St Johnstone produced THE shock result of the Premiership season to beat Celtic.
Not only was it bottom v top, with over half a century of points separating the two sides before kick-off.
Saints had the weight of history on their shoulders, having not won against Celtic in 31 attempts, a run that stretched back to 2016.
In that time, the McDiarmid Park hammerings have piled up, the most recent of them a 6-0 scoreline in September.
Simo Valakari’s players also had to carry the baggage of Dundee and Kilmarnock both picking up victories the day before.
All in all, as character tests go, this one will be near the top of the list for Saints’ 16 seasons in the top-flight.
Courier Sport picks out four talking points from a remarkable Sunday afternoon under the Perth sun.
Boldness gets its reward
Yes, Andy Fisher had to make a couple of very good saves in the second half.
Yes, Celtic players were inaccurate with their finishing on even more occasions.
Yes, the post came to the home team’s rescue when they were caught out by a short corner.
But when you assess the 90-plus minutes in the round there was a lot going on that contributed to a feeling of Saints (and Celtic, by Brendan Rodgers’ own admission) getting what they deserved.
As a general rule, you have to be effective from set-pieces to beat the best team in the country.
Saints were – for the goal, obviously, but on several other occasions.
That hasn’t happened often enough this season.
But arguably the biggest ‘must’ in this fixture is bold tactics.
Rodgers would have half-expected a change of formation from Saints on the back of their meek defeat to Hibs, but nobody saw a 4-4-2 coming.
The last time Valakari started with that set-up, Saints were over-run at Tynecastle, and the Finn had to give up on it mid-game.
There’s no doubt that the element of surprise played a part in the hosts’ strong start, with the winning goal being scored in the middle of it.
In open play, matches against the top six have often been lost by St Johnstone because wide passing lanes have been ruthlessly exposed.
That didn’t happen. Jason Holt and Victor Griffith forced Celtic wide and when balls came into the box, Daniels Balodis and Zach Mitchell showcased superb positional awareness.
The most heartening individual display of the four mentioned was Griffith’s.
You suspect we’ll be seeing far more of him in a role that takes full advantage of the Panama international’s athleticism rather than the off-the-striker, number 10 position where he had predominantly been used before the weekend.
This time last week I said that this post-festive period Saints team (and their manager) deserved the benefit of the doubt, having put together a sustained spell of broadly decent performances and results since January.
Hibs away was the exception and not the rule.
One stand
Some won’t ever accept it – and have legitimate reasons.
But, in terms of how giving Celtic fans three sides of McDiarmid Park affected what happened on the pitch, the change of policy was shown up to be a red herring.
The arena clearly wasn’t more intimidating for the Saints players than it would have been in previous seasons.
You could make a case that congregating in one stand actually helped rather than hindered.
The home supporters might have arrived at the ground feeling that hopes of preserving their Premiership status were all but over but there was no trace of acceptance in the Geoff Brown Stand.
As he so often does, Valakari found the right words to sum up that sub-plot to the afternoon.
“Out there it felt like the whole stadium was ours. We had one stand, big noise and they showed who the home team was.”
This is no judgment on those who chose to stay away and watch the match on the television, or not at all.
But those who swapped seats from East to Main deserved to bask in a post-match feeling that they made a tangible impact on keeping their club’s season alive.
Left-back
The 11 starters earned the right for a “same again” shout from their manager at Tannadice on Saturday.
Valakari has spoken about every team selection being a blank sheet of paper, so that might not have been the case.
But, given the way Drey Wright hobbled off the pitch and the fact that he was on crutches leaving the ground, he’s unlikely to have that option.
The Wright ankle injury presents a problem.
Taylor Steven did his best as the Englishman’s replacement but he’s a young forward who probably isn’t suited to wing-back let alone playing in a four.
Barry Douglas is the obvious like for like replacement.
However, there are doubts whether the veteran has got the legs for that role these days.
Sam Curtis is two-footed so could switch flanks comfortably.
That just passes the problem to who plays at right-back, though.
Fran Franczak also has an ankle injury and taking Mitchell out of the middle doesn’t feel like a palatable option.
Valakari may find himself with no other choice than to revert to a wing-back formation.
Points target
Make no mistake, Dundee, Kilmarnock and Ross County – their managers, players and fans – spent Saturday night and Sunday morning thinking the worst-case scenario for their clubs was a two-leg play-off to stay in the division.
You can never take a result for granted in any circumstances but bottom against top (bottom who had just lost 3-0 the week before) was as close as it gets to that being the case.
The flipside of that is, now that bottom has beaten top, Saints couldn’t have wished for a more emphatic statement that there are no white flags flying at McDiarmid Park.
We’ve been here often enough to know that picking a most catchable team and hoping they collapse isn’t a worthwhile pursuit.
Much better to set a points target.
Saints are on 29 points just. A total of 38 isn’t likely to be enough but 40 could well be.
Picking up 11 points in six games is a big ask.
The task doesn’t feel nearly as mountainous as it did on Saturday evening, mind you.
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