From The Official Site (or somewhere)

Saturday 6/8/05

Celtic 2 - 0 Dundee United
At full-time, a Celtic supporter turned to his pal and said: "At least we'll
be able to buy the newspapers again tomorrow", a remark which perfectly
captured how events at Parkhead yesterday may have bridged the gap between
awful recent history and the promise of a brighter future. The match
programme may have carried a picture of Chinese trialist Du Wei and wrongly
captioned it as Shunsuke Nakamura, but there will be no excuse for mistaken
identity from now on. Nakamura's signature was all over Celtic's first SPL
win under Gordon Strachan.
The club has been craving a new hero to embrace and, on yesterday's evidence
at least, there is an outstanding new candidate. In the role occupied with
varying degrees of success by Eyal Berkovic and Lubo Moravcik, Nakamura had
the look of a sorcerer yesterday and Celtic were content to let their
imagination run wild about the contribution he will make.
Strachan's signings have left much to be desired so far, but Nakamura's
touch and range of passing carried a stamp of authenticity. The midfielder,
and his entourage of Japanese media, are about to become a prominent feature
of Celtic's daily life. Jo Venglos could be forgiven anything for being the
man who signed Moravcik, and Strachan may have found the player who will
repeat that trick for him.
Lord knows what Nakamura made of being roped into the huddle, but Parkhead
was in welcoming mood from the outset. The was a roar when his name was read
out before kick-off and during the game an appreciative ripple at worst and
full-scale acclaim at best for his every touch.
His play was entirely predictable, which is no criticism. Just as Strachan
had led everyone to believe, he showed the ingenuity and raw talent which
had persuaded the manager to sign him from Reggina in the first place. He
was mobile, eager for involvement and showed the sense to know when to play
a simple 10-yard pass rather than playing to the grandstands every time.
Even those spells when he drifted out of the game were to be expected.
Nakamura, like Moravcik before him, will have his off days, but yesterday
wasn't one of them.
Given Celtic's recent travails, there is the danger of all sorts of
expectations being placed on Nakamura's shoulders, and it would be easy to
exaggerate the pleasing touches that he displayed yesterday. Nevertheless,
he was at the heart of some of Celtic's most dangerous play. He, Alan
Thompson and Maciej Zurawski exchanged passes down the left before the Pole's
cross found Nakamura diving to connect with a downward header which would
have brought a debut goal after just 65 seconds had it not lacked power and
been cleared near the goal-line by Stuart Duff.
Nakamura was primarily bought to create rather than finish, so the sort of
pass which he played in the 17th minute is liable to become more familiar
than his diving headers. The delivery cleared United's back line to put
Zurawski clear but he was hesitant and Derek Stillie reacted sharply to race
out and block the shot with his legs. How Zurawski needs a fresh start like
Nakamura's.
United's relaxed, bright play meant half an hour passed before Celtic began
to exert a period of sustained pressure, which eventually brought the
opener. Lee Miller operated alone up front but had the presence to unsettle
a brittle back four. With Mark Wilson supplying a series of excellent
deliveries, there was always the chance of United becoming the first side to
score a competitive goal past Artur Boruc. The new goalkeeper looked shaky
when fumbling a couple of corners under pressure.
Parkhead may have been in the mood to lap up Japanese finesse, but it was
raw Welsh force which saw Celtic barge ahead. As soon as Hartson latched on
to Mo Camara's long ball up the left there was the likelihood of him
muscling his way past David McCracken and in on Stillie. So it proved. With
the defender fruitlessly claiming he had been fouled, Hartson shrugged him
off before sliding a low, angled shot inside the post.
A burst of Hartson chances might have quickly buried United but he turned
and shot wide before the interval then hit the bar twice in a minute with
headers from Thompson and Paul Telfer crosses.
United survived and would surely have equalised if Miller's square pass
across the box had fallen to anyone other than Stevie Crawford, whose tame
display was epitomised by a soft finish into Boruc's body. The visitors
wanted a penalty when Bobo Balde bundled into Miller, but the claim was
unconvincing. The second half was an ordeal for United as Celtic kept them
pinned back and provided the platform for Nakamura to flourish again.
By the time he had forced a wonderful diving save out of Stillie from a
sumptuous free-kick, then twisted and turned Duff before drilling a shot
into the side net, it was no wonder he was afforded a standing ovation when
he trotted over to take a corner. Shaun Maloney was perky in a cameo role
from the bench but Nakamura held the stage and almost scored near the end
with a chip which stretched Stillie like a rack.
He was off the field by the time Celtic scored their second. Maloney evaded
McCracken and Wilson before floating over a cross which Beattie met with a
volley that flew past Stillie.
The sparkling contributions from Beattie and Maloney were poignant. For all
the praise lavished on them by Strachan, neither started the match and they
face uphill battles to establish themselves. If there was a downside to
Nakamura's debut, it was the confirmation that nothing stirs the Old Firm
like a luxury import.

Celtic so close to glory but suffer Euro agony

STEPHEN HALLIDAY


GORDON Strachan last night attempted to put a brave face on Celtic's
dramatic exit from European football by insisting his team are good enough
to reclaim the SPL title from Rangers and provide him with a mandate to lead
them back into the Champions League next year.
The first victory and clean sheet of Strachan's already turbulent reign as
Celtic manager was not enough to create history at Parkhead. Attempting to
become the first team to overturn a 5-0 first-leg deficit in a European tie,
Celtic fell just short with a 4-0 win over Slovakian champions Artmedia
Bratislava in their Champions League second qualifying round, second-leg
fixture.
It meant Celtic became the first Scottish club to be knocked out at this
stage of the tournament, which does not even carry the consolation of
dropping into the UEFA Cup, costing them a potential financial windfall of
£10million.
Strachan, heartened by the improved attitude and commitment of his players
last night, now knows he can only fully compensate for the unacceptably
early European failure by guiding his team to domestic supremacy over
Rangers.
"The biggest disappointment for me is that I will have to wait until next
year until we have nights like this again," said Strachan. "I said to Tommy
Burns at the final whistle that it was okay for him, he has had plenty of
these kind of nights, but it was my first one. When we go up a level,
playing wise and tempo wise, then we will have these nights again. When the
squad is fully fit, we will be alright and I believe we are good enough to
win the league.
"The players gave me exactly what I expected of them, both the guys who have
been here doing it for the last five years and the newer ones who stood
shoulder to shoulder with them and didn't let them down. The vision I have
for Celtic must include the heart and character they showed tonight but we
also have to play better and get fitter."
When substitute Craig Beattie scored Celtic's fourth goal eight minutes from
time, following strikes from Alan Thompson, John Hartson and Stephen McManus
which had made the daunting task seem attainable, Strachan had permitted
himself to believe his team could write a new page in the 50-year history of
European club competitions.
"I do believe the first leg was a freak result for Artmedia," he said, "and
we had more chances tonight than they did in Bratislava. I said to the
players at the end that they came so close to the greatest night of their
careers. The club have to look after the financial implications of going out
of Europe just now, my job is to look after the team. I'm a tool of the club
and all I'm worried about is building a better team."
Neil Lennon, the Celtic captain, believes the team's performance last night
disproved any notions that the club's senior players were not 100 per cent
committed to life under Strachan. "I'm pleased for the manager," said
Lennon, "because you could see the players are right behind him. We can take
a lot from that game and performance, we never gave up right to the death.
Maybe the first leg came a bit early for us, with the new players still
trying to integrate, but slowly and surely it is coming together for us. It
augurs well for the rest of the season. Going out of Europe is a setback but
we can have a right go at the league now.
"We have only ourselves to blame for what happened in the first leg, we were
so poor and let ourselves down. That's the most galling thing, but we just
have to push on now and make sure we take six points from our next two
league games then go to Ibrox right up for it."
Vladimir Weiss, the Artmedia coach whose team will now face either Partizan
Belgrade or Sheriff Tiraspol in the third qualifying round, said: "Thank God
the miracle didn't happen, even though it was close. I have been in football
a long time but never known an atmosphere like tonight. The Celtic fans were
like nine extra men for their team."

previous season's games

Having scored only 11 times in an injury-affected season last term, which ended prematurely after he sustained a back injury in January, these were his 29th and 30th goals of this campaign, and enough to beat Aberdeen and re-establish the Parkhead club's lead at the top of the table.

Under pressure after Rangers beat Hearts on Saturday, this was a crucial win and reimposed their dominance on the division. And not for the first time it was Hartson who was their hero.

His first goal followed a frustrating first half for the home team and came just two minutes after the restart, when he bundled home an Alan Thompson free-kick and his second, after 71 minutes, was a close-range finish at the end of a fine move involving Didier Agathe, substitute Craig Beattie and Chris Sutton, who returned following injury and was himself a key figure.

Around those goals Celtic contrived to miss a number of chances and had a decent penalty claim for a Michael Hart challenge on Thompson turned down, although the visitors occasionally did enough to remind them it was a contest and never more so than when Jackie McNamara had to head a Richie Byrne effort off the line.

"In the end we deserved this win," insisted O'Neill. "We put in a big effort and saw it through and after finding ourselves 1-0 or 2-0 down to Aberdeen early on in the last couple of games we were delighted to get to 25 minutes on level terms. It was nail-biting for a while but we had some big performances when it mattered."

One was from Neil Lennon who threw his shirt into the crowd on the final whistle of Celtic's last home game of the season, and possibly the final Parkhead appearance of his career with no new contract yet signed.

But it was Hartson who was fundamental. "We caught Aberdeen sleeping a bit at the start of the second half and the first goal is always so important," he said.

"I could actually have had three or four myself but after last season when I had my back injury I have to be pleased to come back with 30 so far and that's 90 in total for the club.

"But we know at this stage we just have to keep going because all the lads expect Rangers to win their last two games so our mindset is that we have to do the same and we will win the league."

That sounds considerably easier than it might eventually prove but Celtic, labelled by some as a team over the hill, continue to find reserves of strength, commitment and desire that will be important over the next fortnight.

Sutton's return has been timely, as has Didier Agathe's comeback from injury, while Thompson's ability to deliver pinpoint crosses remains a formidable weapon in the Celtic armoury.

Any doubts about their resilience centres on the defence where Bobo Balde, understood to have been watched recently by the Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeness, can be erratic.

Rangers had their own share of nerves after being two goals ahead against Hearts, through Thomas Buffel and Marvin Andrews, and the late own-goal from Andrews induced near-panic on Saturday.

