Soccer

Dedryck Boyata goal helps Celtic match Lisbon Lions’ unbeaten run

Brendan Rodgers’s side now 22 points clear of Rangers as 26-game unbeaten run continues

Celtic’s Dedryck Boyata scores his side’s goal during the Scottish Premiership match against St Johnstone at Celtic Park. Photograph: Jeff Holmes/PA Wire
Celtic’s Dedryck Boyata scores his side’s goal during the Scottish Premiership match against St Johnstone at Celtic Park. Photograph: Jeff Holmes/PA Wire
Wed Jan 25 2017 - 22:36

Celtic 1 St Johnstone 0

Celtic matched the Lisbon Lions' unbeaten domestic record as Dedryck Boyata scored the only goal of the game against St Johnstone at Parkhead.

Jock Stein’s all-conquering Hoops side of 1967 went 26 games without defeat in Scotland at the start of the season which saw them win which every competition they played in including the European Cup.

With skipper Scott Brown making his 400th appearance for the club, Celtic struggled to break down an organised Saints side until the 73rd minute when defender Boyata, just back in the side against Albion Rovers at the weekend and making only his third appearance of the season, headed in a Stuart Armstrong corner.

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Celtic moved 22 points clear of Rangers at the top of the Premiership.

And while any comparisons with Stein’s side has to be put in context of a much-changed Scottish football landscape, nevertheless the achievement in Brendan Rodgers’s first season is commendable and points the way to a possible domestic treble, the Betfred Cup already in the Parkhead trophy room.