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CELTS THRASHED IN PORTO
Report from official site Simply put, it was the stuff of nightmares for Celtic in Portugal. The host's first minute goal set the tone for a torrid evening in which Martin O'Neill's side struggled to contain a rampant Porto team who laid siege to Celtic's goal from the very first kick of the match and then continued to launch a relentless stream of steady attacks. It was a thoroughly deserved victory for the Portuguese side who could have won by an even wider margin, and Celtic now have the challenge of regrouping and going to Norway knowing that they need a victory. Inspired by captain Capucho, Porto weren't content with making an immediate impact but sustained their grip on proceedings throughout the entirety of the 90 minutes. Clayton added to his opener on the hour mark, and in between times Mario Silva added to Porto's advantage. Not only did they prevent Celtic from settling into their rhythm, they prompted O'Neill to switch to a back four after just 30 minutes as the Hoops trio of defenders struggled to cope in the face of incessant pressure from the three Porto forwards. After grabbing an early goal, Octavio Machado's side continually exposed the Celtic defence and it was always inevitable that they would find a second goal. That it came seconds before the interval made matters worse for the Hoops, and even at the midway stage of the game there looked as though there would be little opportunity to claw their way back into the game against such powerful opponents. Capucho was at the heart of Porto's opening strike when he collected the ball from Brazilian striker Pena and his subsequent was met by the unmarked Clayton, who, with acres of space, nodded the ball into the bottom left hand corner. It was the worst possible start, and in truth Celtic never recovered from it. Six minutes later Porto could have doubled their lead as the Celtic defence was left static once more when faced with the trickery of the Porto forwards. Ibarra's cross into the gaping Celtic penalty box was met by Pena, but his attempt crept narrowly wide of the target. The forward caused Celtic further problems when he danced through the defence but his resulting shot was good enough to beat Douglas, but was shuffled off the line by Neil Lennon and Valgaeren. In between times Celtic constructed their best move when Bobe Balde supplied Paul Lambert in the middle of the park, and the midfielder quickly released Didier Agathe but after racing forward the winger's cross was too heavy for Henrik Larsson to reach. John Hartson started the game in the absence of the ill Chris Sutton, but the striker had very little opportunity to show what he could do as Celtic struggled to prevent Porto from dominating the match. They continued to bombard Celtic's goal with a series of genuine openings and had a couple of first half penalty claims turned away. Mario Silva was booked for diving after the initial one but the second a few minutes later when Alan Thompson appeared to foul Capucho certainly had much more credence to it. Prior to this, Deco hit the crossbar after he cut his way through the Celtic defence only to see his attempt thwarted by the woodwork. Capucho's pace and movement on the left flank repeatedly caught Thompson and Valgaeren out, and the Porto captain was a persistent menace throughout the evening. In response, O'Neill switched to a back four shortly after the half hour mark with Lennon and Johan Mjallby forming a defensive partnership, with the former attempting to shackle Pena. The result was that Celtic seemed to deny Porto as much space, although Capucho proved tremendously difficult to silence. He weaved his way past Valgaeren and Lennon before crossing for Pena five minutes before the break, but the striker's attempt was just over the bar. Immediately prior to this Larsson had an opportunity to find the net when he rose to meet a Thompson corner, but the ball skimmed off his head and fell wide of the left-hand post. Inevitably however, it was Porto who added to their tally on the brink of the half time whistle. Celtic failed to properly clear a corner, and the ball broke to Mario Silva on the edge of the box who took a touch before unleashing a ferocious strike into the bottom left-hand corner. Celtic began the second half positively, winning a couple of corners inside the opening few minutes. Although they came to nothing they posted notice that O'Neill's side hadn't given up hope of finding a way back into the game. Lubomir Moravcik was introduced at the expense of Thompson ten minutes into the second period, but not even the veteran midfielder could prevent Porto from adding a third goal with a sublime strike. Silva and Clayton worked a one-two on the edge of the box before the latter's shot was palmed by Douglas onto the underside of the crossbar and into the net. It was the final insult in a game that Celtic will quickly want to forget. CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Valgaeren, Mjallby, Balde; Thompson (Moravcik 55), Petrov (Sylla 67), Lambert, Lennon, Agathe; Hartson (Maloney 82), Larsson. Subs: Kharine, McNamara, Tebily, Healy. PORTO (4-3-3): Ovchinnikov; Silva, Andrade, Carvalho, Ibarra; Clayton (Junior 75), Paredes, Costinha (Frederik 81); Capucho (Costa 85), Deco, Pena. Subs: Santos, Alenitchev, Silva, Postiga.
