SUMMARY Celtic's heads were on Wednesday today. What is more worrying is the fact that they didn't show any creativity against a St Johnstone side who, despite their effort today, is a much much weaker team than Benfica. The Bhoys must up their game several levels if they want to get some points on Wednesday. The recovery of Joe Ledley will be a massive boost for a team who missed his influence and his passing in midfield today. Most of the players today were below par and the new signigs didn't really make an impact. The defense lacked agressivity and the attacking players didn't connect. Their only connection lead to Celtic's goal, but they didn't replicate that during the whole game. Credit to St Johnstone, they woke up after receiving an early shock and deserved their win. The Saints created more chances, pressed Celtic and didn't allow them to play their game. It's their first win of the season, but what a magical fixture to win! Bring on Wednesday and let's see if the magic of Celtic Park can make wonders, but if the Bhoys commit the same mistakes, no fan will be able to save them. Thanks for following the game with us, see you on Wednesday!
90+3' St Johnstone will get a famous win today. They haven't beaten Celtic at home since 1999. Tony Watt misses a late chance and it's over.
89' Three aded minutes. Celtic try to move the ball but St Johnstone's defenders are all over the place now.
87' Vine is replaced by Steven MacLean. He is the hero for the home team.
82' Rogne gives away a foul in a dangerous position. Hasselbain shoots... into the wall. Celtic are on a hurry now to avoid their first official defeat of the season.
81' Commons is booked after a rash tackle on Vine. Desperation for Celtic, but it's fair to say that they deserve this result.
80' GOOOOOOAAAAL!!! ROWAN VINE IS THE HEROOOOO!!!! he receives a pass after a fine run from Hasselbaink and his shoot is on the top corner of the net. 2-1 St Johnstone.
79' Brown is off, Lassad Nouioui is in. It's the former Deportivo de la Coruña's striker debut.
77' Peter Pawlett is replaced after a fine display today. He is clapped on his way off the park, Nigel Hasselbaink is on.
74' Clear chance for Vine after a headed assist from Tade. Luckily enough for Celtic, he was offside and his shoot was off target.
73' Both teams are playing the long ball now, and Celtic's passes aren't the best today...
69' Forrest, who has been really quiet today, gets the ball in the box, he passes it back to Brown and the captain's low shot is easily saved by Mannus.
66' Wanyama shoots a low ball coming from a corner. Too high. Celtic are having more time on the ball during this second half, but they aren't creating lots of chances. Tony Watt is chasing lots of balls up front now. This pressure is really important to have more chances.
64' Mulgrew assists Commons and the winger makes the death pass to Hooper. He misshoots the ball and the play ends in a mele between Hooper, Mannus and the Saints' defenders. Comedy gold.
60' Izaguirre is off and Rogne is in. The Honduran has received a yellow and Pawlett is very lively on the right wing. Mulgrew will play at left-back and the Norwegian will play in the heart of the defense.
59' The Venezuelan has been anonymous today, but let's have a bit of patience with him. 12 goals in La Liga is an impressive record for a striker playing for a midtable team.
57' Izaguirre is cautioned after a blatant foul. Tony Watt is ready. Miku is out and the young Scot is in.
55' Impressive run by Scott Brown and he is fouled. First yellow card of the match.
51' Liam Craig takes a costless kick. Out again.
49' Adventure up front for St Johnstone. Liam Craig shoots from distance and it goes out left. Celtic have their new signing Lassad on the bench... will the Tunisian international play his first minutes in a Celtic shirt today?
47' Lustig heads Commons delivery. Mannus saves, but the play was ruled out for a foul on the build up.
46' St Johnstone get the second half underway. Celtic are in possession and try to have it on the deck,m will this approach last?
SUMMARY Celtic looked very good early on. It seemed like they would stroll on this game and march through Perth easily, but then, they took the foot off the gas. Commons' goal has been the only bright spark of a below par performance. St Johnstone started poorly but gained confidence as Celtic's pressure decreased as the minutes passed. Steve Lomas' men created chances and finally equalised when Gregory Tade was given too much space. The goal didn't change Celtic's approach, they haven't really played the ball on the ground during the whole match and that suits St Johnstone style as the physical battle is clearly won by the hosts. Celtic's defense doesn't look really impressive today and they are giving away lots of fouls. Lack of concentration, autocomplacence and a non existant creativity are Celtic's main problems during this first half. The Saints could well be in front had Pawlett converted a clear chance. Let's see if Neil Lennon's first half speech helps the players to settle down again and concentrate on their game.
45+1' Final whistle.
44' What a move! Mackay skins Lustig and assists Tade, the French assists Pawlett ... and the on loan Aberdeen player shoots high. Best piece of football in this match, St Johnstone should have buried this chance.
42' St Johnstone have really settled down. Their defensive line is avoiding danger and is aborting Celtic's attacks. Neil Lennon's men lack creativity up front and don't look assured on the back. Gregory Tade is finding lots of spaces.
