Source: FOOTYMAD
Celtic see off Highland pretenders
Neil lennon's job is secure now that he dealt with Inverness in the Co-operative Insurance Cup Georgios Samaras helped his chance of a new deal when he scored a hat-trick as Celtic brushed Inverness aside 6-0 in last night's Co-operative Insurance Cup third-round tie at Parkhead. The Greece striker showed why Neil Lennon is looking to offer him a new contract with an impressive night's work albeit against a poor Caley side. He scored either side of Gary Hooper's first competitive goal since signing from Scunthorpe in the summer to ensure the tie was all over by the interval. Samaras, who also struck the bar in the first half, made sure of the match ball in the 57th minute when he showed commendable fighting spirit in the box before driving past Jonny Tuffey, whose performance actually prevented the score being even more demoralising for the Highland visitors. Anthony Stokes scored from the spot in the 73rd minute, after he had been brought down by the Caley goalkeeper, before he drove in a wonderful 25-yard drive to complete the scoring. The visitors were overwhelmed by Celtic despite Lennon making six changes to the side which beat Kilmarnock on Sunday. Most notably, fit-again striker Hooper was making his competitive debut while defender Mark Wilson started for the first time this season. Celtic started sloppily and Ki Sung-Yueng needing to block a goal-bound shot from Nick Ross with only seconds on the clock, after the Hoops' defence had been split wide open by Shane Sutherland. It was in the ninth minute that signs of a good result started to show when Tuffey pulled off a fine save from Ki's 25-yard free-kick, after Grant Munro had clumsily bundled Hooper to the ground. Moments later Emilio Izaguirre limped off with what looked like a groin strain to be replaced by Charlie Mulgrew. The opening goal came when Ki's corner from the right which was cleared to Ledley, whose first time drive was re-directed in to the net by Samaras from eight yards out, albeit the striker did not appear to know much about it. Moments later the Greece striker was sent through on goal by Efrain Juarez but this time, with only Tuffey to beat, he crashed his shot off the bar. But the former Manchester City player made amends soon after when he drilled the ball in to Hooper who turned at the edge of the six-yard box and volleyed past Tuffey for number two. The tie looked settled even at that early stage but in the 31st minute, as the home defence went to sleep, Jonny Hayes fired in a shot from the edge of the box which came off Fraser Forster's legs. This woke Celtic from their comfort zone and Juarez blazed the ball over the bar from close range after good work by Wilson on the right, before Tuffey made a good save with his foot from Anthony Stokes. As the rain poured from the heavens, the floodgates opened in the Caley defence. In the 37th minute Samaras raced on to a Juarez pass to again leave the visiting defence flat-footed. He clipped the ball over Tuffey rather too softly and was delighted to see it trundle over the line after Inverness defender David Proctor made a hash of his clearance. Caley showed some spirit at the start of the second half but that was quenched when Samaras bounced Proctor off the ball inside the box before burying his low drive in to the corner of the net. Stokes made it 5-0 from the spot after he had been felled by Tuffey inside the Caley box after racing through to take advantage of Munro's headed back pass which was too short. The Irishman then scored the goal of the night with nine minutes remaining, driving powerfully from outside the box to give the flailing Tuffey no chance. Celtic boss Neil Lennon claims his side ''sent out a message'' to the rest of Scottish football with the 6-0 thrashing of Inverness in their Co-operative Insurance Cup third-round tie at Parkhead. He said: ''I've felt this was coming. 'We have been creating chances in games and not putting them away. Any time you score six goals against any opposition it is very pleasing. I just want to send out a message. We have goalscorers in the team, goalscorers from midfield and I was pretty happy with the clean sheet. We looked a good team out there tonight. The confidence is good, the level of performance has been good but we put our chances away tonight. ''We are not getting carried away but the competition is healthy. The movement of the front three was very good and they will be a handful for any team. I was pleased with Hooper, it was a chance to get him 90 minutes. There wasn't a poor performance out there tonight, the application was good and the quality of the performance is very high. Samaras was excellent and that will give him a lift. He was in a different position tonight but the timing of his runs were very good as was his level of performance. His attitude pre-season was fantastic and hopefully we will talk to his representatives next month.'' The former Manchester City striker was reluctant to discuss a possible new contract, preferring to share the praise around with his team mates. He said: ''First of all, I am really pleased with my team and we played good football. It is always nice to score goals, I feel really well in myself and I hope we will build on this. We will talk about that (contract) later. You will know the details when the club and I am ready.''
