Glasgow
Attendance: 42,553
Referee: Craig Thomson
Celtic Inverness CT

Goalscorers
John Guidetti (49) None.

Team Managers
Ronnie Deila John Hughes

Starting Eleven
Lukasz Zaluska
Mikael Lustig
Jason Denayer
Virgil van Dijk
Emilio Izaguirre
Scott Brown
Charlie Mulgrew
Mubarak Wakaso
Stefan Johansen
Anthony Stokes
John Guidetti
Dean Brill
Josh Meekings
Gary Warren
David Raven
Carl Tremarco
Graeme Shinnie
Greg Tansey
Ross Draper
James Vincent
Danny Williams
Marley Watkins

Bench
Leonardo Fasan
Adam Matthews
Efe Ambrose
Stefan Scepovic
Leigh Griffiths
Beram Kayal
Callum McGregor
Ryan Esson
Daniel Devine
Nick Ross
Aaron Doran
Liam Polworth
Ryan Christie
Billy Mckay

Substitutions
Adam Matthews -> Mikael Lustig (63)
Callum McGregor -> Mubarak Wakaso (71)
Leigh Griffiths -> John Guidetti (80)
Billy Mckay for James Vincent (70)
Ryan Christie for Danny Williams (70)
Aaron Doran for Ross Draper (83)

Bookings
Mubarak Wakaso (58)
Charlie Mulgrew (91)
Ross Draper (51)
Carl Tremarco (59)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Dean Brill (GK) 58 apps -
Gary Warren 90 apps9 goals
Carl Tremarco 27 apps -
David Raven 88 apps1 goal
Josh Meekings 117 apps1 goal
Marley Watkins 46 apps5 goals
Ross Draper 93 apps7 goals
Graeme Shinnie 156 apps5 goals
Greg Tansey 73 apps11 goals
Danny Williams 37 apps1 goal
James Vincent 32 apps1 goal
Ryan Christie (sub) 29 apps5 goals
Aaron Doran (sub) 125 apps17 goals
Billy Mckay (sub) 128 apps53 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Marley Watkins (24 years 21 days)
Oldest Player:Josh Meekings (2016 years 95 days)
Average Player Age:27 years 215 days
Domestic Players:6 (54.55 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Ryan Christie (19 years 254 days)
Oldest Player:Josh Meekings (2016 years 95 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 35 days
Domestic Players:10 (55.56 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Bhoys just edge it:

Celtic jumped over Inverness with a narrow win at Parkhead thanks to an early second half goal from in form striker John Guidetti. The hosts were well on top in terms of possession as expected but with the game drawing to a close, Inverness squandered two or three guilt edged chances to level the game as our out of form striker fluffed his lines and Watkins and Tremarco were denied by Zaluska who clawed away an injury time effort. The game ended with Celtic claiming all three points and Inverness maybe ruing the fact that they never took the game to Celtic earlier as we finished on the front foot but just short of taking something from the game.

John Hughes sprung a wee surprise before a ball was kicked by putting under fire striker Billy McKay on the bench and promoting Carl Tremarco into the starting X1.Graeme Shinnie moved to left midfield to accommodate Tremarco as Yogi looked to deny Celtic room to move around our box. Celtic had a stronger line-up on the park than they did in the first encounter this season, but Craig Gordon was carrying a niggle and Lucasz Zaluska deputised for the big Scottish keeper with Mubarak Wakaso earning a start over Callum McGregor.

It was clear from the off that Inverness would be looking to frustrate the Hoops for as long they could and this would mean a busy afternoon for our back four, and a lonely day out for Marley Watkins.