38' Celtic have surrendered a lead again today. The second time in a row (they drew 2-2 at Celtic Park after being twice on the lead). Lustig gives away a corner after a good cross from the right hand side. No harm and Celtic try to counter attack.
35' Mannus gets the ball before Miku and Hooper get it. Crucial catch by the keeper as their central defenders header almost created a disaster.
31' Miku gets his first clear chance. He shoots from outside the box ... and the ball is over the bar. Today it's Celtic's final test before Benfica,and they are failing to impress right now, maybe their heads are a little bit off this match. Samaras revealed that they acted like that prior to the CL games.
27' Forrest is disposessed. Celtic are losing the ball too easily. The start has given them lots of morale but they have taken their Perth counterparts too lightly since Commons strike.
24' Izaguirre gives away a foul. Dangerous position. Liam Craig delivery is headed by Hooper... corner for St Johnstone.
22' Chris Millar is on for Murray Davidson. Celtic have lost the strings of the game as St Johnstone belief has increased with the equaliser.
18' GOOOOOAAAAL!!!! ST JOHNSTONE SCOOOOOREEEE! GREGORY TADEEE TAKES HIS CHANCE!!! The Frenchman is left alone by Celtic's centerbacks and receives the ball in the box, his low shot is in the top corner and the Saints are in the game again after a poor start.
16' Nice display by the St Johnstone attacking players, they fooled the whole Celtic defense with a one two. Corner for the Saints. No danger for Celtic as they clear the ball out of their box.
14' Forrest gets a foul. Commons delivery is easily cleared. Steve Lomas must be worried, his team hasn't produced anything remarkable at the moment. Celtic aren't getting lots of time on the ball, but they are ahead and can kill the game on the counter attack.
12' Hooper almost scores after a defensive mistake. Mannus gets the ball.
9' Tade gets a costless kick at the edge of the box. Left side, ideal for a right footed costless kick taker. Mackay shoots a curling ball... and it's a brilliant save by Fraser Forster.
6' And that will give Craig Levein something to think about... If Commons is 7th choice and strikes like that, I imagine that the first on the list will be a sensational footballer.
3' GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!! CELTIC SCOOOOOOOREE, IT'S KRIS COMMOOOOONS! The Scottish receives an assist from Gary Hooper and shoots from distance. His low shot beats Mannus and it's 0-1 for Celtic. St Johstone have barely had the ball and they are behind.
2' Both teams try to get the ball on the ground, and it's Celtic who try to open the St Johnstone defence with James Forrest's delivery.
1' The game starts!
13:28. Celtic are on their away black top today. They suffered to get a 0-2 win here last year. The St Johnstone team managed by Derek McInnes managed to defeat Celtic at Celtic Park last year. The only team to do so in Scottish competitions last season.
13:18. St Johnstone's mascot will remember the 96 today. Nice gesture. The British authorities, the police and the FA should all be ashamed of their behaviour today. An apologize want change anything. And that's my rant over. Let's enjoy football.
13:17. Miku's video. Will he show this form in a Celtic shirt? Today he'll have his first chance to prove his worth.
13:15. I apologise, we had some Internet problems, that's why the live minute in Vavel didn't publish anything for almost half an hour. Let's hope there's no more problems!
12:52. St Johnstone team: Mannus, Miller, MacKay, Cregg, Wright, Anderson, M Davidson, Pawlett, Tade, Vine, Craig.
12:49. According to Carlos Jiménez, one of our journalists covering La Liga, Miku is "a considerably fast player, he can play either on the wing or upfront, on his own. He can dribble, but that's not his main attribute, he can create chances for the midfielders. His problem: inconsistency.
12:41. Celtic line up today will include: Forster, Lustig, Wilson, Mulgrew, Izaguirre; Forrest, Brown, Wanyama, Commons, Hooper and Miku. The on loan Venezuelan striker makes his first start while Wilson gets the nod ahead of Thomas Rogne to get the center-back berth, have their comments on his contract anything to do with that? Or is Neil Lennon resting him for the crucial debut in the Champions League?
12:35. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, Bhoys and girls. It's been a long absence, hasn't it? SPL football returns after a disappointing week for Scottish football fans, they expected a decent start with two games in Hampden Park ahead. The Scots need to make the home games difficult for all the sides in the group, but they failed to deliver good results and gained two points after two below par outings against Serbia and Macedonia. The league is back, and the Champions League will be back in Scotland on Wednesday, so let's look at the brighter picture. A win today would help Celtic climb to the top of the table. Motherwell and Dundee United are currently ahead of them, but both teams have played one more match. If Neil Lennon's men win and Motherwell fail to do so in Dundee, the Bhoys will be on the driving seat. Let's see what happens today. Enjoy the game with us! Be part of it and feel costless to comment anything on facebook (right hand side of the page) or on our twitter (@Celtic_VAVEL).