There is likely to be more of the same kind of tension at Ibrox, Tynecastle, Easter Road and Fir Park in the coming weekends.

None of which greatly concerns the Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood who conceded after this defeat that his own club's Uefa Cup hopes are all but dead and buried, though he refused to tip a title winner.

"Don't involve me in that," he said. "I just want to make sure we learn from this defeat. We probably had the better first-half chances but lost a bit of confidence when we went behind and the second goal killed us."

Calderwood's woes were compounded by what he fears could be serious ligament injuries to Russell Anderson and Kevin McNaughton.

Celtic quench fire in Rangers cauldron
Dominic Fifield at Ibrox

Rangers -1 Celtic - 2: The massed ranks of green and white in the
Broomloan Road stand were still bouncing in celebration long after the
final whistle here, their raucous taunts chasing crestfallen Rangers
supporters out of the ground. There will be no escaping reality today:
Celtic, victorious in hostile surroundings, have effectively retained
their title.

The psychological damage inflicted on their city rivals by this win, as
much as the five-point advantage chiselled out as a result, has deflated
this year's championship chase. Celtic were hugely dominant where they
might have expected to toil, and the scoreline flatters their hosts. By
the end, the home side's ferocity had degenerated into a whimper. There
may still be four games to go but hope has been drained from the
pursuit.

Martin O'Neill was reluctant to admit as much, though his post-match
assessment was still delivered with the cautious optimism of a man about
to claim his fourth title in five years in charge.

"You can be within touching distance and that can be a long stretch, but
it's in our hands now and we can even afford to make a mistake," he
offered. "We deserved to win this game but, if you take your eye off it,
you can get done."

Little suggests they will, especially if fears over the state of Craig
Bellamy's hamstring are allayed by a scan today. The Welshman inspired
this success, tormenting Rangers' ragged back-line before withdrawing
early in the second period. The striker retains the lippy attitude but
also the pace that recently terrorised the Premiership.

The loanee from Newcastle was a class apart here, and his explosive
display was capped with a wonderfully taken goal beyond the half-hour.
Collecting Alan Thompson's pass, he sprinted down the left with the
ponderous Sotorios Kyrgiakos shadowing him. The Greek might have
shepherded the striker to the touchline but instead watched helplessly
as Bellamy cut inside and curled a shot deliciously from the edge of the
area beyond Ronald Waterreus.

That was his ninth goal since moving from Tyneside in January, the
frustrating memories of Old Firm defeat on his debut exorcised in the
whipped finish.

Bellamy's goal doubled the visitors' lead, leaving home supporters
apoplectic with their own chances visibly ebbing away.

Stilian Petrov, connecting sweetly with Didier Agathe's cross, had put
them ahead while Rangers spluttered in the opening exchanges. The
plastic cup flung at the Bulgarian as he celebrated - provocatively - in
front of the Copland Road stand will surely warrant a Scottish Football
Association inquiry, but it reflected the frustration welling up on
three sides of the ground.

Rangers were disjointed, their midfield woefully ineffective with Barry
Ferguson's influence negligible and Fernando Ricksen eclipsed at his
side.

Where Celtic benefited from Bellamy's pace and John Hartson's rugged
presence when they launched the ball long, the hosts could only reply
with Dado Prso's endeavour and the confidence-shot Novo Nacho. The
Spaniard has now gone six league games without a goal.

Without his bite Rangers were gummy. Marvin Andrews headed against the
bar at the end of the first half and Agathe belted a Kyrgiakos header
from the goalline, but it was only when Steven Thompson muscled into the
furious finale that they found reward.

The Scotland striker thrashed in from close range with three minutes to
play but his consolation was no consolation at all.

"They were a wee bit cuter than us, a bit more streetwise," said Alex
McLeish in defeat.

RANGERS: Waterreus; Ross (Buffel 45), Andrews (Malcolm 83 mins),
Kyrgiakos, Ball, Namouchi, Ricksen, Ferguson, Vignal (Thompson 76 mins),
Novo, Prso. Subs not used: McGregor, Alex Rae, Burke, McCormack. Booked:
Vignal, Novo, Kyrgiakos. Goal: Thompson 88.

CELTIC: Marshall; Agathe, Balde, Varga, McNamara, Petrov, Sutton,
Lennon, Thompson, Bellamy (Beattie 48 mins), Hartson, Beattie (Wallace
90 mins). Subs not used: Douglas, Henchoz, Lambert, Maloney, McGeady.
Booked: Petrov, Bellamy, Agathe, Hartson. Goals: Petrov 21, Bellamy 34.

Referee: S Dougal (Scotland).

From Sporting Life:
16th April 2005

Celtic 3  Aberdeen 2

Craig Bellamy heaped pressure on the Celtic board with a breathtaking
winner as the Bank of Scotland Premier League champions pulled
themselves back from the dead to shatter Aberdeen and increase their
lead over Rangers to five points.

The visitors had looked on course to claim their third consecutive
success on the Hoops' doorstep and give the Ibrox men back the
initiative in the title race after racing to a shock two-goal lead
through Zander Diamond and Darren Mackie goals after 14 minutes.

But Stanislav Varga and John Hartson hauled them back on level terms
either side of the break before Bellamy blasted a goal-of-the-season
contender, intensifying the Celtic fans' claims to make his move loan
move from Newcastle permanent.

If Celtic retain the title they will look back on this afternoon as the
one which clinched it as they entered the final five games and Old Firm
showdown on top of the table with Rangers facing a tricky test on the
East End Park plastic on Sunday.

Just like the Hearts defeat here a fortnight ago, Aberdeen stunned the
SPL leaders by snatching the lead against the run of play in the 11th
minute.

Kevin McNaughton played the ball out to Scott Severin and his cross
found Zander Diamond, who still had plenty to do.

But the young defender swivelled like a prized striker just inside the
box, and powered a right-foot volley through a crowded penalty box and
past the despairing hand of David Marshall and into the bottom corner of
the net.

In a carbon copy of the last home match here, Aberdeen ruthlessly took
full advantage of some terrible defending by Celtic to extend their
shock advantage three minutes later.

Heikkinen did brilliantly to play Muirhead away down the left flank and
he looked up to pick out Darren Mackie in the centre with an even better
ball and the striker left Stanislav Varga for dead to plant his
right-foot shot past Marshall from close range.

The home side stepped up the pressure in the 26th minute when Jackie
McNamara almost dragged them back into the match with a speculative
right-foot shot from 28 yards which Esson had to scurry back quickly to
tip over the crossbar.

Celtic went even closer when Bobo Balde headed Thompson's cross towards
the top corner but Lubomir Blaha jumped at the far post to clear off the
line to save Aberdeen.

But the shell-shocked home fans were celebrating in the 27th minute as
Varga stooped to head McGeady's cross into the top corner from six yards
to raise the temperature.

O'Neill made a change in the 31st minute by bringing on Didier Agathe in
place of Joos Valgaeren for his first appearance through injury since
November 28.

Celtic made a whirlwind start to the second half and Bellamy should have
equalised in the 51st minute when McGeady played him clean through,
after a strong run from Varga through the middle, but Esson came racing
off his line to save his weak effort with his foot.

But Aberdeen failed to clear with Agathe pouncing on a loose ball and
picked out Hartson to blast a right-foot shot past the keeper from eight
yards for his 28th of the campaign.

Aberdeen still caused the home defence plenty of concern at the other
end as McNaughton curled a left-foot shot over the top from the edge of
the area.

O'Neill threw on another of his big guns in the 57th minute with the
introduction of Chris Sutton, who had not fully recovered from a foot
injury sustained in the midweek win at Livingston, for Aiden McGeady,
who had took his place in the side.

But the inspirational Englishman had barely arrived in the box when
Bellamy produced a moment of genius to send the champions hurtling into
the lead in stunning fashion.

Thompson's corner flew all the way to the opposite side of the box and
the Newcastle man drove an unstoppable right-foot volley across Esson
and into the top corner of the net.

But Celtic were fuming in the 62nd minute when they were denied a
certain penalty after Bellamy had been sent sprawling in the area by
Richie Byrne's barge in the back.

O'Neill took off second-half substitute Agathe for Stephane Henchoz late
on but having seemingly been robbed of a penalty, it was a nervous
finale for the champions.

Bellamy could have settled them down with a second in the dying seconds
only to screw his right-foot shot wide.

But he had already done his job as the fans rose to their feet to salute
him at the final whistle.

Hibernian 1-3 Celtic

Celtic produced their best performance for some time to beat Hibs, reducing Rangers' lead at the top of the SPL. Stilian Petrov put the visitors ahead with a coolly-taken goal from inside the six-yard box in the fifth minute. John Hartson doubled the lead, sliding in to poke the ball past Simon Brown from a similar range. Craig Bellamy raced onto Alan Thompson's pass to hit a low shot under the keeper before Guillaume Beuzelin volleyed in a consolation late on. Celtic got off to the best possible start with a goal from their first attack. The ball was slipped to Chris Sutton on the right and though his low ball into the six-yard box was missed by Hartson, Petrov was at the back post where he took a couple of touches before rifling the ball into the net. Bellamy came close to notching his first league goal for his new side with a low drive from 12 yards that was goal-bound until Gary Smith deflected it wide for a corner. Hibs were well below their best and they fell further behind after half-an-hour. Sutton was again the provider, this time from the left. His cross was glanced on by Bellamy to Hartson, who slid the ball past Simon Brown. The goal came at a cost though. Sutton pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury as he prepared to deliver the cross and was subsequently replaced by Aiden McGeady. Derek Riordan passed up a terrific opportunity to reduce the deficit a few minutes later when he latched onto a short back-pass by Bobo Balde, only to see Rab Douglas get a hand to his low shot, allowing Stan Varga to get back to complete the clearance. Douglas was smartly off his line to thwart Riordan again early in the second half before Bellamy almost made it 3-0 with a shot on the turn that flew just over the bar. The Welshman did increase Celtic's lead after 69 minutes having been released by Alan Thompson's pass down the left. With Hibs appealing for offside, Bellamy rounded the keeper and slotted the ball into the net. McGeady hit a dipping shot just over the bar and Ulrik Laursen was denied by a last-ditch tackle as Celtic toyed with the home side in the closing stages. But Hibs did pull a goal back in injury time, substitute Amadou Konte crossing for Beuzelin to cushion a shot past Douglas.   Hibernian: Simon Brown, Whittaker, Caldwell, Smith, Murphy, Orman (Beuzelin 45), Scott Brown, Ian Murray, Shiels, O'Connor (Sproule 81), Riordan (Konte 81). Subs Not Used: Alistair Brown, Fletcher, McDonald, McCluskey. Booked: Caldwell, Ian Murray, Sproule. Goal: Beuzelin 90. Celtic: Douglas, McNamara, Balde, Varga, Laursen, Petrov, Lennon, Sutton (McGeady 32), Thompson (Fernandez 81), Hartson (Beattie 74), Bellamy. Subs Not Used: Marshall, Henchoz, Lambert, Wallace. Booked: Lennon, Balde. Goals: Petrov 5, Hartson 31, Bellamy 69. Att: 15,787 Ref: K Clark

Bellamy boosts Celtic

Graham Clark at Broadwood
Monday February 28, 2005
The Guardian

Juninho lit up a town once labelled the ugliest in Britain with a little
Brazilian magic as Celtic cruised into the semi-finals yesterday.

