TOMAS CVANCARA headed his first goal for Celtic as the champions moved back above Rangers in the William Hill Premiership with a 2-0 win over Falkirk.
Benjamin Nygren was also on target as Celtic moved above the Light Blues on goals scored and six points behind leaders Hearts.
Falkirk contributed to an entertaining game, registering 14 shots at goal, but Celtic were more clinical.
Loan signing Cvancara marked his home debut with a glancing header from Kieran Tierney’s cross in the 39th minute to open the scoring.
Nygren curled the ball into the top corner in the 62nd minute after exchanging passes with Callum McGregor down the left flank.
All in all, it was a good day for Celtic, helped by Rangers drawing with Hibernian, but the fans’ unhappiness with the board was never far from the surface.
A huge banner was raised before the match in a sparse standing section depicting directors Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay, plus the club’s head of security Mark Hargreaves, as contestants from the BBC reality show The Traitors. A sign below read: “Banish the traitors, end the bans.”
The Green Brigade remain under a collective ban over an incident involving stewards and police at a previous match with Falkirk.
The loudest chant of the day was “stand up if you hate the board,” and the majority of the home fans appeared to join in, including some supporters in the directors’ box.
Dissent will inevitably grow if Celtic do not add to this month’s loan signings of Cvancara and Julian Araujo on the final day of the transfer window.
Celtic started with Dane Murray in central defence in place of the suspended Auston Trusty.
Falkirk had conceded four goals on each of their previous two trips to Celtic Park this season but were unfortunate not to get at least a point during a 1-0 home defeat to the champions in January.
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They set out their intentions to attack and created the first chance of note when Leon McCann crossed for Barney Stewart, whose header drew a diving save from Kasper Schmeichel.
Celtic were making inroads when they got Yang Hyun-jun in behind on the right wing, and the South Korean forced a decent stop from Scott Bain before Cvancara opened the scoring.
Falkirk had a big opportunity to equalise before the interval when Liam Henderson headed a corner back into the goalmouth. Schmeichel saved Louie Marsh’s header on the line.
The Bairns continued to threaten after the break. Calvin Miller shot just wide from 25 yards after being given room to run; Schmeichel saved Connor Allan’s header and Celtic soon survived a goalmouth scramble before Marsh shot into the side netting after a one-touch move.
Celtic raised their game. Cvancara shot wide after being played into the left channel, and Daizen Maeda was inches away from connecting with a low cross in front of goal.
Nygren soon netted his 15th goal for Celtic and, although Miller fired not far over the bar, the goal effectively killed off the contest.
Martin O’Neill gave a late run-out to Stephen Welsh, who has been the subject of attempts from Motherwell to get him back on loan for the second half of the season.
Owen Elding of Hibernian reacts to going close. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Elsewhere, Rangers slipped up in their pursuit of William Hill Premiership leaders Hearts by drawing a blank against Hibernian at Easter Road.
The Jambos’ 3-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice on Saturday night had added pressure to the trip to Leith, and Danny Rohl’s side failed to respond.
Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland helped to keep David Gray’s side at bay in the first half as the visitors laboured.
The second half was much more of the same as far as Rangers were concerned, with Hibs keeper Raphael Sallinger far from busy, albeit he was beaten by a shot from substitute Mikey Moore, who was offside.
There was no late siege by the Ibrox men, who can have few complaints about two points dropped to sit six points behind Hearts.
Rangers had to regroup after their 3-1 humbling against Porto in their doomed Europa League campaign on Thursday, their first loss in nine games in all competitions.
Three new January signings — Denmark winger Andreas Skov Olsen, Danish midfielder Tochi Chukwuani and Belgian left-back Tuur Rommens — were ineligible for the game in Portugal, but the former two returned to the line-up, as did right-back Dujon Sterling, stand-in captain John Souttar and Thelo Aasgaard.
Fifth-placed Hibs, who lost their previous two games, sold top scorer Kieron Bowie to Italian side Hellas Verona on Friday for a reported fee of between £6million and £7m (€7million and €8m) but added 19-year-old pair Kai Andrews and Owen Elding and 21-year-old Dan Scarlett this week — all three started on the bench while Elie Youan and Joe Newell returned, and there was a debut for the ex-Sligo Rovers forward in the 66th minute.
However, there were only 10 minutes gone when midfielder Andrews, on loan from Coventry, had to take over from the injured Miguel Chaiwa.
Hibs began to motor after a slow start, and in the 23rd minute Youan’s cross from the left was headed wide by the unmarked Newell, but the home side kept up the pressure.
Butland parried away an angled drive from Youan before tipping a better effort from the Frenchman over the bar for a corner, which ultimately came to nothing.
Three minutes from the break, Rangers defender Emmanuel Fernandez failed to cut out a routine long ball, which allowed Hibs forward Martin Boyle to run clear, but again Butland blocked to rescue Rangers, who escaped again a minute later when Youan missed a header in front of goal.
The game returned to a more even keel after the break, but Rohl soon brought on Moore for the anonymous Djeidi Gassama in a bid to provide some threat to Hibs keeper Sallinger.
Rangers stepped up the tempo, but the Leith outfit broke again in the 62nd minute, and Youan’s shot from inside the box was blocked by a combination of Sterling and Souttar.
Moore had the ball in the Hibs net with a left-footed shot in the 76th minute after taking a long pass from Souttar, but he was ruled offside, with VAR confirming the decision.
Play sped from end to end with the home side, if anyone, looking more likely, but having to settle for the point.
It was a slip-up that Rangers can ill afford, with Hibs doing their Edinburgh rivals a favour that would not have been on any list of priorities.