SPOT ON HENRIK
Celtic collected all three points thanks to a late penalty by King of Kings Henrik Larsson. Chris Sutton, Paul Lambert, Didier Agathe and Alan Thompson all enjoyed the benefit of a brief break. The game looked to be heading for a one all draw when young Sean Maloney was tripped on his way out of the box. A soft penalty but a correct decision all the same was enough to give Celtic another win. Celtic had got off to bright start and they opened the scoring with another wonderful free kick from Lubo Moravcik, this goal was every bit as good as a certain Mr Beckham's we've been hearing about all week. After the goal Celtic struggled somewhat and produced a sluggish performance, it was no surprise when Motherwell equalised through a Greg Strong goal on 68 minutes. Celtic applied pressure on the Motherwell defence as they searched for a winner that did not look like coming until the needless trip on Maloney. Still another three points that keeps us seven clear at the top of the SPL. It's now onto yet another massive game for the club as we travel to Portugal on Wednesday to take on FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League. FC Porto themselves warmed up for the visit of Celtic by winning 3-0 over city rivals Salgueiros on Saturday. Another team in Celtic's group Rosenborg all but clinched their tenth title in row by winning 2-1 away to Lillestrom, they now lead the by four points with only two games in the championship remaining. A preview of the FC Porto game will be posted on Tuesday. Website man of the match : Henrik Larsson CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Mjallby, Balde, Valgaeren; Guppy, Lennon, Moravcik (Maloney 83), Petrov, Sylla; Hartson, Larsson. Subs: Kharine, McNamara, Tebily, Crainey. MOTHERWELL (3-5-2): Brown; Strong, Forrest, Ready; Nicholas (Corrigan 89), Lasley (Martinez 89), Leitch, Pearson, Hammell; Elliott (Adams 83), Kelly. Subs: Woods, McFadden. REFEREE: John Rowbotham ATTENDANCE: 9922
DOUBLE TOPS
Celtic are now top of two leagues after last night's victory over Rosenborg, the club now lead Group E with six points on the board. They are of course well ahead in the SPL and look odds on to retain their title. Last night's nervy performance was settled by an Alan
Thomson free kick after 21 minutes, the free kick was awarded after Stillian
Petrov was brought down just outside the box. The resultant free kick saw Alan Thomson smash the free kick past Arason in the Rosenborg goal. Not the greatest game to watch but Celtic once again had things well in control and they restricted Rosenborg to very few chances. With FC Porto and Juventus playing out a nil nil draw Celtic now top the group with six points from three games. We now have back to back away matches in Portugal and Norway that should determine whether we participate in stage two of this great tournament. Celtic were well served by sterling performances from the whole squad, Paul Lambert however was simply superb and he seems to stroll through these games with not a care in the world. The crowd was once again fantastic getting right behind
Martin O'Neill's men right from the start of the game. It's now back to basics again on Saturday when we visit Motherwell for the SKY TV fixture which kicks off at 17.35pm. This match will be previewed on Friday. Website Man of the Match: Paul Lambert CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Balde, Mjallby, Valgaeren;
Agathe, Lambert, Lennon, Petrov, Thompson (Guppy 66); Larsson, Sutton ROSENBORG (4-4-2): Arason; B Johnsen, Hoftun, Basma,
Saarinen; Olsen (F Jonsen 85), Strand (Winsnes 81), Skammerslrud, Berg;
Brattbakk (George 74), Rushfeldt
TWO EASY
Celtic edged closer to retaining the SPL with this far from convincing win at Ibrox. The game as usual with Old Firm matches was played at a furious pace. There are two ways of looking at this match, Rangers played almost certainly their best football of this season whilst Celtic looked out of sorts for most of the game. The
game had Celtic fans reliving the nightmare scenario that Rangers have
been putting us through for the last nine or ten seasons, in those days
Celtic would press forward for almost the entire match only to be hit by a
sucker punch by Rangers. This
time however the boot was on the other foot with Rangers having all the
territorial advantage and Celtic hitting Rangers with killer sucker
punches. The
first of these came with virtually Celtic’s first attack of the match,
Chris Sutton was brought crashing down just outside the box, and from the
resultant free kick the Rangers goalkeeper made a hash of Stilian
Petrov’s well struck free kick and the ball spun off him and flew into
the roof of the net, cue one end of Ibrox going mental.
Tore
Andre Flo came within a whisker of grabbing an immediate equaliser but
could only stab his close-range effort into the side netting. Martin
O'Neill's men could even afford the luxury of missing a second-half
penalty when Gers keeper Stefan Klos dived to stop Swedish goal sensation
Henrik Larsson's weakly-hit effort from the spot. Rangers
down to 10 men after the dismissal of Amoruso for the challenge on Larsson
tried hard to get back into the game but it was never going to be there
day. The
gulf in class between the two teams was shown right at the death by a
wonder goal from Alan Thomson, he
picked up the ball on the left hand touchline, and weaved his way inside,
leaving three Rangers defenders in his wake before sending a precise right
foot finish beyond Klos. Celtic
boss O'Neill said: " The game was on a knife-edge right until the
final whistle certainly until Thompson scored. One
sad note on the game was the fan that managed to take the gloss off our
performance by bringing the club into World focus with his despicable
