Plodding Celtic get stung by Thistle

Scottish Premier League/Inverness CT 1 Celtic 1: The opening weeks of the season have supplied little evidence about which half of the Old Firm will set the early pace in the championship. What has been apparent, though, is that both Glasgow clubs will drop points to supposedly inferior opposition - a factor demonstrated yesterday by Celtic's failure to win after taking the lead at Inverness.

Celtic, who have already suffered defeat against Hearts, gave a performance here that mirrored the recent displays of Rangers against Dundee United and Dunfermline. The Ibrox club bounced back to form with a comfortable win against a toothless Hearts on Saturday, and now sit at the top of the table after four games - with Celtic one of four teams just a point behind Paul Le Guen's side.

Stephen Pearson handed the reigning SPL champions a first-half lead but Grant Munro rescued a point for the hosts 10 minutes from time.

"I'm disappointed with the result, and our play in the last 25 yards," explained Strachan. "I'm looking for ruthlessness in the final third, because we made hard work of things after doing the difficult part of getting there."

Strachan viewed this loss of two points from the main stand at the Caledonian Stadium as he served the first part of a two-match ban after a touchline altercation with the Hearts assistant manager, John McGlynn.

The manager cut a frustrated figure as Celtic floundered in front of goal. Pearson's strike was the highlight of an otherwise pedestrian first half in which neither side seemed willing or able to grab the initiative.

The midfielder, who has been the subject of a dogged pursuit by Derby County, slotted the ball under Mark Brown from four yards after intricate build-up play involving Shunsuke Nakamura and Kenny Miller.

Miller's goal drought - he has failed to find the net in 12 starts since a summer move from Wolves - continues to be a worrying issue for both Celtic and Scotland with the beginning of the European Championship qualifying campaign less than a fortnight away. The striker passed up a glorious opportunity to seal victory midway through the second half when he could only shoot tamely at Brown from 12 yards, and Inverness gained noticeable momentum from their visitors' wastefulness.

Dennis Wyness sounded a warning with a dipping 67th-minute volley, which dropped inches over the substitute goalkeeper David Marshall's crossbar - the first choice, Artur Boruc, had to remain in the dressing-room at half-time after suffering a back strain - before the central defender Munro pounced on a Graham Bayne cut-back to finish brilliantly.

The Inverness manager, Charlie Christie, has seen his side take draws from matches against Aberdeen, Hibernian and now Celtic in the opening weeks, and is therefore not concerned that they remain winless.

"I thought for 40 minutes we played second fiddle to Celtic, and showed them too much respect. But there was a terrific response from the players in the second half," he said.

Strachan refused to confirm that Celtic are close to securing deals for PSV Eindhoven's Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink or the Stuttgart striker Daniel Ljubola, and said he was not concerned with fresh speculation linking Stilian Petrov, who missed yesterday's match with a knee injury, with Portsmouth.

Responding to a report the Pompey chairman, Milan Mandaric, had claimed on radio that he was coming in with another bid for the Bulgarian midfielder this week, and newspaper speculation that Petrov had played his last game for the Glasgow giants, Strachan said: "That is reported every week and one day it is going to be right. So we will see how we get on. I've worked down there and I think Milan has his own radio station, to be honest."

INVERNESS CT: Brown, Tokely, Dods, Munro, Hastings, Keogh, Black, Rankin (Duncan 90), McBain (Hart 79), Dargo, Wyness (Bayne 65). Subs not used: Fraser, McCaffrey, Sutherland, McAllister. Booked: Tokely, Black, Hart, Bayne. Goal: Munro 80.

CELTIC: Boruc (Marshall 45), Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Wallace, Nakamura, Jarosik (Zurawski 60), Lennon, Pearson (Beattie 85), Miller, McGeady. Subs not used: Telfer, Sno, Varga, Cuthbert. Goal: Pearson 26.

Referee: C Thomson (Scotland).