Bhoys win as Keane opens Celtic account

Celtic 2 Falkirk 1

Roy Keane marked his return to the Celtic side tonight with his first goal for the club as Gordon Strachan’s men moved 10 points clear of Hearts at the top of the Bank of Scotland Premier League.

The former Manchester United captain replaced skipper Neil Lennon in the starting line-up and he brought a poor game to life with a 34th minute strike.

Stephen McManus looked to have killed the game off with a goal on the stroke of half-time but even with Bobo Balde returning from the African Nations Cup, the defence went 12 games without a clean sheet.

Celtic were looking confident going to Ibrox on Sunday before Kenny Milne set up a nervous finale with an 82nd-minute strike.

Strachan made it clear tonight that their poor performance against Motherwell in the CIS Insurance Cup semi-final would not be tolerated by naming a much-changed side.

The Scot brought Keane back and handed Dion Dublin his debut.

Paul Telfer was also recalled, after injury, along with Mark Wilson, with John Hartson, Stanislav Varga, Adam Virgo and Mo Camara dropping out.

Stilian Petrov was handed the captain’s armband in Lennon’s absence.

But Hampden Park hero Shaun Maloney could have given Celtic the best possible start having been granted a glorious second-minute chance.

Maciej Zurawski pulled the ball across the face of goal but the youngster pulled his right-foot shot wide from just 14 yards out.

The midfielder was dumped on the ground again in the 33rd minute from a tackle by Jack Ross which earned the defender a booking.

But Keane was on hand to score as Maloney’s free-kick bounced off a Falkirk man and into his path.

The former Ireland skipper stepped up and drilled a right-footed shot into the net from 22 yards.

The ball seemed to take a deflection as it spun past Alan Ferguson but that did not dampen Keane’s celebrations.

But Daniel McBreen should have punished Celtic moments later when Alan Gow picked him out unmarked in the box but he seemed to lose sight of the ball in the floodlights and headed straight at Artur Boruc.

McManus then made it two just before the break after controlling Maloney’s cross before firing home from close range.

Celtic looked hungry for more goals after the break and Shunsuke Nakamura sent a left-footed free-kick just past the upright from just outside the area.

Dublin then headed Nakamura’s cross just over the crossbar after Tiago Rodrigues had been harshly booked for a foul on the Japanese star.

John Hughes made a change in the 58th minute with Pedro Moutinho coming on for Jean-Francois Lescinel but the game looked beyond his reach.

Petrov came within inches of putting the game out of sight in the 65th minute when he headed Telfer’s cross down and off the crossbar from six yards before putting another effort just over the top.

Zurawski was screaming for a penalty in the 70th minute having appeared to be pulled down by Ross in the area from Keane’s pass.

But at the other end McBreen gave Celtic a warning moments later when he snatched at a good chance inside the box and fired over.

The home side failed to heed that notice and Milne punished their slack defending by flicking a left-footed shot into the top corner of the net from just inside the area.

McBreen could have snatched a point for Falkirk in the final minute having been put clean through but he pulled his shot wide.