behaviour. Television cameras caught the fan, in the first few rows of one of the Ibrox stands at Sunday’s Old Firm match, making the sick gesture as Reyna took a corner kick. It is not clear whether the player was aware of the incident during the match or whether he saw it on TV coverage afterwards, but yesterday he described the action as "disgusting." A
spokeswoman for Celtic described the Reyna incident as
"despicable" and said the club would make every effort to find
the offender. She
said: "It is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable behaviour and we
will investigate to find the individual concerned. Celtic’s Bobo Balde also came in for stick from sections of the Rangers support with the booing depressingly familiar to the treatment suffered by other coloured players who have represented Celtic or Rangers, such as Mark Walters and Paul Elliot. If both clubs could only rid themselves of these morons then perhaps more people would sit up and take notice for all the right reasons. Celtic suffered a few injury scares during the match and this has forced Neil Lennon to withdraw from the Northern Ireland squad. Henrik Larsson also came in for some rough treatment and is now considered doubtful for Sweden’s World Cup qualifier next weekend. Chris
Sutton again proved to be Celtic’s man of the match but he’ll be
disappointed that he has not made the latest England squad named on Monday
by Sven-Goran Eriksson The
players who are not on international duty this week now have an extended
break with our next game being the vitally important Champions League
match at Celtic Park against Rosenborg on Wednesday 10th
October 2001. CELTIC
(3-5-2): Douglas; Balde, Mjallby, Valgaeren; Thompson , Lennon, Lambert,
Petrov (Moravcik 71), Agathe; Larsson, Sutton. Subs: Kharine, Hartson,
Healy, Maloney. RANGERS
(3-5-2): Klos; Moore, Konterman, Amoruso; Numan Ferguson, De Boer, Reyna (Caniggia
66), Ricksen; Flo, Mols (McCann 74). Subs: Christiansen, Ross, Hughes. REFEREE:
Kenny Clark ATTENDANCE:
50,097 WEBSITE
MAN OF THE MATCH: Chris Sutton
THREE POINTS ON THE BOARD
Celtic
opened up their Champions League points account with a narrow 1-0 win in
this pulsating game that swung from end to end for almost the entire 90
minutes. The
hoops thoroughly deserved their win although Porto pressed hard for an
equaliser and came close near the end when they hit the post and then saw
a header just go wide with no one on the back post. After
last week’s dubious decisions by German referee Helmutt Krug it fell to
Dutchman Dick Jol to referee this contest, it has to be said that he let
some bad tackles by Porto go unpunished early in the game but overall he
was well in control of the match. The
yellow card was only shown once throughout the game in what was a fairly
contested game. Some
heroic performances notably from Bobo Balde, Chris Sutton, Paul Lambert
and King Of King and goal scorer supreme Henrik Larsson. The
atmosphere at the game was truly electric and it made you feel proud to be
a Celtic fan with the whole of Europe watching. Boss
Martin O’Neill had to watch the game from the stand due to the
ridiculous ban imposed on him by the suits at UEFA. A
few words of praise however go to the guys who stood in for the boss
Martin O’Neill. John
Robertson and Steve Walford both came in for special praise from the
players after the game With
Rosenborg snatching a draw against the Thieves of Europe (Juventus) Celtic
now sit proudly in second place with a home match against Rosenborg
looming on Wednesday 10th October 2001. Our
next game just happens to be the first Old Firm match of the season; we
are at Ibrox on Sunday for the midday showdown. Tickets for this one are
as usual at a premium and are priced at a whooping £26 each. The
only injury doubt so far seems to be our Bulgarian midfielder Stilian
Petrov, Stan the man was subbed late in last night’s game after going
down in the home penalty area. A preview of the big weekend match will be posted shortly Website Man of the Match: BOBO BALDE CELTIC
(3-5-2): Douglas; Balde, Mjallby, Valgaeren; Agathe, Lambert, Lennon,
Petrov (McNamara 88), Petta (Thompson 68); Larsson, Sutton FC
PORTO (3-4-3): Ovchinnikov; Costa, Carvalho, Andrade; Ibarra (Postiga 76),
Paredas, Costinha, Da Silva; Capucho, Deco, Pena Attendance, 58,500.
CELTS CRUISE BY DONS
Celtic won this game in a canter and the score line would have been so much more had it not been for some bad luck in front of the Dons goal. Manager Martin O'Neill rested Lennon, Agathe, Valgaeren and left Chris Sutton on the subs bench with an obvious eye on Tuesday's vital Champions League tie against FC Porto. John Hartson partnered Henrik Larsson up front and was unlucky not to open his Celtic scoring account on a number of occasions. Celtic although in total control struggled at times to get going in the first half, a different prospect however materialized in the second half with Celtic going constantly at the Dons defence. A goal just had to come and come it did from once again the head of King Henrik, the best goal of the game was saved for last. Another absolute screamer from Stan Petrov, a touch from Henrik at a free kick on the edge of the box and the young Bulgarian Captain had smashed Celtic into a commanding 2-0 lead, this capped a fine display by Stan the Man who seems to have come back from his injury an even better player. It's now onto another massive game for the club with the visit of the Portuguese on Tuesday night. Let the good times roll. CELTIC
(3-5-2): Douglas; Balde, Mjallby, Tebily; Sylla, Thompson, Lambert, Petrov
(Healy 90), Petta; Hartson, Larsson (Maloney 82). Subs: Kharine, Sutton,
Moravcik. ABERDEEN
(4-5-1): Esson; McAllister (Anderson 61), Whyte, McAllister, Solberg (Dadi
85); Winters (Thornley 67), Young, Tiernan, McGuire, Mackie; Zerouali.
