“We’ve got no complaints. They came with relentless energy,” Simo Valakari | OneFootball

Simo Valakari took St Johnstone to Hampden yesterday knowing that he had a free hit as the pressure was off with the much more important five post split fixtures to come starting against Motherwell this weekend…

St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

St Johnstone have three home matches in their last five bottom half fixtures. They start at Fir Park, end at Tynecastle and have those three games at McDiarmid Park against Ross County, Dundee and Kilmarnock in between. They trail Dundee by five points and both Ross County and Kilmarnock by six so it’s a big ask but it’s not impossible. That win over Celtic a few weeks back has given them a fighting chance.

The game-plan was similar yesterday and as we pointed out Saints didn’t need to score. a 0-0 draw and penalty shoot-out was always going to be their best route to the final but it was a long shot.

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Callum McGregor of Celtic celebrates scoring the opening goal during the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Semi Final match between St Johnstone and Celtic at Hampden Park on April 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

As soon as Callum McGregor found the bottom corner to break the Perth side’s resolve the game was effectively over. The half-time whistle saved Saints from further misery as by that time Daizen Maeda had scored twice and Adam Idah got his goal. Jota made it five on 67 minutes and James Forrest was denied a penalty as VAR levelled things up. Willie Collum has a job to do explaining that one.

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Simo Valakari admitted his half time decisions were about pride, avoiding a real hammering and also he had one eye on the games to come with his changes. “There were tactical things talked about at half-time, of course,” the disappointed Simo Valakari said. “But we had to show what kind of team we are.

“It would have been so easy to collapse. There was no other choice. The dream was gone but the pride was there. I think in the second half the players showed that character. The players who came on made me think a lot of things about how we’re going to go about these last five matches.

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“This was a cup semi-final against a top opponent. I can’t predict the future, but I have said it for a long time, we can do a lot of good things, but our bad things are dragging us down. If we can fix that I believe our level is good enough to stay in this league.”

“It was a tough afternoon,” the Saints boss added. “Of course, it wasn’t the result we wanted. We’ve got no complaints. They came with relentless energy. We stayed solid for 30 minutes but made a couple of not so good decisions with the ball. They punished us. Celtic were still doing the same things at the end of the game as at the beginning.

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Brendan Rodgers. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“We did 30 minutes of things we were practicing then we thought: ‘Let’s try something different’. Boom – everything went out of our hands. We need to be patient and know what is working. We deserved to be in this semi-final. It was a fantastic cup journey. Yes, we are sad, and we suffered a bit. But we need to freshen up and go again tomorrow.”

Makenzie Kirk was one of a number of changes made at the interval by the shell-shocked Saints boss and the youngster seemed to grab a spectacular consolation as St Johnstone battled for their pride in that second half.

Kirk’s long range effort was unstoppable and would have been a career highlight, but it was not to be due to a blatant double handed push on Adam Idah’s back that was somehow missed by the referee Calum Scott who had a perfect view, thought about it but allowed play to continue.

St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Kirk found the top corner giving Sinisalo no chance but Andrew Dallas on VAR duties called Scott to the monitor and the goal was ruled out. Pity for the boy, but it summed up St Johnstone’s day and maybe their season too.

Valakari too reckoned that the correct was reached: “Yes, there was some kind of shove but I feel for Makenzie. It was a beautiful strike. That’s how it is.”

St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Meanwhile the flares from the St Johnstone fans could cost the Perth club a few quid when the Scottish FA return to work tomorrow.

St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

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