Celtic - 3 St Johnstone - 0 The Cup was relegated to the very fringes of Celtic's list of priorities yesterday when Martin O'Neill made 10 changes to the team that beat Stuttgart in the UEFA Cup, although his makeshift team were still good enough to make it through to the quarter-finals with some ease.
Only Paul Lambert survived after Thursday's game as Javier Sanchez Broto was given a debut in goal, Johan Mjallby returned from injury, and a host of fringe players were handed their opportunities. But although the First Division team battled hard and created a few chances, there was never any likelihood of an upset.
O'Neill denied showing either the visitors or the cup a lack of respect, pointing to the scoreline as evidence. "We were at home and needed to make changes after Thursday so we went for it and we won," he said. "We are still in four competitions and I have to utilise the squad.
"There are always nagging doubts and worries when you do that, and it needed a good save from Broto to give us a wake-up call after a sluggish start. But we did enough to win."
Sadly, this was mediocre from first to last, lacking in the passion and excitement usually associated with games in this tournament. It may have been different had the visitors scored with either of two early chances, but Broto endeared himself to the fans with a fine save from Paul Hartley's drive and then Ulrik Laursen stepped in to spare Mjallby's blushes after he had almost let in Paddy Connolly.
Celtic duly stepped up a gear and after 30 minutes St Johnstone's cause was further threatened when the delightfully named Emmanuel Panther replaced the injured striker Stuart Noble, who is on-loan from Fulham.
St Johnstone, in fact, were still adapting to that change when John Robertson brought down the midfielder Colin Healy in the area only two minutes later. John Hartson promptly slid his penalty kick past Kevin Cuthbert.
The goalkeeper had no chance then, but he did well thereafter with fine saves from Hartson twice, Mjallby and Jamie Smith before Celtic went two up with 13 minutes to go. Hartson was the provider and Jamie Smith finished the move off with a good header.
St Johnstone sent on Chris Hay for David McClune but the former Celtic player's only contribution was to bring down Shaun Maloney after 85 minutes and allow Hartson to add a third goal, again from the spot, and complete their comfortable victory.
Lorenzo Amoruso faces a two-match suspension after appearing to spit at Ayr's forward James Grady during Rangers' 1-0 win at Somerset Park on Saturday. The Scottish FA has referred the matter to its video review panel after the incident was caught by TV cameras. "I should be pleased with my performance and the way the team played," Grady said, "but instead I'm going home an angry man."
CELTIC: Broto (Marshall 82), Mjallby, Laursen, Crainey, Smith, Sylla, Lambert (Maloney 79), Healy, Guppy, Hartson, Fernandez. Subs Not Used: McNamara, Boyd, Petrov. Goals: Hartson 32 pen, Smith 77, Hartson 86 pen.
ST JOHNSTONE: Cuthbert, Baxter, McClune (Hay 81), Dods, John Robertson, Maxwell, Noble (Panther 30), Hartley, Lovenkrands, Connolly, Parker. Subs Not Used: Miotto, Ferry, Forsyth. Booked: John Robertson.
Referee: Hugh Dallas