Subs: Peat, Young. ATTENDANCE:
59,197 WEBSITE
MAN OF THE MATCH: STILIAN PETROV
ROBBED BY THE THIEVES OF EUROPE
Defeated and cheated that about sums up our heroic performance in Turin on Tuesday night. Celtic battered away at the Juventus defense all night and were rewarded when they managed to pull back two goals through Stan Petrov and Henrik Larsson. We were cruelly robbed however right at the death by one of the worst refereeing decisions of all time, no Celtic fans in the ground could believe it as German referee Helmut Krug pointed to the spot after Amoruso fell down in a heap. To make matters worse Hoops boss Martin O'Neill was sent to the stand for his outrage at the referee and now he faces a fine or a ban by UEFA, he will learn his fate on Friday. Celtic will appeal the dismissal of O'Neill and the booking dished out to Joos Valgaeren Juventus striker Nicola Amoruso the player at the centre of Tuesday night's controversy has admitted he took a dive to send Celtic crashing to a last-gasp 3-2 defeat in Turin.The Italian revealed: "My shirt was touched so then I jumped down. "Okay, the ball was long gone by then but it's not important if the ball is eight meters or eight centimeters away. "If a defender has done something wrong then it doesn't matter if the ball is in the goalkeeper's arms - the referee must still give a penalty but I agree with the people who say it wasn't a penalty." Chris Sutton was once again immense in the Celtic line up, this was one game we certainly did not deserve to lose. Website Man of the Match: Chris Sutton JUVENTUS (3-4-3):
Buffon; Thuram, Iuliano, Montero; Zenoni, Davids, Tacchinardi, Pessotto (Birindelli
67); Salas (O’Neill 71), Trezeguet, Del Piero (Amoruso 88) CELTIC (3-5-2):
Douglas; Balde, Mjallby, Valgaeren; Agathe, Petrov, Lambert, Lennon,
Thompson (Petta 58); Larsson, Sutton Booked: Celtic – Thompson, Valgaeren. Juventus – Iuliani, Birindelli Sent Off: Juventus - Davids Referee: Hellmut Krug (Germany) Assistants: Kurt Ertl (Germany) & Jan-Hendrik-Salver (Germany)
DUNDEE V CELTIC
Celtic warmed up for Tuesday's massive match in Turin by handing out a comprehensive defeat to Dundee. Our first half showing however left a lot to be desired and only three great saves from Rab Douglas accompanied by Bobo Balde prevented us from falling behind. As it was right on the halftime whistle up popped King Henrik to bullet a header past the Dundee goalkeeper Langfield. The second half saw Celtic rattle in another three goals with a quite stunning effort from Stan Petrov being the pick of the bunch, either side of this King Henrik once again was left unmarked and he managed to head in his second goal of the game. Young sub Sean Maloney finished off the scoring by sliding the fourth goal out of the reach of Langfield. A good ninety minute workout for Martin O'Neill's men who now sit seven points clear of Rangers whose game takes place this afternoon at home to Motherwell. It's now onto Turin for the clash with Italian giants Juventus, a mouthwatering match in prospect. Juventus warmed up for the game against Celtic by scrambling a 3-2 win at home to Chievo, Juventus were 2-0 behind in this game but came roaring back and snatched the winner with a hotly disputed penalty right at the end of the game. DUNDEE (4-4-2): Langfield; Marocco, Del Rio, Khizanishvili, Smith; Garrido, Nemsadze, Rae, Romano (Robb 89); Robertson (Boylan 65, Coyne 77)), Milne. Subs: Mathers, Caballero. CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Mjallby, Valgaeren,
Balde; Thompson, Moravcik (Petrov 55), Lennon (Maloney 79), Lambert,
Agathe; Sutton (Hartson 72), Larsson. Subs: Kharine, Crainey. ATTENDANCE: 9842 WEBSITE MAN OF THE MATCH: ROBERT DOUGLAS
Non-Scots Stroll in the Sun
Celtic’s League of Nations team warmed up for their Champions' League showdown with Rosenborg on Wednesday with a comfortable win over Dunfermline on Saturday. This
game was as near to a training session for Celtic as we are ever likely to
see. A
minute’s silence for former Celt Bobby Evans took place prior to kick
off and the only sound you could hear round the hushed stadium was the
sound of a few mobile phones ringing out. Celtic
started this game with not one home Scot in the starting eleven; this may
well be the first time this has ever happened to the club. The
fans welcomed back leg break victim Stan Petrov and they also reserved a
special cheer for debutante Bobo Balde, Neil Lennon wore the captain’s
arm band for the day with Paul Lambert & Tom Boyd both missing from
the starting line up. Lubo
Moravcik, scored twice for the league leaders, he opened the scoring with
a rasping shot after nine minutes after a seriously bad blunder from Pars
goalkeeper Marco Ruitenbeek.
Chris
Sutton got the second in injury time at the end of first half after Henrik
Larsson had broken into the box and teed up the former Chelsea striker. Lubo
Moravcik added his second and Celtic's third on 70 minutes. Celtic
can now look forward to the start of our Champions League campaign
beginning on Wednesday night with the visit of Rosenborg and the return of
Harald Brattbakk. Whatever
we may think of Brattbakk we should remember that he was the player who
finally killed off the hope that Rangers had of making it ten titles on
the trot in Scotland. A
massive game for the club on the horizon and we will have all the latest
news from in and around Celtic Park in the days leading up to the match. Back
to today’s game and the website man of match award goes to Lubo Moravcik
with Bobo Balde and Chris Sutton not far behind him in the popularity
stakes. Website Man of the Match: LUBO MORAVCIK CELTIC (3-5-2): Kharine; Tebily, Balde, Valgaeren (Hartson
71); Agathe, Petrov (Healy 75), Lennon, Moravcik, Thompson (Crainey 69);
Larsson, Sutton. DUNFERMLINE (4-4-2): Ruitenbeek; Doesburg (Nichols
70), Rossi, Thompson, McGroarty; McPherson, Nicholson, Dair, Mason;
Crawford, De Gier Attendance:
57,936
CELTS IN FOUR GOAL ROMP