Cumbernauld, home to Clyde, is not somewhere immediately associated with
sambas or a carnival atmosphere. Yet Juninho and the visit of Celtic
provided both.

The World Cup winner laid on three of the goals and served notice to
Martin O'Neill that he might yet have something to offer, even though
his likely reward for this performance will be to be relegated to the
substitutes' bench again for the Premierleague match against Dundee on
Wednesday.

Celtic joined Dundee United, Hibernian and Hearts in the last four
thanks to two goals from Stanislav Varga, a penalty from Alan Thompson
and further efforts from Stilian Petrov and Craig Bellamy, the
Welshman's first since joining from Newcastle on loan.

Although it was fairly straightforward in the end, there was a hint of
giant-killing in an interesting first half when Clyde matched their
illustrious opponents and were left to rue a decision by the referee
Craig Thomson that might have changed the game.

After half an hour the official watched Craig Bryson negotiate several
desperate challenges, most notably from Petrov, before firing a fine
shot past Rab Douglas only to stop the home celebrations in mid-flow to
give Clyde a foul. The protests were long and entirely pointless, and to
rub salt into their wounds Darren Sheridan's free-kick was touched round
the post by Douglas.

That was perhaps the kick up the backside Celtic needed and after 40
minutes they went ahead when Varga headed home Juninho's corner. If it
was an unconvincing first half there was a dramatic improvement from
Celtic after the break. Three minutes in, Thompson scored from the
penalty spot after the substitute Shaun Maloney, on for Chris Sutton,
was brought down and further goals followed from Petrov on the hour,
Varga again after 68 minutes and Bellamy four minutes later.

In the end it was entirely predictable but the First Division team will
have enjoyed the experience - the referee's decision aside - and will
reap the benefit from a sell-out 8,200 crowd together with television
money.

"Yet we're disappointed," admitted their manager Billy Reid. "We didn't
deserve 5-0 although we gave away cheap goals and you can't do that.

"But I was pleased with other aspects. I felt we were the better team in
the first half and although I have no problem over the one we had
disallowed I didn't think we got much from the referee in the rest of
the match."

O'Neill, meanwhile, admitted his side were "stodgy" in the first half
and is now concerned about injuries to Sutton, Stéphane Henchoz and
Maloney.

On the plus side, however, he insisted: "I was very pleased with
Maloney's contribution because he's been out for a year through injury,
and it was good to see Bellamy get his first goal."

Man of the Match: Juninho (Celtic)

January 9th

Celtic 2  Rangers 1

John Hartson celebrated his new contract with the second-half Old Firm
winner to send rivals Rangers crashing out of the Tennent's Scottish Cup
at the third round stage.
Chris Sutton recovered from his sending off during the bad-tempered
clash in November by firing Celtic ahead before the break only for
Fernando Ricksen to equalise with a glancing header.
But former Rangers target Hartson, who signed a two-year extension to
his contract on Friday, capitalised on more shoddy defending to put
Celtic into the fourth round draw.
Both sides of the divide were under immense pressure to behave
themselves on the park after the unsavoury scenes which marred Celtic's
league defeat at Ibrox in November.
The big Glasgow showdown, as always, started at an explosive pace and
Fernando Ricksen found himself in the wars after just three minutes.
The ball ran away from John Hartson, who signed a new contract on
Friday, and he cut down the Dutchman but escaped a yellow card from
referee Hugh Dallas.
Rangers started the brighter after two successive victories over their
arch rivals and rejuvenated Celtic goalkeeper Robert Douglas needed to
sprint off his line to claim at the feet of Dado Prso in the eighth
minute.
Dallas evened things up moments later when he refused to book Ricksen
for a crude challenge on Stilian Petrov, who saw his volley was saved by
Stefan Klos moments later.
But the German made a great save to deny Celtic the opener in the 14th
minute after a trademark Alan Thompson free-kick had caused problems in
the Rangers box.
He curled the ball to the back post where Hartson was lurking but he
watched in disbelief as Klos somehow stopped his header from point-blank
range by his post and Marvin Andrews was in the right place at the right
time to clear from under his crossbar.
The Rangers defender almost became a hero at the other end as he rose
above the Celtic defence from Djordjic's corner but headed over the
crossbar from five yards.
McLeish looked on anxiously as both men hit the deck after clashing in
the move but he was relieved to see them return to the action after
receiving treatment.
Dallas finally found it necessary to stamp his authority on the game in
the 21st minute by booking Namouchi for bringing down Petrov.
Andrews needlessly put his team-mates under pressure with a stupid barge
into the back of Sutton.
But the former Livingston man made amends by heading Aiden McGeady's
cross behind for a corner although Klos looked poised to catch the ball.
It seems amazing that no clubs from England have come in for the German
and he illustrated his worth to Rangers again in the 28th minute as they
survived a goalmouth scramble.
McGeady's cross caused the problems as both players fought for the ball
inside the area and the youngster's effort looked destined for the back
of the net but a grounded Klos clawed the ball away from his goal and
his defence were able to clear the danger.
But there was little he could do to prevent the champions from taking
the lead with the simplest of moves in the 37th minute.
Hartson flicked on Douglas' long punt downfield and Sutton got ahead of
Andrews to prod the ball past the advancing goalkeeper and into the back
of the net.
The petulant Ricksen let his frustration get the better of him and he
earned himself a booking moments later when he fouled the jubilant
goalscorer.
The Dutchman then had the Celtic fans on their feet again as he curled a
free-kick over the crossbar after Thompson had brought Novo down.
Rangers equalised one minute into the second-half as they capitalised on
some desperately poor defending.
Alan Hutton swung an inviting cross into the danger area and Ricksen was
quick to react to plant his header across goal and into the bottom
corner of the net.
That woke up the sleeping giants and they carved a decent opening in the
51st minute which Petrov failed to convert.
The Bulgarian did well to control Thompson's cross and cut inside
Gregory Vignal but he struck his left-foot effort straight at Klos.
But the German needed Zurab Khizanishvili to come to his rescue moments
later when he failed to catch McGeady's intended cross and as he crashed
to the ground on his back, he was relieved to see the Georgian had got
back on his line to hook the ball away.
Andrews was the next Rangers hero in the 56th minute as he too got back
on his line to keep the ball out after Sutton had headed Thompson's
corner goalwards from seven yards.
Rangers responded themselves by slicing open their opponents' defence
but Douglas was alert to Ricksen's clever lob over the top and he
gathered under pressure from Novo.
Rae was also far too casual moments later as Sutton dispossessed him but
the Englishman could only curl the ball over the top from outside the
box.
Celtic players appealed for a penalty when Thompson's free-kick struck
Djordjic before Hartson headed McGeady's cross over the top from under
the crossbar.
McLeish responded by bringing on new signing Thomas Buffel for Djordjic
in the 67th minute.
One of Buffel's first contributions was to clip the heels of Agathe but
from Thompson's resulting free-kick Sutton's glancing header flew wide.
Novo almost got on the end of Andrews' long ball before Hartson sparked
wild celebrations by firing his side back into the lead in the 77th
minute.
Agathe's cross seemed harmless enough as Sutton missed it but Andrews
failed to deal with it and the Welshman arrived at the back post to poke
the ball past Klos.
At the other end Douglas threw himself to his right to touch Novo's
backheel, from Prso's ball, around the post as Rangers pushed for
another leveller.
Petrov could have killed the Ibrox men off with seven minutes remaining
after great work from Sutton but his right-foot shot was comfortably
saved by Klos.
Hartson was booked late in front of the visiting fans but that only
added to his hero status among the celebrating Parkhead supporters at
the final whistle.

Mon 3 Jan 2005

GLENN GIBBONS
AT CELTIC PARK

Celtic 2 Hartson (15), Sutton (pen, 57)
Livingston 1 Hamilton (36)
Referee: C Thomson. Attendance: 57,593.

ONE of the many distinguishing strengths of champions is a capacity for
exploiting any weakness in would-be challengers. When in ruthless mode, they
tend to do so with more savagery than Celtic summoned yesterday, when
punishing Rangers for the loss of two points at Dundee United the day
before.

That Martin O'Neill's side should see off Livingston by the minimum margin
in a match they were expected to win by a distance - and requiring Chris
Sutton's penalty kick, at that - was due in large part to a phenomenal
demonstration of heroic goalkeeping by Colin Meldrum.

But the former Kilmarnock man's series of wonderful saves was compressed
into a ten-minute period after the interval and it was notable - perhaps
even disquieting for O'Neill and his supporters - that Celtic appeared to
lose much of their momentum during the lengthy spells that followed each of
their goals.

With Rangers due at the stadium on Sunday on Tennent's Scottish Cup duty,
perhaps energy conservation was on their minds. But, without the
re-energising equaliser Jim Hamilton gave Livingston near half-time - after
John Hartson had opened the scoring - the match could have been considerably
less intriguing. And, but for an excellent save from Rab Douglas from Gus
Bahoken in stoppage time, the Parkhead side would have suffered the same
fate as their closest pursuers.

That first goal from Hartson may have seemed inevitable, but only to those
who had examined the difference in status and form of the two teams. As the
play itself unfolded over the preceding 15 minutes, there had been no stark
warning of impending damage to Livingston.

Celtic, predictably, had enjoyed the bulk of the possession, but they had
been more prodding than incisive, as if probing for the softest, most
suitable spot at which to make the first cut.

