Celtic on Christmas Eve in 2016 were denied a penalty by Willie Collum who missed or ignored this shirt pull almost on the goal-line to deny Scott Brown a tap in…
Celtic failed to release a statement but perhaps Willie could do a retrospective VAR Review to lecture us on what is a penalty for short pulling and what isn’t…
24 December 2016
Hamilton 0-3 Celtic. Brendan Rodgers’ relentless Celts maintained their 14-point gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership table with a straightforward victory in Lanarkshire. Vividly, Stuart Armstrong’s thunderous strike into the top-left hand corner summed up the excellent season he was having. Celtic played majority of the second half with 10 men after now SFA Head of Refereeing Willie Collum sent-off current captain Callum McGregor for a second bookable offence. It was incredibly soft, and did not merit a second yellow or even a foul. The Hoops’ sensational form was setting them up nicely for a visit to Ibrox in a week’s time to go 17 clear of their rivals with a game in hand.
24 December 2011
Celtic 2-1 Kilmarnock. A remarkable day in the 2011/2012 title race. Rangers lost 2-1 to St Mirren in Paisley, where future Celtic midfielder Aaron Mooy scored for the Buddies that day, and Neil Lennon’s men secured a crucial three points at Paradise. The gap between Rangers at the top, and Celtic in second place had gone from 15 on 5 November, down to one by Christmas Eve. An incredible recovery from a Celtic team who looked down and out. Samaras grabbed a double in a fairly convincing win. Killie scored late on, but the Hoops were worthy winners. Up next? The Old Firm where Celtic had the chance to go clear of Rangers for the first time that season.
24 December 2022
Celtic 4-1 St Johnstone. It was the last home match of the calendar year for Ange Postecoglou’s side whose victory over St Johnstone was their 11th straight league victory. The gap between Celtic and theRangers remained at nine points with the two sides due to meet each other at Ibrox on 2 January 2023. The Green Brigade produced a mini-display prior to this Christmas Eve affair which read, “Enough is Enough,” and “Solidarity with all Strikers.” Various RMT, PCS and Unite banners were on show which was given a standing ovation by majority of the support.
Both Celtic and St Johnstone wore their away strips to support the NoHomeKits initiative which raised awareness for those who do not have a safe or secure place to call home at Christmas time. On the game itself, David Turnbull was sent-off by Kevin Clancy for a kung-fu style kick on Saints goalkeeper Remi Matthews. The four different scorers for the Hoops two years ago today were; Aaron Mooy, Matt O’Riley, James Forrest and Callum McGregor.