Celtic hammered in four goals in just 15 minutes to put this game out of the reach of a Hibs side who were looking to cause an upset. Lubo Moravcik fired in a contender for goal of the season with just 16 minutes on the clock, before Hibs could draw breath Celtic had stuck another two past Hibs goalkeeper Nick Colgan. The scorer for Celtic's second and third goals was Chris Sutton, we had to wait another 11 minutes before Henrik Larsson finished off Hibs by bulleting a header past Colgan. A great first half performance for the bhoys in their new away kit of white jersey's and black shorts. Hibs managed to pull a goal back with just five minutes left but the game was over after 20 minutes in any case. We still hold our lead at the top of the league. Rangers remain in second place after Sunday's game at Ibrox resulted in a 2-0 home win for Rangers over Dundee. CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas (Kharine 79); Mjallby (Hartson 71), Boyd, Tebily; Agathe, Lennon (Guppy 71), Lambert, Moravcik, Thompson; Larsson, Sutton. Subs: Healy, Crainey. HIBS (4-4-2): Colgan; Fenwick, Laursen, Sauzee, Orman; Brebner, Jack (De la Cruz 46), Murray, O'Neil; McManus (Smart 71), Brewster. Caig, Luna, Zitelli. REFEREE: Kenny Clark WEBSITE MEN OF THE MATCH: Any one from three,
Lubo, The King or Chris Sutton
Made it ! Just
Report on last night's game from Celtic's official website
CELTS DRAW A BLANK
Celtic lost their first points of this season's League campaign by playing out a scoreless draw at Almondvale the home of new boys Livingston. Celtic had the chance to seal all three points when they were awarded a penalty near the end of the game after the linesman had spotted an off the ball incident involving Jackie McNamara and Livingston's Garry Bolland. Referee Hugh Dallas awarded Celtic the kick after consultation with his linesman and showing Garry Bollan a red card for his involvement in the incident. Up stepped the ever reliable King of Kings to take the spot kick and he was stunned to see his kick saved by the foot of Livingston goalkeeper Sanchez Broto. Celtic failed to capitalize on Livingston being down to ten men and in the end had to settle for a point. We still sit at the top of the league after Rangers and Hibs played out a 2-2 draw at Ibrox. Johan Mjallby limped off with ankle injury near the end and must be considered doubtful for Wednesday's crucial 2nd leg European Champions League qualifier against Ajax. Hard to pick a Celtic man of the match with most players seeming to have an off day, although Jackie McNamara and Neil Lennon were slightly better than the rest. Sad to report that none of the new Bhoys looked anything special in this game. Celtic will have to perform much better than this on Wednesday evening if they wish to be in the pot for Thursday's draw of the Champions League Proper. Website Man of the Match: Jackie McNamara CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Mjallby (Tebily
18), Sutton, Boyd; McNamara, Lambert, Lennon, Sylla, Guppy (Thompson 68);
Larsson, Hartson.
The King of Hearts
King of Kings Henrik Larsson once again shot Celtic to the top of the league with two cracking goals. The first coming as half time approached when the King cracked home a free kick from the edge of the Hearts penalty area. His second came after a lovely flick on from home debut bhoy John Hartson, the King held off the Hearts defenders challenge before firing in a screamer. The hoops boss made a few changes and we had a surprise centre half in the shape of one Chris Sutton who simply strolled through the game, Chris is in the form of his life at this minute and it comes as no surprise that he is once again being linked with a recall to the full England squad. The Celtic fans got a fright near the end of the game when the King lay flat out on the turf after a heavy challenge by the Hearts goalkeeper, the crowd went silent, but rose to there feet when the King managed to shake off the injury. As a precaution the King was subbed by Martin O'Neill. Apart from all of this the game's outstanding performer was Lubo the Slovakian magician, his skill and vision are something to behold and we should be grateful that Martin O'Neill has persuaded him to stay for one more season. Some players are on international duty this week and I will be reporting on their progress during this week. In the meantime our next game sees us traveling to Livingston on Saturday for our very first SPL match at their ground. A preview of the game will follow later in the week. Website Man of the Match: LUBO MORAVCIK CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Mjallby, Sutton, Tebily;
Agathe, Lambert, Lennon, Moravcik, Petta (Guppy 71); Larsson (Maloney 71),
Hartson.
The Magnificent Dam Busters
Celtic's performed magnificently in Amsterdam on Wednesday night putting three goals past a totally outclassed Ajax side. Make no doubt about it this was Celtic's best night in Europe since 1982. Our opponents in 1982 were you've guessed it Ajax, a late George McCluskey goal that night giving us a fine 2-1 win. This however is a side built by Martin O'Neill who it seems are ready to take on anything Europe can throw at us. If we thought beating Manchester United at Old Trafford in a friendly just a week ago was great, then this was truly magnificent. The first surprise the huge traveling Celtic support had was the team names being read out, in came Tom Boyd and Jackie McNamara. Any fears we had about the managers selection were
unfounded as the team raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to two fantastic goals
from unlikely goal scorers Bobby Petta & Didier Agathe. The Celtic fans in the Amsterdam Arena were in raptures
as Celtic toyed with their opponents, In between our two opening goals
King Henrik saw his header from a Bobby Petta cross crash back off the
underside of the crossbar. The home side were pushing hard to get back into things and with half time approaching they managed to get a goal back. A defensive mix-up allowed Machlas to find space inside the box and, when Douglas couldn’t hold the Greek striker’s low drive, Shota Arveladze stole in to fire the rebound into the roof of the net. half time AJAX 1 CELTIC 2 The second half brought much more of the same with Celtic totally dominating from kick off, a third goal duly arrived and what a goal it was. Neil Lennon found Didier Agathe out on the right wing