As it has so often in the past four years, it transpired that their
opponents were most vulnerable to the set piece. Hartson himself was fouled
by Oscar Rubio as he attempted to bore down the right and, when Alan
Thompson made the delivery with his accustomed expertise, the big Welshman
glanced the header far to the right of Meldrum from about 12 yards.

On the touchline, Richard Gough clearly simmered. We had the testimony of
the newly-installed Livi manager himself in midweek that he would spend days
preparing his defence on ways in which to cope with the champions' most-used
and most dangerous weapon.

As the ball crossed the line, the former Rangers defender wore the kind of
disdainful look that spoke of his frustration at his players' failure to
execute the preventative measures they had been practising. But Gough and
his team are not the first - and almost certainly will not be the last - to
discover that neutralising Celtic's deadliness in these situations can be as
problematic as keeping the wind from blowing.

And yet, having established an advantage, Celtic were, for long periods
afterwards, more studied than impulsive and improvisational, playing almost
a geometric style that relied on patient exploration of angles and
considered manoeuvres, rather than explosive inventiveness and flair.

Aiden McGeady, unsurprisingly, was a consistent exception, the young winger
constantly attempting to create a superiority in numbers for his own team by
taking a couple of opponents out with some ball artistry.

It was he who conjured the dribble and through pass from the left from which
Stilian Petrov would have doubled the home side's lead but for the alertness
of Meldrum, the goalkeeper rushing from his line to block the ball at the
Bulgarian's feet. Even if there was, however, not much evidence of a severe
thrashing for the visitors, their equaliser seemed even less likely.

Bahoken began the sequence of events with a speculative cross from far out
on the right which caused Douglas suddenly to have to leap and stretch to
touch the ball away for a corner kick. From there, it was played out to
Goran Stanic, whose poor attempt at a shot simply sent the ball feebly
towards the assembled bodies in the penalty area.

There seemed to be a general reluctance to attack the ball and. somehow, it
made its way through to the isolated Hamilton, who, looking utterly
surprised, had only to deflect it past Douglas with his right foot from
eight yards' range.

It proved to be an ill-advised challenge to Celtic's pride. The home team's
aggressiveness from the very start of the second half was so ferocious
compared with the first that, long before Sutton restored the advantage,
they could have been at least another two ahead - and would have been, but
for the extraordinary form of Meldrum.

Even O'Neill's arms were raised to acclaim a goal from Hartson's powerful
header from Thompson's corner kick when Meldrum, improbably, kept the ball
out. He frustrated the big striker again when Hartson chested down a high,
looping cross from Sutton and volleyed - a seemingly unmissable chance -
from ten yards out.

He would do similar from Sutton's header off an accurate chip from Hartson,
but not before the Englishman had converted the penalty kick awarded for
hand ball against Hamilton. The striker's fierce protest at being penalised
as he blocked a header from Bobo Balde left him in danger of a red card, as
he had been cautioned seven minutes earlier for encroachment at a free kick.

Sutton, characteristically unperturbed, slid the ball low to the left of
Meldrum, who had chosen to throw himself to his right.

Celtic: Douglas; McNamara, Varga, Balde, Laursen; Petrov, Lennon, Thompson,
McGeady (Juninho 85); Hartson, Sutton. Subs not used:
Marshall, Lambert, Maloney, Wallace, McManus.

Livingston: Meldrum; Bahoken, Dorado, Rubio, McNamee; Brittain (Dair 86),
O'Brien, Lovell, Stanic (Adam 86); Snodgrass (Libbra 65), Hamilton.
Subs not used: Fleming, Harding, McPake, Easton.

The Guardian

No goals and no glory as Celtic slip out of Europe

Graham Clark at Parkhead
Wednesday December 8, 2004

Celtic's European dream was undone partly in Glasgow and partly in far-away Donetsk as the Scottish champions were left to concentrate on domestic matters only for the rest of the season.

Even the consolation prize of a place in the Uefa Cup was snatched from them despite a decent home performance and draw against the Italian giants Milan. Events in the Ukraine, where group rivals for that Uefa Cup spot Shakhtar Donetsk beat Barcelona 2-0, ensured the Parkhead team had to win and they failed to do that at home so they can have no real complaints.

The visitors left players of the calibre of Rino Gattuso, Clarence Seedorf, Hernan Crespo and Kaka on the bench at the outset which suggested they, having already qualified, might not be as anxious to win as the home team.

It was an experienced Milan side nevertheless and it was just as well for they had to weather an early Celtic storm that was led by the precocious talents of Aiden McGeady.

The Republic of Ireland youngster danced past Fabrizio Coloccini after just three minutes but Chris Sutton's header from his cross went wide.

McGeady himself then tried his luck with a fierce drive over the bar but that early pressure came to nothing and there was no sign of glory in Glasgow while the news filtered through of the drama in Donetsk as Shakhtar took an early two-goal lead over Barcelona in the other crucial group game.

Milan, indeed, appeared for most of the rest of the first half to have the measure of the Scottish champions and with no variation on the theme of a a barrage of high balls forward for Sutton and John Hartson it became a fairly comfortable night for Paolo Maldini and company.

The Italians even ventured forward and Magnus Hedman saved well from Andriy Shevchenko before Serginho hit the woodwork with the goalkeeper well beaten.

Milan also looked for a penalty after a Bobo Baldé challenge on the Brazilian but that was dismissed although a Neil Lennon foul on Massimo Ambrosini was not and he was booked.

Then, in the dying minutes of the half, Celtic launched themselves forward once more and Dida brilliantly touched away a close-range Hartson volley and then somehow blocked a Sutton effort to keep the scoreline blank.

Celtic continued where they left off after the break. Stanislav Varga headed an Alan Thompson corner over and it was only Sutton's surprise at a Maldini mistake that prevented him from getting on the end of a neat Hartson flick after another Thompson corner.

Yet it remained a stalemate and even the introduction of Crespo for Shevchenko and Henri Camara for Joos Valgaeren failed to alter the pattern. Celtic then sent on Juninho for Stilian Petrov, a pre-match injury doubt, in a last throw of the dice.

It was a frantic finale as Milan, with Seedorf on for Rui Costa, tried to keep Celtic at bay and Valgaeren was denied a penalty after claiming he was pushed by Alessandro Costacurta.

CELTIC 2 Hartson 18, 83
HIBERNIAN 1 Caldwell 76

CELTIC didn't seem to give much consideration to Hibernian's offer to
postpone yesterday's encounter. Made in order that Martin O'Neill's side
enjoyed more rest time before the Champions League visit of AC Milan on
Tuesday, oh boy how they ought to have done so. For, against a scintillating
Hibernian, hardly helpful evidence of their deterioration was anywhere you
cared to looked in a scratched-out win. And their supporters scratching out
their eyes might be preferable to watching the Italians doing their worst in
two days' time.

The magnificence of both Hibs and matchwinner John Hartson were the themes
that could only but run through the post-match comments from those involved.
Tony Mowbray's tyros handed Celtic a lesson in driving, possession football
and earned effusive praise from O'Neill, who spoke of them "playing with
great freedom" and "producing splendid football" in an encounter he admitted
Hibs did not deserve to lose. It was cruel on the Leith club, however, that
the goal-ravenous Welshman served up a masterclass in chance conversion.

A double took his goal tally for the season to 17 and nudged Celtic a point
above Rangers, who can regain Premierleague leadership away to Inverness
Caledonian Thistle today. Even a 24-hour stint as table toppers looked out
of reach for Celtic, mind you, when Gary Caldwell struck in the 76th minute
to cancel out an 18th-minute effort from Hartson. Until the hulking striker
produced an imperious finish seven minutes from time, that is.

Hartson's performance led O'Neill to reiterate Celtic's desire to extend the
contract of a player who will be free to negotiate with other clubs come
January 1. If Celtic are to negotiate a path to the UEFA Cup, meanwhile,
Hartson's efforts may not be enough. Their best hope must now rest with
Barcelona beating Shakhtar Dontesk to declare the outcome of events at
Celtic Park on Tuesday irrelevant. Their task has not been made any easier
by the ankle injury sustained by Stilian Petrov yesterday. Now a doubt for
Milan, it is a similar story with Didier Agathe and Stephen Pearson, who
both missed out against Hibs with groin problems. "I don't know what we'll
get from Milan, but if they play as well as Hibs did it's going to be
interesting," said O'Neill, paying Mowbray's team the ultimate compliment.

It was one they deserved. "We did produce some great football today and I'd
like to think we are making progress," said Mowbray. To the fore in the
Edinburgh club's efforts that Mowbray feels can "inspire" them for future
Celtic Park visits was unquestionably Derek Riordan. It was little surprise
that after the "will he, won't he play" saga, prompted by his night in the
cells following his arrest in the early hours of Thursday morning, he was
handed a starting place.

While Riordan might then have been dealt something of a get out of jail
scot-free card, it was Celtic who played one during a first period in which
they were so often second best to crafty, wispish opponents. So intense was
O'Neill's side edginess, indeed, it was possible to wonder if the Scottish
champions had forgotten it wasn't yesterday that they were facing up to the
might of AC Milan.

The supposedly redeemed Magnus Hedman, responsible for a costly error in the
draw at Dundee the previous week, was uncertainty personified. Within 55
seconds he had spilled a harmless looking cross from Riordan to have the
home supporters' hearts in their mouths. These organs were almost projected
from the same gobs when he was slow to seize on a pass-back from Jackie
McNamara that almost allowed Riordan in, and it was likewise when he dropped
another high ball in the second period. "I was lucky today," he conceded
afterwards. "I don't know if I had soap in my gloves but the ball wouldn't
bloody stick."

Hedman's display was merely in keeping with his team-mates, though. The home
side's discomfiture was in sharp contrast to the fluidity and conviction
demonstrated by their opponents. Seeming to sense the opportunity to exploit
Celtic's difficulties in doing even simple things adequately, Dean Shiels,
in a roving role off Hibs' front two, especially proved difficult to pin
down.

It was Celtic, in fact, who were consistently penned in, their play
characterised by stray passing and a general disjointedness. Then, 18
minutes in, they scored, despite having never previously threatened to do
so. Hartson was practically on his knees when meeting an Aiden McGeady
corner and bulleting a header beyond Simon Brown.

It was not a goal to lift Celtic from their knees, however, and five minutes
later, Steven Whittaker was desperately unlucky to see a ferocious drive
from the edge of the area thump the base off the post.

