MOMO syndrome

CELTIC 5 DUNFERMLINE 0 Subs: Smith for Lennon 46, Petta for Agathe 54, Wieghorst for Mjallby 59.

Not used: Gould, McNamara.

Referee: J Underhill Subs: Skinner for N'Diaye 46, Petrie for Nichols 63, McGarty for Karnebeek 74.

Not used: Kilgannon, Thomson.

Booked: Nichols, Dair.Attendance: 57,016.

IN the midst of all the success he has enjoyed with Celtic, few words can have annoyed Martin O'Neill more than the recent description of his side as boring. Yesterday, without ever being at full stretch his side notched their 10th goal in two games; predictable it may have been, but tedious is hardly the term for a team scoring on average every 18 minutes.

In putting Dunfermline to the rack, Celtic maintained their truly remarkable record of winning every home game in the SPL this season. Only Rangers, who visit Parkhead next Sunday, can now halt them achieving a perfect 19.

"We played very well," said O'Neill. "If we can beat Rangers, which is a very tall order, we'll have won every game at home. It's something to go for, but I'm sure Rangers will have something to say about that.

"Last year after we won the league we were a bit flat against Dundee and deservedly lost. The players didn't want that to happen again."

Dunfermline were without skipper Ian Ferguson and Gus McPherson, both suffering from flu, as well as midfielder Chris McGroarty as they lined up with four at the back and a middle five including Steve Crawford.

The visitors had probably written this one off in their tough task of catching fourth-placed Livingston, but any hopes they had of catching a juvenile Celtic team disappeared when O'Neill's team- lines revealed a welter of experience throughout the side. Tom Boyd may be one for the future, though.

No Henrik Larsson, who called off ill on Friday and is now doubtful for Sweden's midweek game against Norway, or Lubo Moravcik admittedly, but what was missing in guile was compensated for by the pace of Momo Sylla playing alongside John Hartson.

When he drifted to the right, as he did frequently, to complement Didier Agathe, Dunfermline's unfortunate left-side defenders were often left flailing.

The game settled into a predict-able pattern of Celtic cutting swathes down the flanks and the visitors relying on the occasional breakaway to get bodies into the opposing penalty box.

The opening goal took 18 minutes to arrive, although it would have been come six earlier had the scorer, Hartson, not made a dreadful hash of a straightforward chance presented by Agathe's low cut-back.

But whatever his limitations, Hartson is no shrinking violet and when Steve Guppy crossed from the left, the Welshman rose above Andrius Skrela to head powerfully past Marco Ruitenbeek.

Dunfermline manager Jimmy was later to make much of the fact that a throw-in just before the goal had been wrongly awarded to Celtic, but whatever the validity of his opinion, the linesman's award merely hastened the inevitable.

The pass to Guppy had been supplied by Stephen Crainey, a player who shows remarkable assurance and an encouraging maturity. While his task of settling into the Celtic side is assisted by his club's vast superiority in matches such as this, the copper-headed Crainey offers much more than due diligence in his current position on the left of the back three.

Twice in the first half he was entrusted with free kicks outside the Dunfermline box, the first just curling narrowly over Ruitenbeek's bar.

Apart from one lunging tackle which left him exposed, this was another superb display by a player who already looks a fixture in the teams of both O'Neill and Berti Vogts.

When the second goal arrived six minutes before half-time, Crainey was inevitably involved. A Celtic attack saw him fire in a powerful 20-yard shot which was blocked, but although Hartson couldn't react quickly enough the ball then fell kindly to Lambert, who scored with aplomb.

All too easy, but although referee John Underhill was having a similar stroll in the sun, he blemished his performance with the sort of decision which gives referees a bad name.

There were three minutes left in the first half when Stilian Petrov won the ball back in the Dunfermline half. The midfielder was running powerfully towards the box when he was hacked down by Skrela. Nobody was better sighted than Underhill, yet there was barely a reprimand, never mind the blatantly deserved yellow card, for the central defender.

Both sides made changes after the interval, but these, and the ones which followed, merely served to underline Celtic's superiority.

One of the second half arrivals, Jamie Smith, made it 3-0 for the home side after Hartson and Petrov had bludgeoned the opportunity. As well as yesterday's match, the next three games will be important for Celtic's fringe players, and Smith had every intention of commanding O'Neill's attention.

Smith would walk into any team in Scotland other than, perhaps, Rangers and his teammate Hartson, later warned that he might have to move from Parkhead to catch the eye of Scotland manager Vogts.

"He's an exciting player," said Hartson, "and has all the attributes to go on to be a great one.

"He might not get the first team football he needs here, but you'll have to ask him that. It's difficult for young players to break into the top sides."

Before the hour was up O'Neill had committed all his substitutes, and it was the appearance of the third which brought the most heart- warming cheer of the day.

Since October 2000, when he was struck down by Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Morten Wieghorst has known just how unimportant football is compared with good health.

Having made a full recovery from the potentially fatal virus which affects the brain cells, Wieghorst is nevertheless keen to resume his Celtic career when his contract runs out at the end of the season.

The reception he received from the home fans as he ran out for his first league game in two years must have cemented the Dane's rehabilitation. That said, Dunfermline offered little to test him as he moved into the centre of Celtic's back three for the remaining 31 minutes.

Wieghorst was, though, in one of the best seats in the house to admire Hartson's second goal in the 70th minute following a Smith assist. Then came the icing on Celtic's cake when Sylla headed home a Steve Guppy cross to notch up his side's 10th goal in two games.

A superb strike by Smith from 20 yards nearly brought a sixth, but Ruitenbeek made a fine save. That spared the further blushes of Calderwood, who bemoaned the fact that his side never manages to perform to potential in Glasgow.

Copyright 2002
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