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New striker gets first goal as Celtic's recovery under Martin O'Neill continues
Scottish Premiership results on Sunday:
TOMAS CVANCARA headed his first goal for Celtic as the champions moved back above Rangers in the William Hill Premiership with a 2-0 win over Falkirk.
Benjamin Nygren was also on target as Celtic moved above the Light Blues on goals scored and six points behind leaders Hearts.
Falkirk contributed to an entertaining game, registering 14 shots at goal, but Celtic were more clinical.
Loan signing Cvancara marked his home debut with a glancing header from Kieran Tierney’s cross in the 39th minute to open the scoring.
Nygren curled the ball into the top corner in the 62nd minute after exchanging passes with Callum McGregor down the left flank.
All in all, it was a good day for Celtic, helped by Rangers drawing with Hibernian, but the fans’ unhappiness with the board was never far from the surface.
A huge banner was raised before the match in a sparse standing section depicting directors Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay, plus the club’s head of security Mark Hargreaves, as contestants from the BBC reality show The Traitors. A sign below read: “Banish the traitors, end the bans.”
The Green Brigade remain under a collective ban over an incident involving stewards and police at a previous match with Falkirk.
The loudest chant of the day was “stand up if you hate the board,” and the majority of the home fans appeared to join in, including some supporters in the directors’ box.
Dissent will inevitably grow if Celtic do not add to this month’s loan signings of Cvancara and Julian Araujo on the final day of the transfer window.
Celtic started with Dane Murray in central defence in place of the suspended Auston Trusty.
Falkirk had conceded four goals on each of their previous two trips to Celtic Park this season but were unfortunate not to get at least a point during a 1-0 home defeat to the champions in January.
They set out their intentions to attack and created the first chance of note when Leon McCann crossed for Barney Stewart, whose header drew a diving save from Kasper Schmeichel.
Celtic were making inroads when they got Yang Hyun-jun in behind on the right wing, and the South Korean forced a decent stop from Scott Bain before Cvancara opened the scoring.
Falkirk had a big opportunity to equalise before the interval when Liam Henderson headed a corner back into the goalmouth. Schmeichel saved Louie Marsh’s header on the line.
The Bairns continued to threaten after the break. Calvin Miller shot just wide from 25 yards after being given room to run; Schmeichel saved Connor Allan’s header and Celtic soon survived a goalmouth scramble before Marsh shot into the side netting after a one-touch move.
Celtic raised their game. Cvancara shot wide after being played into the left channel, and Daizen Maeda was inches away from connecting with a low cross in front of goal.
Nygren soon netted his 15th goal for Celtic and, although Miller fired not far over the bar, the goal effectively killed off the contest.
Martin O’Neill gave a late run-out to Stephen Welsh, who has been the subject of attempts from Motherwell to get him back on loan for the second half of the season.
Elsewhere, Rangers slipped up in their pursuit of William Hill Premiership leaders Hearts by drawing a blank against Hibernian at Easter Road.
The Jambos’ 3-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice on Saturday night had added pressure to the trip to Leith, and Danny Rohl’s side failed to respond.
Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland helped to keep David Gray’s side at bay in the first half as the visitors laboured.
The second half was much more of the same as far as Rangers were concerned, with Hibs keeper Raphael Sallinger far from busy, albeit he was beaten by a shot from substitute Mikey Moore, who was offside.
There was no late siege by the Ibrox men, who can have few complaints about two points dropped to sit six points behind Hearts.
Rangers had to regroup after their 3-1 humbling against Porto in their doomed Europa League campaign on Thursday, their first loss in nine games in all competitions.
Three new January signings — Denmark winger Andreas Skov Olsen, Danish midfielder Tochi Chukwuani and Belgian left-back Tuur Rommens — were ineligible for the game in Portugal, but the former two returned to the line-up, as did right-back Dujon Sterling, stand-in captain John Souttar and Thelo Aasgaard.
Fifth-placed Hibs, who lost their previous two games, sold top scorer Kieron Bowie to Italian side Hellas Verona on Friday for a reported fee of between £6million and £7m (€7million and €8m) but added 19-year-old pair Kai Andrews and Owen Elding and 21-year-old Dan Scarlett this week — all three started on the bench while Elie Youan and Joe Newell returned, and there was a debut for the ex-Sligo Rovers forward in the 66th minute.
However, there were only 10 minutes gone when midfielder Andrews, on loan from Coventry, had to take over from the injured Miguel Chaiwa.
Hibs began to motor after a slow start, and in the 23rd minute Youan’s cross from the left was headed wide by the unmarked Newell, but the home side kept up the pressure.
Butland parried away an angled drive from Youan before tipping a better effort from the Frenchman over the bar for a corner, which ultimately came to nothing.
Three minutes from the break, Rangers defender Emmanuel Fernandez failed to cut out a routine long ball, which allowed Hibs forward Martin Boyle to run clear, but again Butland blocked to rescue Rangers, who escaped again a minute later when Youan missed a header in front of goal.
The game returned to a more even keel after the break, but Rohl soon brought on Moore for the anonymous Djeidi Gassama in a bid to provide some threat to Hibs keeper Sallinger.
Rangers stepped up the tempo, but the Leith outfit broke again in the 62nd minute, and Youan’s shot from inside the box was blocked by a combination of Sterling and Souttar.
Moore had the ball in the Hibs net with a left-footed shot in the 76th minute after taking a long pass from Souttar, but he was ruled offside, with VAR confirming the decision.
Play sped from end to end with the home side, if anyone, looking more likely, but having to settle for the point.
It was a slip-up that Rangers can ill afford, with Hibs doing their Edinburgh rivals a favour that would not have been on any list of priorities.
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