The pattern continued in the second half. Yet, Henri Camara, on for Petrov,
twice squandered fine shooting opportunities. And six minutes after a second
weak attempt, Hibs appeared as if they would make Celtic pay with a
76th-minute equaliser that was the product of a Riordan corner flicked on by
Ian Murray to allow Caldwell, on the volley, to scoop the ball in at the
back post.

But Hartson had the final say when he weaved through Hibs' backline and
tucked away a low effort with aplomb, though a number of the visiting
players were unhappy with a Camara throw-in that allowed McGeady to feed the
striker. With each passing week, the Welshman's claims for a new deal become
ever more outstanding as Celtic become a team ever further removed from one
who would have such a description applied to their efforts.

28th November 2004

DUNDEE 2-2 CELTIC
Referee: C Richmond. Attendance: 9,539

THE playground logic so cherished by football fans will contend that Dundee
must be able to live in Barca’s company if they can thrive like they did here
against Celtic.

In doing the improbable and matching the champions, Jim Duffy’s side lifted
themselves off the foot of the SPL, where they found themselves rudely planted
on Saturday without even having played a game. Sweeter still, perhaps, is the
identity of the team they deposit there instead, although this was not a day
for lingering over local triumphs.

The point Dundee won here courtesy of two superb finishes from lone striker
Steve Lovell gave the league a shake at both top and bottom. Its ramifications
were felt principally in Govan, with Rangers subsequently able to take
advantage of Celtic’s slip to reach the summit.

It’s been a long time since Dundee could compare themselves with a side like
Barcelona but yesterday Dens Park proved every bit as inhospitable to the
visitors as the Nou Camp. And if Celtic were rightly lauded for a redoubtable
performance in Catalonia last Wednesday then Dundee should receive all the
praise going for a showing shot through with effort and distinguished further
by a master class in marksmanship from a striker apparently operating at some
way short of 100 per cent fit.

Goals either side of half-time from the virus-afflicted Steve Lovell initially
roused Celtic into making a comeback and then finally deflated them after their
efforts to claim the initiative had seemed ready to bear the ultimate fruit. A
scrappy strike from Henri Camara and a tap-in from John Hartson that was
redolent of his equaliser in the Nou Camp last midweek appeared to have averted
the sort of constitutional crisis which occurs whenever one Old Firm side is
knocked off the perch by the other.

While Celtic might have snatched a win in the final minute but for a heroic
goal-line clearance by Calum MacDonald, it is also true that Lovell could have
helped himself to a memorable hat-trick. Referee Charlie Richmond ruled out a
scintillating finish inside the box, interpreting the striker’s boot had been
too high when bringing the ball down before sweeping it into the net. No one
would could convince manager Jim Duffy this had been the case and he was
supported in this view by a strong body within the stadium. In the final
analysis, though, the shared point acknowledged the part played by both sides
on an entertaining afternoon.

This was exactly the kind of appointment which required all of O’Neill’s fabled
motivational powers, with the spirits of his team having perhaps begun to slip
as soon as the team bus had swung its nose onto the road from Glasgow,
destination Dens Park. When there they found a number of elements boding ill,
including a bitterly cold wind, a relatively sparse crowd and a team ready to
scrap for anything in an effort to pull themselves away from the bottom of the
table.

O’Neill had anticipated all of this, forecasting on radio that Dundee would
prove every bit as difficult as Barcelona. This charming thesis seemed to have
been more than the usual manager’s platitude when Lovell opened the scoring
eight minutes before half-time from an acute angle, after Mark Fotheringham’s
superbly weighted through ball had curled on to the end of the striker’s toe.

While the lowering of sights from the top of La Liga to the bottom of the SPL
was always going to require some re-adjustment on the part of Celtic it was
still somewhat surprising to find fretting reporters tapping the shoulders of
those in front in search of the last time Dundee beat Celtic at Dens Park. The
answer, rather absurdly, is 16 years ago, when a Tommy Coyne mis-kick flew past
Alan Rough in the visitors’ goal.

Such ruminations were proved redundant by the midway point of the second half,
Celtic having grasped a hold of the match. Dundee’s right flank had looked
vulnerable all afternoon and the impressive Stephen Pearson finally made his
promptings pay. A cross of his eventually found its way to Hartson having
bobbled around the goal-line. The Welsh striker’s attempt at diverting it back
into the net wasn’t impressive but the mis-cue landed at Camara’s feet, and was
swiftly transferred into the goal.

Dundee were living dangerously and eight minutes later looked to have abandoned
all hope of profiting from this encounter when another surge down the left -
this time from Aiden McGeady - resulted in the home side reaping the maximum
punishment. McGeady’s intelligent ball to the back-post found Hartson in what
appears to be his niche territory, and he converted his side’s second from
close range.

If anything hints at Celtic’s reduced powers of late then it is what occurred
in the remaining portion of the game. Instead of closing out victory, they let
the lead slip.

Lovell thought he had equalised with a fine strike on 67 minutes but was
penalised for a debatable high foot. Ten minutes later he again found the
finish and this time also the fortune his determination deserved. Chasing what
seemed like an overly ambitious through ball from Garry Brady the striker
pounced on the critical break-down in communications between Bobo Balde and
goalkeeper Magnus Hedman, and saw his lob squeeze into the net between bar and
far post.

Dundee: Soutar, McNally, Mann, Smith, Hernandez Santos, Robb, Fotheringham,
MacDonald, Anderson (Barrett 90), Lovell, Cerdeira (Brady 65). Subs not used:
Murray, Larsen, Sutton, Jablonski, Caballero.

Celtic: Hedman, Agathe, Valgaeren, Balde, McNamara, McGeady, Lennon, Petrov,
Pearson, Hartson, Camara. Subs not used: Marshall, Sylla, Juninho, Lambert,
Laursen, Wallace, Lawson.

Celtic thrown flimsy lifeline by Thompson

Graham Clark at Parkhead
Wednesday November 3, 2004
The Guardian

Celtic breathed new hope into their hitherto unproductive campaign last night when they managed a thoroughly deserved win to earn their first points in Group F.

Yet with only two matches remaining, at Barcelona and then here against Milan, reaching the next stage may still be beyond them. "We have nothing to lose when we go to the Nou Camp for our next game and we'll give it a go," said Martin O'Neill, the Celtic manager. "Barcelona and Milan probably only need one point more each but we are conceding nothing. Realistically, though, six points would also give us a fighting chance of the Uefa Cup spot."

This was a much-improved performance from the Scottish champions, although they were helped by an indisciplined Ukrainian team who had their captain Anatoly Tymoshchuk sent off in the first half, to be joined by his team-mate Cosmin Barcauan in the second.

O'Neill had raised a few eyebrows with the selection of Aiden McGeady, only 18 and handed a start in place of Juninho. The young midfielder produced an impressive touch to help set up a move inside 45 seconds, however, and it should have led to the opening goal. He found Alan Thompson, who found John Hartson, and his quick ball sent Henri Camara scampering away but his shot was skewed well wide.

Celtic, predictably, forced the pace and after 25 minutes went ahead in bizarre circumstances. The goalkeeper Lastuvka, who had already been warned about wasting time, was penalised for holding the ball for 13 seconds, seven more than the regulations allow, and presented the Bhoys with a wonderfully positioned free-kick 16 yards out. Stilian Petrov touched the ball to Thompson, and his low drive beat the keeper easily.

Shakhtar's furious coach Mircea Lucescu spoke just half a dozen terse sentences afterwards. "This is my protest," he said. "We are working for nothing and the same thing happened to us with [our defeats at] Milan and Barcelona. We didn't come here to lose and we dominated the game. It's incredible. What's this about the six-second rule?

And with that he turned on his heland was gone.

Celtic were grateful for it, however, and things got better after 40 minutes when Barcauan was booked for dissent. Two minutes later Camara, moving swiftly on to a pass from McGeady, was chopped down by the last man Tymoshchuk, and he was sent off.

With the comfort of a goal and an extra man, the Parkhead club remained in control after the interval. Indeed they should have doubled their lead after 56 minutes, when Hartson was left unattended but his shot was blocked by Lastuvka and the goalkeeper did well to save the rebound from Petrov.

Celtic benefited further two minutes later when Barcauan was shown a second yellow for a foul on Petrov. Yet for all that the hosts struggled to impose themselves. "We played some delightful stuff in the first half especially and I think we still have a chance in the Champions League," said O'Neill, perhaps a shade optimistically.

With both sides pointless before the clash in the Central Stadium, the defeat means Celtic are now bottom of Group F and in danger of missing out on a consolation UEFA Cup spot.

After an all-action opening, the Ukraine outfit gave their opponents a warning of just what was to come when Ciprian Andrei Marica crashed a shot wide when he got a sight of goal in the fourth minute and Zvonimir Vukic blazed over from the edge of the box.

The wounded visitors went behind in the 56th minute when Matuzalem was given too much space to unleash a low shot which David Marshall could only get the slightest of touches to as the ball flew into the back of his net.

Celtic's Champions League dream and even their hopes of a consolation place in the UEFA Cup were dealt what could be a fatal blow in the 62nd minute.

Matuzalem exchanged passes with Zvonimir Vukic and he emphatically fired the ball under Marshall to compound the visitors' misery.

Brazilian Brandao wrapped it up with over 12 minutes to go when he brilliantly dinked the ball over Marshall and into the net.

Camara should have got a consolation for Celtic but he headed wide from five yards late in the game, a missed chance which summed up another luckless and miserable European experience.

