Craig Levein’s hopes of securing a big result against Celtic looked good at half-time today but by his own admission, the reigning champions left him gutted by the end of the afternoon.
The St Johnstone boss has now been beaten in his last seven matches against the Bhoys, stretching back to his Hearts days.
However, his last victory over Celtic did come against Brendan Rodgers when Kyle Lafferty scored in a 1-0 victory at Tynecastle in August 2018.
So when the Perth side went a goal up thanks to Diallang Jaiyesimi before the interval on Sunday, visions of being frustrated by a defensively resolute Saints team were understandable.
Craig Levein shares thoughts on Celtic win over St Johnstone
Rodgers declared that his team were “bullied” defensively for that goal, lamenting some soft play at a corner for the second successive week.
Levein was overall happy with what he witnessed from his side but didn’t take the defeat any easier as a result, telling The Scotsman: “Those two goals were actually like a kick in the whatsits. I was pleased with Diallang [in the central striker role]. I was pleased with a lot of things. But when you look at the scoreline, we have lost 3-1 and I’ll need a glass of wine tonight.
Referencing Rodgers’ comments, he continued: “I wish we’d bullied them for 90 minutes. They’re a good side and their movement is quite difficult to keep track of. We did it well. We played aggressively but we weren’t overly aggressive. And getting in front gave us something to protect.
“I was looking for us to win the ball, show a level of calmness, make two or three passes, get up the field and put their backline under pressure. There were enough of those moments, in the first half in particular.”
St Johnstone’s season isn’t going to be defined by games against Celtic so they have lots to fight for in the coming weeks as months, seeking to avoid a damaging relegation.
The two sides meet again on March 16th at Celtic Park it’ll be interesting to see how their campaign has progressed by then under the guidance of the recently appointed manager.
In other news, What fuming Brendan Rodgers said to Celtic team in the dressing room after win over St Johnstone.
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