and when he fired in a cross Chris Sutton came through two defenders to
bullet a magnificent header past Fred Grim in the Ajax goal. Once again the Celtic support erupted as we knew we were witnessing something very special from Martin O'Neill's men. Ajax knew from that moment that they were being totally outclassed by a much more experienced team. Late in the game Martin O'Neill gave new Bhoys John Hartson and Steve Guppy their European debuts in Celtic shirts. The final whistle blew and a great night's work was completed, hard to pick a man of the match with everyone performing magnificently on the night, but I reckon Neil Lennon was marginally ahead of the rest on the night. A special word also to the Celtic fans who traveled, the estimate was that up to 8,000 fans made the journey by planes, trains and automobiles the atmosphere they create at these games is totally amazing, if only we could transfer some of the same to home games at Celtic Park. Still we all now eagerly await what should be a return to a great European night at Celtic Park on Wednesday 22nd August 2001
Website Man of the Match: Neil Lennon. Ajax (4-2-4): Grim; Trabelsi, Pasanen, Abukari,
Chivu; Ikedia, van der Vaart; Cruz, Machlas, Arveladze, Mido CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Boyd, Mjallby,
Valgaeren; Agathe, McNamara, Lennon, Lambert, Petta; Larsson, Sutton Referee: Anotnio Lopez Nieto
SUTTON'S IN A DIFFERENT LEAGUE
Celtic
maintained their 100% league win with a hard fought victory over
Kilmarnock. The goal-scoring hero for Celtic was once again King Henrik, but
even he had to take a back seat as he was outshone by a fantastic display
from Chris Sutton. John
Hartson made his debut coming on as a sub for Bobby Petta after just 15
minutes, Petta seemed to pull up with a hamstring injury and he must now
be rated doubtful for Celtic’s Euro qualifier in Amsterdam on Wednesday
evening. A
lot’s being made in the media today regarding a tackle committed by John
Hartson on Kilmarnock’s Chris Innes, some of the media are going right
over the top stating that he should have been shown an instant red card. No
doubt the referee’s up here will have a field day as they battle to see
who will be the first to show red to John Hartson. It’s onto Amsterdam now as the games just continue to get bigger and bigger, full preview of the Ajax v Celtic game will be posted on Monday. Website Man of the Match: Chris Sutton KILMARNOCK (3-5-2): Marshall; Innes, Dindeleux,
Hessey; Canero, Sanjuan (McLaren 30), Mitchell, Mahood, Hay; Ngonge
(Calderon 77), Cocard (Di Giacamo 73). Referee: Stuart Dougal Attendance 13,201 |
FANTASTIC
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Over 20,000 Celtic fans witnessed an incredible game for the Testimonial of Ryan Giggs. The hoops got off to a dream start with two goals from Sutton and Lennon being scored inside the first three minutes.
Old Trafford was a bedlam of noise and the travelling army of Celtic fans added to the great occasion.
Manchester United were not holding back and they paraded all their big names but they still could not get the better of a Celtic who were really up for the game.
Celtic boss Martin O'Neill was certainly a busy man while we were all enjoying ourselves in Manchester. He moved in to snap up three new players before today's European transfer deadline.
So it's a warm Celtic welcome to John Hartson, Steve Guppy and Momo Sylla who have joined the Treble winners.
Back to the game on Wednesday evening, no wonder everyone who has a testimonial on the horizon has Celtic at the top of their list as opponents.
The goals came from Sutton, Lennon, Lambert and Moravcik.
Manchester United replied with goals from new boys Van-Nistelroy and a superb strike from Veron.
A great night for Ryan Giggs, but once again a fantastic show by the fans of the greatest club in the World
They're off and running
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Celtic continued where they left off at Hampden in May
with another 3-0 win this time against the men from Perth. A quite superb
display from man of the match Paul Lambert who also scored two cracking
goals. 
Celtic's opener game from the head of Swedish Internationalist Johan Mjallby after a fine cross from Bobby Petta.
Celtic's Chairman Brian Quinn and boss Martin O'Neill said a few words before the Champions League Flag was unfurled. The crowd were in fine voice prior to the flag being raised and you could hardly hear Martin O'Neill for the noise being created by the 58,000 crowd.
So we are off and running with the first three points in the bag, St Johnstone gave as good as they got in the first 30 minutes but thereafter Celtic simply outplayed them.
It's now onto Old Trafford on Wednesday night when Celtic will take over 16,000 fans to Manchester for the Ryan Giggs Testimonial match, preview of this game on Tuesday.
Celtic: Douglas, Mjallby, Tebily, Valgaeren, Agathe,
Lennon, Lambert, Thompson, Petta, Larsson, Sutton.
Subs: McNamara, Moravcik, Maloney, Crainey, Kharine.
St Johnstone: Main, Dods, Kemble, Forsyth, Hartley, Kane, Murray, McBride,
Lovenkrands, Sylla, Parker. Subs: Connolly, McCulloch, Djebaili, Kernaghan,
Cuthbert.
Referee: M McCurry (Scotland)
THE KING STRIKES AGAIN
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Celtic wrapped up their final pre-season games with another English Premiership side being defeated by a single goal (penalty) courtesy of one Mr Henrik Larsson.
This was a far tougher contest than that put up by Fulham last week at Celtic Park.
Sunderland were by far the better team in the first half and had a goal chopped off which to be honest seemed a bit harsh, however Martin O'Neill's men rallied in the second half to record another fine win.
Young Sean Maloney had the chance to make it a comfortable win for the hoops close to the end of the game but he missed his chance.
Again a good workout for the team as we now look forward to Saturdays opener against the men from Perth.
HENRIK AT THE DOUBLE
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Henrik Larsson continued where he left off from last season by firing in a double to put new English Premiership boys Fulham to the sword.