Sunday Herald - 26 September 2004
Celtic 3-0 Dunfermline
Cakewalk before the catwalk
Alan Campbell at Celtic Park



OPINION was divided about the merit of this game as preparation for
Wednesday night's glamour tie against AC Milan in the Italian capital of
fashion, but in many respects Celtic could not have asked for better.
Dunfermline's tepid opposition amounted to little more than a gentle 90
minute training exercise for the home side, who scored three at their
leisure and suffered no injuries.
As he plotted ahead of the Champions League tie, Martin O'Neill was
delighted that Henri Camara scored a double and generally proved a suitable
foil for the ever-troublesome John Hartson. "Five goals in five starts is
not too bad," pointed out the Celtic manager.
With Chris Sutton likely to play a part in the San Siro, and Didier Agathe,
rested yesterday because of a dead leg, almost certain to be fit, O'Neill
plans to fly out to Milan today to watch Milan play Lazio in Serie A. His
Champions League opponents will not have it so easy.
The Celtic manager is fed up with questions about the standard of opposition
his side meets most weekends. "A blind man could see it's a step up to play
AC Milan and Barcelona," he snapped. "Let's not discredit the SPL - we had a
hard game against Hibs last week. You can't change the league."
O'Neill resisted the temptation to bring in any of the youngsters who had
torn Falkirk apart on Wednesday night. Dunfermline, with their away strip of
red and black stripes may have given the most passing of resemblances to
Milan, but once referee Alan Freeland blew his whistle it was clear we were
in for one of the worst kind of Premierleague mis-matches.
When Davie Hay was in charge of Livingston, he returned to his spiritual
home in the east end of Glasgow on several occasions and wasn't let down by
his players. Within minutes, he must have realised he was in for a long,
excruciating afternoon.
The manner in which Hartson easily shrugged off Scott Wilson's weak
challenge in Celtic's first attack set the tone. If the striker's cut back
had fallen to Camara, instead of behind him, the quickest goal of the day
would have been recorded.
Dunfermline, completely pinned back and reduced to rushed clearances which
merely triggered off further Celtic attacks, survived good efforts from
Stilian Petrov and Juninho before the latecomers had even reached the
comfort of their seats.
For Dunfermline the discomfort continued. Hay was forced to make a change
when he replaced the injured Gary Mason with Aaron Labonte. Or rather
several changes, as he switched from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 with Labonte on the left
side of the back three with Wilson and Andrius Skerla and his full backs
pushing up to the midfield.
The switch only proved that it was the personnel, rather than the choice of
system, which was at fault. Poor marking and toothless tackling were
compounded by needless mistakes and Celtic, inevitably, went ahead in 19
minutes. An Alan Thompson corner was flicked on by Momo Sylla and Stanislav
Varga stretched his frame along the turf to score with his studs.
With eight outfield players pressed back, and Craig Brewster having to drop
deep into his own half to make a token effort to disrupt the constant Celtic
build-ups, it was little wonder that David Marshall was as busy as a
striking baggage handler.
The only wonder was that Celtic were only one ahead, but after Juninho had
flashed the ball over the bar there was finally a moment of encouragement
for the visitors when Greg Shields sent over a cross which Brewster volleyed
past the post.
Derek Stillie, a beacon of competence in a defence all at sea, lost his
second goal in the 37th minute. A minute earlier he had made a fine
one-handed save from Camara, but the loan signing from Wolves returned
quickly to haunt him.
Thompson was again the provider, this time with a free kick from the left,
and Camara's first header was blocked by the Dunfermline goalkeeper. The
ball fell obligingly back on to Camara's forehead and persistence was
rewarded.
There was just enough excitment to keep the Celtic supporters amused, and
they should have been acclaiming a third goal when Hartson, unmarked just
past the far post, headed the ball weakly across the face of the bar.
The second half continued in exactly the same vein, with the third, and
final goal arriving in the 53rd minute. There was an almighty, and
old-fashioned, scramble in the Dunfermline penalty area, with Skerla
appearing to head the ball against his own bar before Varga made a
goal-bound lunge. The ball was again cleared and as legs flailed wildly in
its direction it fell to Camara who calmly scored his second.
Ross Wallace, brought on as a substitute for Petrov, could have scored a
hat-trick, but the Celtic supporters at least enjoyed dancing footwork from
him and Aiden McGeady, who arrived later.

Celtic 8-1 Falkirk Paul Lambert scored Celtic's fourth goal of the evening Ross Wallace hit a hat-trick as Celtic hammered Falkirk to reach the quarter-finals of the CIS Insurance Cup. Momo Sylla and Wallace both found the net inside the first six minutes, Bobo Balde headed in a corner and Paul Lambert shot home right on half-time. A Stephen McManus header caught the Bairns out at another corner before Wallace thumped in a 25-yard free kick. Andy Thomson scored for Falkirk but Wallace and Aiden McGeady pitched in with strikes in the last few minutes. With Celtic facing a vital Champions League Group F showdown against AC Milan next week, manager Martin O'Neill made eight changes to his starting line-up. 90 seconds in Juninho dispossessed Mark Campbell near the half-way line and ran at the Falkirk defence before playing a perfectly-weighted ball to the overlapping Sylla, who coolly side-footed the ball past an exposed Darren Hill. Celtic doubled their lead after just five minutes and Juninho was again the provider as he pounced on another mistake, this time from Scott MacKenzie, and he played the ball out wide for Sylla. The Brazilian playmaker expected the ball to be pulled back into his path but his team-mate hesitated. Fortunately for him Wallace arrived behind to find the bottom corner. Falkirk almost hit back in the 33rd minute when Rab Douglas pushed out a shot from Darryl Duffy before Joos Valgaeren blocked a follow-up effort from the same player. Douglas was again called upon in the 35th minute to scramble away a low drive from David Nicholls. But Celtic added another goal two minutes later as Balde leapt above the Bairns defence to head McGeady's cross home. Hill had to turn a Sylla shot round the post, before Balde swivelled and fired just past the upright. Lambert did beat Hill in the final minute of the half, when he arrived at the far post to steer Sylla's cross into the empty net. Defender Stephen McManus also got his name on the scoresheet when he headed McGeady's corner home from close range in the 48th minute. McGeady, the highly-rated Republic of Ireland youngster, was relishing the time and space and he whistled a powerful effort past the angle soon afterwards. Wallace did find the net in spectacular fashion after 56 minutes when he curled a left-footed free-kick into the top corner from distance. Falkirk did give their vocal supporters a goal to celebrate in the 67th minute when Thomson burst through from Duffy's pass and forced the ball through Douglas' legs. Wallace then fired past Hill from close range after 84 minutes. McGeady was not to be outdone and he stepped inside a challenge before cracking a left-footed shot over Hill and into the net in the dying seconds. Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Laursen, McManus (Thompson 79), McGeady, Lambert, Pearson, Wallace, Sylla, Juninho Paulista. Subs Not Used: Hedman, Lennon, Petrov, Varga. Goals: Sylla 2, Wallace 6, Balde 38, Lambert 45, McManus 48, Wallace 57, 85, McGeady 90. Falkirk: Hill, Lawrie, James, Campbell (Hughes 70), McPherson, O'Neil, Nicholls (McAnespie 72), Latapy (Moutinho 74), MacKenzie, Duffy, Thomson. Subs Not Used: Scally, Ferguson. Goals: Thomson 66. Attendance: 24,345 Referee: W Young

Mowbray's marauderscreate a Celtic blueprint
By Calum Philip
20 September 2004
Celtic are mortal after all. The champions dropped their first points of the
season in the Scottish Premier League at Easter Road yesterday, as they
found a feisty Hibernian side almost too hot to handle.
With the trauma of Barcelona not out of their system, Martin O'Neill's side
had to come back twice just to gain a draw in a torrid encounter that had
Tony Mowbray, the Hibernian manager, insisting this was a blueprint for
others to follow.
"I hope that this is an inspiration to the rest of the SPL," declared
Mowbray. "We have shown that we can get close to Celtic, and other teams
should not fear the Old Firm." Mowbray's team looked as if they were going
to inflict the first away defeat in the league upon Celtic in 17 months
after they went in front from Bobo Balde's own-goal after just eight
minutes, as the giant Celtic defender sliced a cross from Steven Whittaker
past his own keeper, David Marshall.
Celtic struggled to contain the Hibs forwards, Garry O'Connor and Derek
Riordan, and when they equalised it was against the run of play. A backpass
by Guillaume Beuzelin was pounced on by Juninho and his cutback was steered
in by Henri Camara.
However, Hibernian were back in front within two minutes. Riordan combined
with David Murphy for the latter to race into Celtic's box and sweep a firm
shot past Marshall for his first goal for the Edinburgh club.
Seconds before the interval, a sublime backheel by Alan Thompson released
Juninho whose low cross was stabbed in by the lurking John Hartson. Celtic
camped in Hibernian's territory in the second half but other than a bad miss
by Camara, they gave the champions no encouragement to find a winner.
Goals: Balde og (8) 1-0; Camara (33) 1-1; Murphy (35) 2-1; Hartson (45) 2-2.
Hibernian (4-4-2): Si Brown; Whittaker, Caldwell, Murray, Murphy; Sc Brown
(Dobbie, 12, Fletcher, 82), Beuzelin, Glass, Shiels (Shields, 86); O'Connor,
Riordan. Substitutes not used: Brown, Venus, McCluskey, Notman.
Celtic (3-5-2): Marshall; Varga, Balde, Valgaeren; Petrov, Lennon, Sutton
(Agathe, 58), Juninho (Pearson, 71), Thompson; Camara, Hartson. Substitutes
not used: Hedman, Laursen, Wallace, McGeady, Cuthbert.
Referee: M McCurry.
Attendance: 13,500.
Man of the match: Murray.
Booked : Hibernian: Murray. Celtic: Lennon, Varga.

Celtic spirit foiled by Barca brilliance

GLENN GIBBONS AT CELTIC PARK


Celtic 1
Sutton (59),

Barcelona 3
Deco (20), Giuly (78), Larsson (82)

Referee: M Merk (Ger). Attendance: 58,589

EUROPEAN football of this unbearable intensity and fluctuation of fortunes
should be a case of the League Against Cruel Sports. Having come back from a
first-half mauling in this Champions League with a saved penalty and an
equaliser from substitute Chris Sutton, Celtic were finally, and inevitably,
undone by Henrik Larsson.

The great Swede came off the bench to accept a late gift from his former
team-mate, Alan Thompson - a wayward header - and deliver the third of
Barcelona's goals soon after Ludovic Giuly's weak shot was deflected by
Jackie McNamara past the appallingly unlucky David Marshall.

It was a fate the young goalkeeper did not deserve, having earlier saved a
penalty from Ronaldinho that started the hope of a seemingly impossible
resurgence.

It would be stretching credibility to claim that Celtic deserved better from
a Group F opener in which they sustained defeat at home in Europe for the
first time in three years. No overview of a relentlessly demanding 90
minutes would permit any conclusion but the recognition of Barcelona's
class.

But, as the match unfolded during a hardly credible second half, even Frank
Rijkaard, the Barca coach, must have been squirming in his dug-out as Sutton
scored and Stilian Petrov followed up with a volley that forced Victor
Valdes into an exceptional save and Celtic suddenly had the appearance of a
dormant volcano ready once again to rumble.

Martin O'Neill had warned of the need for patience among his players and his
supporters on the basis that there would be periods in the game when "we
will have to play without the ball".

