Celtic manager Strachan cheered by Japan star Nakamura
Time is GMT + 8 hours Posted: 23-Nov-2008 09:30 hrs
Japan's Shunsuke Nakamura, seen in Doha on November 19. Celtic manager Gordon Strachan praised Japanese international Shunsuke Nakamura after the midfielder scored a fine goal in the 3-1 victory at St Mirren on Saturday.
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan praised Japanese international Shunsuke Nakamura after the midfielder scored a fine goal in the 3-1 over St Mirren.
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The win was Celtic's 11th in succession and consolidated their position at the Scottish Premier League summit.
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Greek striker Georgios Samaras opened the scoring for the reigning champions in the 64th minute of the game at Love Street before setting up Nakamura for Celtic's second.
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The former Reggina man received Samaras's pass, cut inside and guided the ball into the far corner of the goal from 12 yards out, leaving boss Strachan purring.
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"You can show the second goal all night," said Strachan, who named Nakamura in his starting eleven three days after the midfielder played the full 90 minutes of Japan's 3-0 World Cup 2010 qualifying win over Qatar on Wednesday.
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"I thought Nakamura was fantastic all day. Maybe people didn't expect it on a day which was grey and horrible."
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Substitute Cillian Sheridan sealed the victory for the visitors with 10 minutes remaining before Jim Hamilton nodded in a late consolation goal for the home side.
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Rangers manager Walter Smith says he doesn't feel under pressure having to play catch-up after watching his side win 2-0 against Aberdeen.
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The Ibrox side had found themselves temporarily seven points behind Celtic before their win over the Dons reduced the gap to four.
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But Gers boss Smith said playing after their Old Firm rivals doesn't add any pressure on him or his players as their fans always expect them to win.
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"These things happen every week now as we hardly ever play at the same time so it's not a pressure on us," Smith said.
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"The pressure, if it is such a thing, comes from having to win a football match. That's the main thing from our own point of view. I think our performances recently have been good.
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"I think there is always the perception that, especially if you are coming to Ibrox, teams are just going to turn up and there is not going to be a game. I think that is something people in Scotland take for granted a little bit.
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"We are not going to go out and play in the manner we would like to play every game and walk off with the win. It doesn't happen like that."
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Smith praised his players for their performance against Aberdeen, with the Ibrox club missing four first-team regulars for the match as Steven Davis was joined by Sasa Papac, Madjid Bougherra and Kenny Miller on the injury list.
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"We still have a fair way to go before we can lose a number of players and still play in the same manner but I felt they played very well," said the Rangers chief.
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"We are just trying to settle our team down just now. I think we have been doing that reasonably successfully lately. We've been playing at a good level and had one or two little inconsistencies in our play.
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"Losing four players who have been playing regularly for us this season and having to cover for that in the game against Aberdeen was a big thing for us."
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Goals from Jean-Claude Darcheville and Kris Boyd secured the 2-0 win for Rangers as the Dons' 17-year wait for a win at Ibrox continued. — AFP