Young Sean Maloney also got in on the act by slotting home his first goal at Celtic Park with around six minutes remaining.
The crowd also witnessed Martin O'Neill's first signing as Bobo Balde was finally introduced to the crowd at half time.
All in all a good night's workout for the bhoys as we look forward to another English Premiership team visiting Celtic Park on Tuesday night, this time it's Peter Reid's Sunderland side who may well put up a better challenge than Fulham.
CELTIC DEFEATED IN FRENCH FARCE
By Alistair Kenneth - Smith, of The FRENCH CSC
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It was a surreal evening at the Stade Sebastien Charlety in the south of Paris. There was an athletics track around the pitch which meant that seeing the opposite end of the pitch wasn't easy.
The stadium can hold 20,000 but I estimated about 2000 with a few hundred of those Celtic supporters.
We certainly made ourselves heard though with shocked looks on the faces of passers by in the various bars before the game and also on the faces of the Porto supporters at the game. Game was scheduled to kick off at 9.30pm but was at least 10 minutes late.
This allowed us time to not only "make a Jungle" at one corner of the ground but to find out there was a bar which was selling real beer. Not that we needed any more but we have a reputation to protect! As we sung at the Porto supporters that "we drink more than Porto".
We only found out afterwards that there had been a problem with the referee getting to the game and that it was the stadium manager who was given a whistle. But we had quickly noticed that he was wearing tracksuit bottoms and a dark coat!
A chorus of "The ref's still got his coat on" was probably wasted but it did make us laugh. Celtic lined up in their normal 3 5 2 with Tebily on the left Joos in the middle Mjallby on the right. Petta and Smith the wingbacks and Ghod and Sutton up front with Lambert, Thomson and Lubo in the middle.
Porto started quite brightly and both Joos and Johan had to look sharp to cut out various crosses and attempted through balls. Smith had a little bit of trouble with his positioning defensively early on with the ball being played in behind him.
We did not offer much up front with Larsson looking a little out of touch and though Sutton kept the ball well there were a lot of misplaced passes forward. Our only real attempt at goal was a long range effort from Thomson which the Porto keeper tipped over the bar.
They had a few half chances none of which looked particularly dangerous.
Half time arrived and more beer was purchased. Three substitutions at half time seemed to help up the pace in the second half with Lennon on for Lambert, Jackie on for Thomson and Agathe on for Smith.
A few hard tackles were flying and the ref seemed unable to keep up. Some strange decisions from the linesman brought on him the wrath of the Celtic bench and Neil Lennon.
Especially when one of their forwards went down under a tackle from Joos and the linesman waved for a penalty but the ref told him to shut up.
More subs just before and after the hour with Kerr, Crainey, Healy, Maloney, Boyd and TJ on and Douglas, Sutton, Larsson, Lubo, Mjallby and Tebily off. Back 3 was now Boyd on the right and Crainey on the left with Joos in between.
Game was now petering out and would have ended in a draw if it hadn't been for a slow motion through ball with the Porto striker in an offside position he stopped looked across and saw the linesman waving play on he then stuck the ball past Kerr.
Cue for some words from a few of the Celtic players. We had a reasonable shout for a penalty with Maloney going down but not much chance of it being given with the ref still in the centre circle.
We played pretty crap and so did they with not much goalmouth action and only our beer filled singing to keep the Porto fans entertained.
There was no creativity from our wide players and our passing looked slow and laboured. Lubo had a few good touches and Joos and Johan had solid get rid of the ball when in danger sort of games. Hopefully a lot more to come!
At the final whistle it was a big disappointment not to have the players or the bench at least give us a wave as they trooped off at the other end of the pitch. We therefore had to jump in a taxi and go to the pub to drown our sorrows.
Celtic: Douglas Kerr 57); Mjallby (Boyd 57), Valgaeran, Tebily (Crainey 57); Petta, Moravcik (Johnson 65), Lambert (Lennon 45), Thompson (McNamara 45), Smith (Agathe 57); Larsson (Maloney 65) , Sutton (Healy 65)
QPR Fight Couldn't Stop Classy Celtic
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The two nil score line to the visitors was deserved, the first coming just a minute into the game as Henrik Larsson poked the ball past Chris Day. It was a classic Larsson goal, showing off his sharpness and pace to meet a clever through ball before defenders or keeper. As the QPR fans quickly laughed off the embarrassment the Rangers on the pitch slowly found their footing and started to fight. The short straw was definitely picked by debutant Terrell Forbes, having been given the job of marking Europe's most prolific scorer last season. If you haven't heard much about Forbes, you will be happy to hear that the 19 year-old did an outstanding job, often linking up well with new keeper Chris Day. Interestingly Day wasn't hugely busy, only making one memorable save mid-way through the second half. After the summer clear out, it was hard to put names to faces as I spent half the first half trying to name the men in the hoops (Celtic were in their away strip). After spending 15 minutes complementing the "new" QPR number 8 I spotted that it was just Gavin Peacock who had shaved his head and built up a healthy tan! We are still being told that Peacock will be leaving soon, but if his form today was anything to go by he is worth keeping. Steve Palmer was the second central defender in a 4-4-2, and despite being more at home in midfield, he didn't look out of place. Full backs were Marcus Bignot and Paul Bruce. Bruce has just signed a new QPR contract having initially been released at the end of last season. The other bright spark to emerge from this, the first friendly of the new season, was Leroy Griffith, who looked dangerous up front when he came on in the second half. It is a pity that he replaced, and wasn't joined by Andy Thomson to give probably our best front pairing. In the end a second half goal from Celtic did little to change the feeling of what appeared to be an upbeat QPR team. 2-0 is definitely a respectable result and one which we will hope to build on as the new season approaches. Celtic fly back to Glasgow this morning unbeaten from their pre-season preparations, but Porto will provide a sterner challenge on Tuesday evening when the Hoops come up against them in Paris. QPR (4-4-2): Day; Bignot, Forbes, Palmer,
Bruce; Connolly, Peacock, Bonnot, Barr (Koejoe 46); Wardley,
Thomson (Griffiths 46). CELTIC (3-5-2): Gould (Kharine 46);
Mjallby (Johnson 67), Boyd (Healy 46), Tebily (Wieghorst 76);
Kolkka (Petta 61), Thompson (Berkovic 77), Lennon (Burchill 77),
Lambert (Moravcik 61), McNamara (Agathe 46); Sutton (Crainey 76),
Larsson (Maloney 77). ATT: 17,337
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Celtic secure second win
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Dublin teenager Mick Doyle was the unlikely hero for Celtic as the Scottish treble winners beat Shelbourne in the last game of their Irish pre-season tour on Sunday.