Even at his most pessimistic and alarmist, however, the Irishman could not
have anticipated the duration of those times in which the visitors would
hoard the ball, or the frightening effect to which they would put it to use,
during a first half of virtually unchallenged superiority in which they
could have established a three-goal lead.

This protracted possession was the result of the pace and fluency of the
visitors' movement and the wonderful technique employed in keeping the ball
among themselves. It was also these qualities that allowed them to steal it
back so quickly that Celtic, by and large, were unable to hold it long
enough to build the kind of momentum which, in the past, so many callers at
Parkhead have found to be irrepressible.

Indeed, by the time Deco scored the first goal, even the most frenzied and
irrational home supporter would have been ashamed of arguing that it was not
the very least the Catalan side deserved. Without the intervention of
Marshall in goal and some desperate blocking by Bobo Balde and Stan Varga -
as well as a little misfortune on the part of Barca - Celtic would have been
appreciably more damaged.

There would be, however, no relief at hand when Ronaldinho took possession
in his own half and sprang forward with such ground-devouring speed that
Neil Lennon, normally alert and reliable in these situations, figured
immediately that his only recourse would be to foul the Brazilian.

When he attempted it, his opponent was no longer there, having simply
swerved into space, leaving the little Irishman sitting on the grass, like a
man having a picnic. Ronaldinho burst forward, twisting and feinting as he
went, leaving Varga with a tortuous dilemma, as he saw Deco peel off to the
right.

Ronaldinho did not wait for the big defender to make a decision, but simply
rolled the ball into the path of Deco, who took the shot on the run and
exploded it behind Marshall from about 15 yards' range.

Giuly would have doubled the advantage shortly before the interval but for
the intervention of Balde, the towering defender having raced back to catch
the little Frenchman as the latter took a perfect through pass from Gerard
and carried the ball wide of Marshall. Balde's outstrecthed leg managed to d
eflect Giuly's shot - into what he believed to be an unprotected net - away
for a corner kick.

Even the announcement of the arrival of Chris Sutton at the start of the
second half - he replaced Juninho - was met with only muted applause, as if
the home crowd sensed that it would take more than one man to rescue the
floundering vessel that was Celtic at that moment.

The big Englishman showed that under-estimation of his extraordinary talents
is a serious mistake, producing a monumental performance that included the
equaliser soon after Marshall had performed his personal miracle in saving
Ronaldinho's penalty kick.

It was when Giuly was on the point of shooting that Jackie McNamara took the
striker from behind. Ronaldinho's conversion attempt was driven to the left
of Marshall, but the big goalkeeper made an extraordinary save, bringing his
right arm across to divert for a corner.

As if nourished by the moment, Celtic discovered a tempo and incisiveness
that had not been previously suspected. After Didier Agathe and Henri Camara
combined in midfield, the Senegalese attacker bolted down the right before
delivering a wicked knee-high cross. Sutton, showing exceptional ability as
a contortionist, snaked his right leg forward, hit the ball on the volley
with the outside of his foot and sent it away to the left of Valdes.

It was a transformation in Celtic's standing in the match and in their
entire attitude that could not have been imagined just a few minutes before.
Even allowing for the brilliance of Barca, O'Neill's team had been unusually
subdued, as if all the pre-match reports of their opponents' greatness had
had an intimidating effect.

The penalty save from Marshall and that strike from Sutton seemed to be the
agents through which they rediscovered the self-belief that has made them so
formidable at home in Europe's premier tournament.

But Giuly's rather fortunate second goal and Larsson's simple score -
Thompson's sloppy header allowed him to knock the ball over Marshall before
tapping it over the line - were agonising developments on a night in which
all the pre-match promise may be said to have been delivered.

Celtic: Marshall; Agathe, Balde, Varga, McNamara (Sylla 80); Petrov, Lennon,
Thompson; Juninho (Sutton 45); Hartson (Valgaeren 63), Camara. Subs not
used: Douglas, Pearson, Lambert, McGeady.

Barcelona: Valdes; Belletti, Puyol, Marquez (Oleguer 62), van Bronckhorst;
Deco, Gerard, Xavi; Giuly, Eto'o (Iniesta 74), Ronaldinho (Larsson 61). Subs
not used: Ruben, Sylvinho, Gabri, Navarro.

A late goal by midfielder Clarence Seedorf gave AC Milan a 1-0 win over
Shakhtar Donetsk in last night's other Champions League Group F match. The
2003 winners struggled to break down their Ukrainian opponents, despite
enjoying a one-man advantage for most of the second half, until Seedorf
fired home a loose ball from the edge of the area in the 84th minute.

Shakhtar dominated the first half but the balance swung after the
53rd-minute dismissal of Shakhtar midfielder Darijo Srna for a second
bookable offence, but the home side hung on until Seedorf snatched all three
points for the visitors.

McGeady produces sparkling debut as Celtic are held
Heart of Midlothian 1 Celtic 1
By Calum Philip
26 April 2004


Aiden McGeady announced his arrival on the big stage yesterday by
hoisting Celtic to their century of Scottish Premier League goals as
they earned a draw at Tynecastle. McGeady scored on his debut, barely
days after celebrating his 18th birthday.

The Bhoys youngster has been carefully groomed for this appearance for
some time, admitted Martin O'Neill, the Celtic manager, after this
pulsating encounter and he did not disappoint with an eye-catching
volley for the champions.

O'Neill's team have already sewn up the title, six games early, but
there was nothing about this impassioned game that hinted at an
end-of-season affair. Indeed, when Mark de Vries snatched an equaliser
for Hearts after coming off the bench, that merely sent Tynecastle into
a fervour as the Edinburgh club chased the winner that would have
secured their place in the Uefa Cup again next season.

"I was delighted with Aiden's debut and his goal was wonderful," said
O'Neill. "He has got wonderful ability and that is why we have had him
training with us for some time and travelling with the side to Europe -
this was the right time to bring him in.

"He didn't have too much time to think about it but he hit it
brilliantly so he's delighted and absolutely thrilled to bits," O'Neill
added. "He tried a clever trick on the far side which said 'Ronaldinho
beware'. It certainly had the fans gasping."

McGeady made his mark after 17 minutes, peeling off at the back post to
meet a free-kick from Stilian Petrov - earned after McGeady had lured
Alan Maybury into a foul - and then clubbing a perfect drop volley with
his right foot, in off Craig Gordon's post.

Andy Kirk could have equalised just after the half-hour when he beat the
offside trap and raced clear, however the Celtic goalkeeper David
Marshall defied the striker's initial shot and Kirk lashed the rebound
over the bar.

McGeady could have helped Henrik Larsson add another to Celtic's lead
with a sublime piece of skill, but Gordon cut out the threat and later
Andy Webster was booked for cutting the teenager down.

However, Hearts' introduction of De Vries paid dividends when he
equalised in the 73rd minute. The towering Dutchman pounced when Johan
Mjallby missed Scott Severin's cross and thumped in an equally
spectacular volley of his own.

Hearts launched a furious assault for the winner and were only denied
when Marshall made a wonderful save from De Vries in stoppage time,
throwing himself to dive and keep out the striker's long-range shot. "We
feel we can take points off Celtic any time we meet the now," said Craig
Levein, the Hearts manager.

However, some of the shine was taken of the day for many Hearts
supporters when the chief executive, Chris Robinson, confirmed the club
were still prepared to leave Tynecastle. "It is looking increasingly
likely that we will stay at Tynecastle for another year," Robinson said.
"Unfortunately we have no hope of staying here. We have a number of
options to look at in the future but Tynecastle is no option."

Goals: McGeady (17) 0-1; De Vries (74) 1-1.

Hearts (3-5-2): Gordon; Pressley, Webster, Severin; Neilson, Stamp
(Hamill, 26), Hartley, Kisnorbo (De Vries, 56), Maybury; McKenna, Kirk
(Weir, 79). Substitutes not used: Moilanen (gk), MacFarlane.

Celtic (3-5-2): Marshall; Varga, Balde, Mjallby; Agathe, Lennon, Petrov,
Miller, Smith; Larsson, McGeady (Beattie, 68). Substitutes not used:
McGovern (gk), Sylla, Lambert, McManus.

Referee: K Clark (Scotland).

Booking: Hearts: Webster.

Man of the match: Lennon.

Attendance: 12,112.

Petrov seals Celtic's party in the park

GLENN GIBBONS AT RUGBY PARK


Kilmarnock 0
Celtic 1 Petrov (32)

THE long-standing inevitability of Celtic's championship triumph - like the
weeks preceding the cessation of hostilities in a war long since won, but
without the dread - was no deterrent to thousands of supporters who
celebrated as though it had arrived with the suddenness of a lottery
jackpot.

"Here for the party, we're only here for the party," they chanted some time
before kick-off. Those with an intuitive understanding of these matters will
have recognised, even that early, that the jamboree was not about to be
ruined by the weather. Titles are not clinched in the kind of grey, wet,
spirit-snuffing conditions which prevailed as the green-and-white multitudes
arrived at Rugby Park.

They tend to be marked by brightness, colour and warmth, largely because
they are normally not secured while April is unloading her proverbial
showers, but during the much more welcoming month of May. But, when the
clouds drifted apart and the stadium was doused in sunshine in the minutes
before the start, there was an unmistakable quickening of the tempo in the
songs, a syncopation entirely in keeping with the sense of excitement and
anticipation in the stands behind the goals.

That the match and, consequently, the Premierleague trophy itself should
ultimately be won by a comparatively jaded, unusually uninspiring
performance by the new champions was hardly a surprise, given the rigours of
the schedule Martin O'Neill's players have faced at home and abroad in the
past few weeks. This was their 16th match in three competitions in the past
56 days.

During that period, there have been unmissable signs of wear and tear among
those who have played the vast majority of the games. Henrik Larsson, for
example, will doubtless take advantage of the five weeks between now and the
Tennent's Scottish Cup final on 22 May to renew his energy in preparation
for a glorious farewell to the club he has helped to four championships
since his arrival from Feyenoord in 1997.

The incomparable Swede, at times appearing to be playing in calipers
compared to his normal sprightliness, on this occasion left the glory to his
partner for the day, Stilian Petrov. The absence of Chris Sutton, John
Hartson and even Shaun Maloney made this a largely unrehearsed act, but
Larsson and Petrov, once again summoning the effort required to carry their
colleagues over the finishing line, still combined to provide the only goal
of the match.