Despite our intent, it was Shinnie that had the first pot at goal but Zaluska saved easily before Celtic went into attacking mode. We lived somewhat dangerously as the green machine surged forward and swarmed around our penalty box but Tremarco was showing his worth at the back and Shinnie was able to carry the ball forward when we broke up Celtic's play. However our forays forward were sporadic to say the least although we did win a couple of corners in a first half dominated by the hosts,

John Guidetti headed over after twelve minutes as we dug ourselves in and Wakaso had a shot deflected by Tremarco as Celtic looked for an opener. With half an hour gone, Virgil Van Dijk unleashed a long range shot which stung Brill's hands, the keeper standing tall to deny the Dutch player. Stokes was next to shoot at the target but his effort fizzed wide as Celtic piled on the pressure. It was now one way traffic as the visitors buzzed around our half with menacing intent.

Brill was left looking like a subbuteo goalie as a Scott Brown shot whistled just the wrong side of the post, the keeper stranded and wrong footed, but relieved to see the ball flash behind.

However, Yogi's tactics seemed to be paying off as half time approached. Celtic dominating possession, Inverness stubborn in defence and the last chance of the half, like the first one, fell again to Shinnie, but his curling strike from just outside the box dipped just over the bar and at the break it was so far, so good.

Half Time 0-0

Four minutes after the break and Inverness fell behind to a disputed goal. Nothing wrong with the finish from Guidetti as he jinked into the box and wrong footed Brill, but it all came about as a result of a dubious challenge in the Celtic half where Inverness stopped for a second expecting a free kick for a challenge on Williams. Stokes needed no second invitation as he headed down the left before feeding Guidetti who scored in style. Rough justice for Inverness who had stood up well to the onslaught of the first half.

Guidetti was soon involved again, trying to claim a penalty after tumbling in the box, his claims waived away much to the annoyance of the home players and crowd, Guidetti and Draper booked for arguing the toss over the incident as Inverness survived this and the next few minutes as Celtic pushed for a second goal.

Unperturbed, Inverness were still in the game as Celtic's one goal lead started to look catchable. Inverness almost levelled as they burst forward but Williams could only dig the ball out and over the bar when he should have made the keeper work. This gave Inverness fresh hope and they soon carved out another swift break forward and should have done better when they were five on three, but one too many passes saw the ball being difficult to tee up and Shinnie's shot was deflected just wide. From the resultant corner Watkins blazed one over from a promising position.

The tide was turning though and the game became more stretched.

Inverness went for broke in the last quarter with attacking substitutions as McKay, Christie and Doran entered the fray. It almost paid off as we took the game to Celtic who had been unable to kill of their visitors. Tansey shot over after Doran unselfishly set him up and Celtic's lead was beginning to look fragile.

As the ninety minutes neared Celtic had a triple let off. Tremarco headed over from six yards and took a clash of heads at the same time as van Dijk challenged him. Billy McKay couldn't score in a brothel right now and that showed as he mishit a shot when he should have blasted it home from five yards and right at the death a Watkins header was saved at point blank range and Tremarco had Zaluska clawing the ball away when it looked as though we were about to snatch a point from the jaws of defeat.

Full Time 1-0

tm4tj MotM:- Marley Watkins once again played well, and in the lone strikers role, but with the defence working overtime in the first half especially our defenders stood firm. Tremarco slotted in brilliantly and almost scored but for his ability to keep the talented Celtic front players in check, Josh Meekings gets my vote.

Match report written by tm4tj



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Dundee Utd 12 8 1 3 22 13 9 25
2. Hamilton Academical 12 7 3 2 22 10 12 24
3. Celtic 11 7 2 2 23 7 16 23
4. Inverness CT 12 7 2 3 15 9 6 23
5. Kilmarnock 12 6 2 4 15 13 2 20
6. Dundee 12 5 4 3 17 14 3 19
7. Aberdeen 11 6 1 4 17 15 2 19
8. St. Johnstone 12 4 1 7 9 15 -6 13
9. Partick Thistle 11 3 3 5 16 16 0 12
10. St. Mirren 12 2 2 8 10 21 -11 8
11. Motherwell 12 2 1 9 7 21 -14 7
12. Ross County 11 1 2 8 9 28 -19 5