Martin O'Neill's team were drawing 1-1 in front of a crowd of 7,000 at Tolka Park when the midfielder, who has yet to make a first-team appearance, marked his return to his home town by heading past Shels goalkeeper Gareth Downey.
But both managers will be happy with the day as Celtic paraded three trophies for their adoring Irish fans while Shels boss Dermot Keely now knows his new-look side, which contained four summer signings, can hold its own against more illustrious opponents.
Indeed, the home side nearly hit the front on 17 minutes when winger Richie Baker was put clean through after good work by his older brother Dessie.
Richie's dummy managed to fool Bhoys keeper Robert Douglas, but the Ireland Under-21 could only hit the side netting. Baker had another good opportunity on 35 minutes but he blazed wide from Pat Fenlon's cross.
Celtic had plenty of chances of their own but were unable to beat new goalkeeper Gareth Downey until Jackie McNamara broke the deadlock on 52 minutes with a neat finish from Shaun Maloney's cross.
Shels were level within a minute when another new boy, Brian Byrne, converted a close-range header after Douglas had parried Dessie Baker's shot.
Doyle, on as a sub for Oliver Tebily, headed home from a Neil Lennon corner on 75 minutes and another sub, Tommy Johnson, made it 3-1 with ten minutes left.
Shelbourne: Downey, Heary, McCarthy, Gannon, R Baker, Hutton (D Byrne 46), Fenlon, Crawford, Hutchison, B Byrne, D Baker (McCann, 85)
Celtic: Douglas (Gould 70), Agathe (Fotheringham 70), Tebily (Doyle 65), McNamara (Miller 78), Crainey (Boyd 46), Moravcik (Goodwin 46), Lennon, Lambert (Burchilll 70), Petta (Smith 46, Wieghorst 78), Maloney, Sutton (Johnson 19)
Celts kick off with narrow victory
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The champagne was popping back in his native Denmark on Friday night as brave Morten Wieghorst returned to the Celtic team 11 months after being struck down by the deadly brain disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
The midfielder carried his completely rebuilt body back on to the Turner's Cross pitch with 20 minutes left, helping Celtic open their pre-season build up with victory over the Irish part-timers.
Mark Burchill struck twice as he pulled on a Celtic shirt again for the first time in six months following loan spells at Birmingham and Ipswich. Lubo Moravcik was handed Eyal Berkovic's prized No.10 jersey in the evening's most significant event.
Celtic fell behind just before the break when Dmitri Kharine was caught static as he went into a one-on-one with Cork striker James Mulligan, 25 yards out from goal, with the veteran forward completing the job. Jackie McNamara equalised almost immediately before Burchill pounced in the second half.
Jim Goodwin conceded a penalty on 63 minutes, converted by Kevin Flanaghan but Wieghorst's entry lifted Celtic and Shaun Maloney set up Burchill for the winner.
CORK: Mooney (Devine 46); Horgan, O’Rourke, Daly
(Caulfield 74), Coughlan (Napier 74); Cahill, Herrick (Buckley 38),
O’Grady (Flanagan 57), Carey (O’Brien 61), Hartigan (Tynan 57),
Mulligan (Welsch 80).
CELTIC (3-5-2): Kharine (Gould 46); Tebily, Boyd, Crainey (Goodwin 57); Agathe (Smith 57), McNamara (Thompson 46), Lambert (Lennon 46), Miller (Moravcik 46), Petta (Wieghorst 69); Sutton (Burchill 46), Johnson (Maloney 46).
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Copyright © 2001 by [The Affiliation of Registered Celtic Supporters Clubs]. All rights reserved. |
Joos
Valgaeren and Johan Mjallby, two of O’Neill’s main injury
worries before the game made the starting line-up, while Stan Petrov
got a raucous ovation when it was announced that the young Bulgarian
was on the bench.
Bobby
Petta, so influential in the first leg tie, was badly missed on the
left-flank and without him Celtic toiled to create the plethora of
opportunities that befell them in the Amsterdam ArenA a fortnight
ago.
Lubomir
Moravcik was introduced with just under 20 minutes on the clock as
Celtic tried to re-establish their two goal cushion and ease some of
the pressure. Two minutes later Agathe, Celtic’s best player of
the evening, sent a dangerous cut-back across the face of the goal
for Sutton, but Ajax keeper Grim stuck out a foot to block the
chance.
