TalkCeltic - The Ultimate Celtic FC Forum

Celtic stretched their lead at the top of the SPL table to a massive fifteen points with an a fine victory at Easter Road. On a ground where both Hearts and Rangers have been comprehensively beaten, Celtic shown great character to recover from a miserable start and claim the victory. Despite the terrible winter conditions that threatened the tie, the match got under way in front of a decent crowd and a remarkable turn-out from Celtic fans ensuring a roaring atmosphere.

Celtic began the match playing an unorthodox formation of 4-4-1-1 due to the absence of talismanic striker John Hartson due to a hamstring injury and Hibs took full advantage of this tactical change by playing five in midfield and hence dominating proceedings early on. Celtic's only effort in the early stages was when Shunsuke Nakamura curled a free-kick narrowly wide.

Ivan Sproule, in particular was giving Celtic problems due to his blistering pace but it was Chris Killen who appeared to have given Hibs the...

Celtic retained their lead at the top of the SPL table with a good win over an in-form Aberdeen side at Celtic Park. The two teams entered the field of the play to a stunning flag and streamer display from both sets of fans respectively and this set the tone for an exhilarating game. Strachan kept the same side that had won at Ibrox and and thrashed Dunfermline a few weeks earlier, while Jimmy Calderwood was forced to play Neil MacFarlane for the injured Jamie Smith and this was a major worry for the travelling Dons fans.

Celtic started the match in a confident manner and threatened early when Petrov sent Zurawski through on goal, but the Polish International's left-footed drive from the edge of the box was saved by Langfield at the second attempt. Celtic were pressing and Maloney's clever pass gave Roy Keane an opportunity to add to his Celtic account from close range, but Langfield was again up to the task. The Aberdeen keeper was in inspired form and he again pulled off yet...

Celtic slaughtered Dunfermline at East End Park today to regain their 13 point advantage at the top of the table and make SPL history. This was the biggest victory ever in the SPL and Celtic biggest win for 18 years since Hamilton were beaten 8-0 at Celtic Park in 1988. Maciej Zurawski helped himself to four goals in a superb individual display, but the biggest cheer of the day was for Celtic skipper Neil Lennon who scored his first goal for the club for over 4 years.

Gordon Strachan kept the same starting eleven that had won at Ibrox the previous week and his team men got off to a dream start with Stilian Petrov slotting home Mark Wilson's cross from close range after only two minutes. Petrov lost his marker with a near-post run and had the simplest of tasks to tap the ball into the net from Mark Wilson's cross.

The headlines in the Sunday Papers seemed to affect Artur Boruc as it was his mistake that allowed Dunfermline to draw level on 15 minutes when the Polish...

Celtic extended their lead over Rangers to a massive 21 points with a well deserved victory at Ibrox on Sunday. In McLeish's last Old Firm derby, his dismal record against Celtic continued, now having won only 4 of the last 21 league matches between the sides. With Hearts losing at home to Aberdeen the day before and Hibs drawing, Celtic now have a 13 point lead at the top of the SPL and barring a disaster, the Championship trophy will be heading back to Paradise in May.

McLeish made four changes for the clash to try and change his club's fortunes, including some changes which raised a few eyebrows. Despite not scoring in their prevous two matches, he decided to drop Boyd and Lovenkrands who are by far there most prolific goalscorers this season and instead start with Novo who has now scored in eleven games and Prso upfront. Strachan also made a bold decision by dropping Nakamura and starting with Lennon, Keane and Petrov im midfield. This decision was the key to Celtic's win....

A lacklustre Celtic team overcame a spirited Motherwell side to set up a CIS Insurance Cup final with Dunfermline thanks to a calamity in the Motherwell defence late on. The mediocre Celtic performance was described by Strachan as the "worst performance since I came here, worse even than Artmedia Bratislava", and this confession summed up the feelings of the majority of the Celtic faithful. On a night where Celtic did not win one corner kick, it is remarkable how Celtic progressed through to the final and give Strachan the opportunity to emulate his successor, Martin O'Neill, and make the CIS Cup his first slab of silverware as Celtic manager win his first trophy as a manager, and keep alive our aspirations of a league and cup double.

Celtic began the game in a lethargic manner strewn with amateurish mistakes, and quite staggeringly this was to continue for the majority of the game. SPL leaders Celtic are 28...