Celtic gets off the mark with St. Johnstone defeat

Published February 05, 2015

Perth, Scotland (SportsNetwork.com) - Celtic opened its Scottish Premier League season with a 3-0 defeat of 10-man St. Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday.

The Hoops were held scoreless in the opening period but ran rampant in the second half, beginning with a goal from Anthony Stokes in the 55th minute.

St. Johnstone was reduced to 10 men in the 74th minute when David McKay was sent off and the visitors took advantage as Nir Biton and Callum McGregor scored in the 76th and 85th minutes, respectively, to close out the affair.

Dundee United, meanwhile, jumped to an early lead atop the Premier League table thanks to a 1-0 defeat of Motherwell on Wednesday.

After opening the season with a 3-0 victory over Aberdeen, United edged the Steelmen behind Mario Bilate's 83rd-minute strike to stay perfect in league play through its first two games.

Inverness climbed to second in the table with a 0-0 draw against Dundee FC on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Scotland's top flight, Partick Thistle cruised to a 4-0 defeat of Ross County, Hamilton bounced back from defeat to get a 2-0 win at St. Mirren and Aberdeen claimed a 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

URL

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