By the time the sky, shortly before half-time, once again turned a darker
hue, Celtic were already ahead and, despite the occasional alarm the
Kilmarnock forwards had raised in the visiting defence, there was no doubt
that the visitors' advantage was overdue.

In the preceding 31 minutes, there had been a composure and assurance about
them, underpinned by physical power and frequently inventive foraging in
forward areas, which testified to the difference in the current status of
the respective teams.

O'Neill had solved his pre-match quandary - whether to give most of his
regulars a much-needed rest or ask them for one last effort in order to
secure the title with six matches to spare - with a compromise of sorts,
involving both personnel and formation.

While goalkeeper David Marshall, defender Joos Valgaeren and midfielder Liam
Miller were omitted, their replacements, Robert Douglas, Johan Mjallby and
Paul Lambert, could hardly be described as novices. It was a declaration by
the Parkhead manager that, while he was prepared to make changes, the great
occasion would not be left in the hands of apprentices.

He also reverted to a three-man defence, with Didier Agathe on the right of
a middle five, Stephen Pearson on the left, and Jackie McNamara moving
forward from defence into midfield. The return of Lambert, in particular,
gave Celtic a solid base in that department from which they could begin the
forward surges that would trouble Colin Meldrum and his work-mates in
defence.

The goalkeeper should, in fact, have been beaten as early as the ninth
minute, when Neil Lennon, from the left, played the ball across to McNamara
and his attempt at a shot was miscued straight towards Stan Varga. The big
defender, who had remained upfield for the corner-kick that had started the
drama, was utterly without a challenge as he turned quickly and prodded the
ball off the base of the goalkeeper's left-hand post.

There was a similar moment of dread for the home fans later, when Petrov
played a one-two with McNamara which gave him a golden opportunity from
close range, but Meldrum blocked the shot out to Pearson. With the
goalkeeper beaten, the former Motherwell player's powerful shot was stopped
on the line this time by Garry Hay.

These incidents left nobody surprised when Petrov did score, but not before
the home fans and the Kilmarnock management team had been inflamed by
referee Mike McCurry's decision to award Celtic a free-kick as Kris Boyd
scored the goal that would have put the Ayrshire side in front.

A good move had left Boyd clear on the left, and his poor centre appeared to
be covered by Bobo Balde. But the big defender failed to control the ball
and, when it bounced back towards Boyd, the striker sent a
beautifully-controlled right-foot drive into the far corner. The referee
judged that Balde had been fouled by Eric Skora, a decision that appeared
especially fortunate for Celtic and extremely hard on Kilmarnock.

There was, however, no controversy about Petrov's opener. The Bulgarian
began his run into the box from the left the moment Lennon took a throw-in
to Larsson from nearby. The Swede glanced the header into the path of his
partner in attack and Petrov carried the ball to within six yards of the
target before driving it low past Meldrum.

But the combination of physical and mental fatigue and the onset of the kind
of anxieties that can afflict even the most confident of teams when the
prize is within touching distance ensured that Celtic would come nowhere
near to emulating the irresistible form that had brought them a 5-0 victory
in the same fixture last November.

Indeed, there were times in the second half when there appeared to be a
possibility of Kilmarnock denying the Parkhead side their day of days.
Pearson, who had a generally unproductive afternoon, managed to interfere
with Mjallby's attempt to make a clearing header, the mix-up allowing Danny
Invincibile a clear look at goal. The striker's right-foot drive, from the
right side of the area, was pulled just wide of the far post.

That occurred so soon after the interval - in the 54th minute - that it was
easy to detect among the crowd the uneasiness of men who have backed a
winner and then have to go through the discomfort of a lengthy stewards'
enquiry.

But there would be, at the back of every anxious mind, the comforting
realisation that Celtic under O'Neill are not given to a readiness to
capitulate or a collapse of morale. With Neil Lennon once again defying the
unfathomable booing of opposing fans that accompanies his every move with a
performance of smothering authority in midfield, scary moments for Douglas,
Balde, Varga and Mjallby were all but eradicated.

Remembering their overall strength through the past four years, it seems
strange to reflect that this is Celtic's first trophy since the championship
of 2002. No triumph could have been more convincingly achieved.

Kilmarnock: Meldrum; Lilley, Greer, Dindeleux, Hay; Fowler, Locke, Skora,
Murray (Dargo 83); Invincibile (McSwegan 87), Boyd. Subs not used: Smith,
McDonald, Dodds.

Celtic: Douglas; Mjallby, Balde, Varga; Agathe (Miller 71), Lambert, Lennon,
McNamara, Pearson; Petrov, Larsson. Subs not used: Marshall, Sylla, Wallace,
Smith.

Referee: M McCurry.
Attendance: 14,516

Sutton seals Hampden return

Striker a doubt for Villarreal after limping off with groin problem

Graham Clark at Hampden Park
Monday April 12, 2004
The Guardian

This competition may be third in Celtic's list of priorities but their appetite for success in the tournament, as well as the Uefa Cup and the Premierleague, remains undiminished.

With a European return against Villarreal on Wednesday and only three days after the first-leg draw, Livingston arrived hoping to catch the Parkhead team with one eye on the more prestigious prize.

It was no more than wishful thinking, however, for Martin O'Neill's team displayed all of the hunger, desire and commitment they have shown through a memorable season.

Those qualities, together with an inherent ability, have kept Celtic on course for a wonderful treble although Villarreal will offer a sterner test than the Almondvale side. Celtic simply strolled into a Cup final meeting with either Inverness Caley or Dunfermline, who drew 1-1 on Saturday and replay at Pittodrie a week tomorrow.

Yesterday's was a contest for little more than 30 minutes although had Derek Lilley taken a fine chance after four minutes, when he was denied by goalkeeper David Marshall, it might have turned out differently. One suspects not, though.

Celtic gradually stepped up through the gears and although the substitute Colin McMenamin offered Livingston some hope with a goal late on, the tie had been decided long before.

Goals from Chris Sutton after 36 and 64 minutes, both set up by the combination of Stilian Petrov and Henrik Larsson, came either side of a goal from the Swede himself, when he took full advantage of a desperate mix-up between Emmanuel Dorado and Oscar Rubio to get the crucial second.

That effectively ended the affair although McMenamin's header from a cross by Jon Paul McGovern, and a battling last 12 minutes, gave Livingston their credibility back.

The CIS Insurance Cup winners gave their all but as bigger names have found this season, that is not always enough against a Celtic team who, having secured a return to Hampden on May 22, can now turn their attentions to more pressing matters.

And on the subject of Uefa Cup business, O'Neill revealed an injury worry over Chris Sutton ahead of today's trip to Spain. He was replaced by Craig Beattie and now faces a race against time to get fit. "It is a concern and at the moment Sutton's groin is sore," admitted O'Neill. "He will want to play, of course, but there isn't much time ahead of Wednesday and we may have a problem there."

Just such an injury is precisely what O'Neill hoped to avoid, for he is already without alternatives because of long-term problems with John Hartson and Shaun Maloney. In addition the defender John Kennedy is also out and there is a doubt over Jackie McNamara, while Alan Thompson is suspended.

"We have to get on with it regardless. Some of our young players will join us on Tuesday after playing in an Under-21 match and the pluses for us from this game, aside from reaching the final which was always the objective, is that others like Joos Valgaeren, Johan Mjallby, Liam Miller and Craig Beattie got a run."

All can now be expected to play a part at Villarreal as Celtic battle to make the semi-finals after last week's 1-1 draw.

Livingston's manager Davie Hay, meanwhile, accepted that yesterday's game was just too big a task for his team but he was concerned at the way his players conceded the first two goals. "They could have been avoided, especially the second, but we put in a credible performance," he said.

Man of the match: Stephen Pearson (Celtic)

Slick Thompson makes extra man count for Celtic

Kevin McCarra at Celtic Park
Friday March 11, 2004
The Guardian

Celtic hold a one-goal advantage in this Uefa Cup fourth round tie after enjoying the benefit of an extra man. On an unruly night their goalkeeper Rab Douglas was sent off for fighting with Thiago Motta at the interval and the Barcelona forward Javier Saviola received a red card in a match that forgot the compassion that had preceded it.

Uefa had resisted Barcelona's plea that the match be postponed because of the atrocities in Madrid, so respects were paid not merely with a minute's silence but also with the crowd's even more moving rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone as an expression of solidarity.

The game itself was subdued until competitive instincts resurfaced, and the first distraction from the inevitably superior technique of the visitors came when Celtic's Didier Agathe dribbled past Motta with unlikely ease. His cross created no trouble and that incident summed up the difficulties that confronted the Scottish champions.

With John Hartson ruled out till next season, the home manager Martin O'Neill could hardly afford the failure of Chris Sutton to recover from an ankle injury. Celtic's style depends on a target man whose strength is the focal point of attacks. Here O'Neill had to select Craig Beattie, a talented youngster but not yet ready to dominate opponents.

So reduced in numbers is the squad at present that O'Neill did not name his full quota of substitutes. It was clearly going to be a night for Celtic to scavenge as they sought to extend a record of 73 matches unbeaten at home stretching back to August 2001.

To their credit, they did come to life spasmodically before the interval, with Bobo Balde, the massive and occasionally unwieldy centre-half, rousing the supporters.

Celtic might have had the lead two minutes before the interval. Beattie tucked the ball in from the right and Stilian Petrov rolled it back into the well-time run of Alan Thompson. He was clear, but did not make good contact.

Celtic fans could hardly sigh with exasperation, though. Barcelona, with their three-man attack spread across the pitch, tugged the defence and opened up space. Saviola played a one-two with Ronaldinho and hacked wide before protesting he had been fouled.

There was no such excuse for Ronaldinho as he skewed his effort wide when, set up by Saviola, he looked sure to score. Celtic dreamed of winning, but were often busy surviving and a challenge awaited them with the red cards for Douglas and Motta.

The goalkeeper's understudy David Marshall saw a Saviola finish fly marginally beyond the post in the 47th minute, but the Argentinian was to be sent off moments later for a wild, inexplicable hack at Thompson. Celtic had a numerical advantage and took the lead in the 59th minute.

Henrik Larsson leapt prodigiously to a Petrov cross and headed down for Thompson to finish with an expert half-volley. On an overwrought night, Barcelona soon had to replace Michael Reiziger, who was on the verge of being dismissed.

Lonely Larsson leaves Rangers to rue lack of home help

Graham Clark at Celtic Park
Monday March 8, 2004
The Guardian

The winter of discontent has turned into a spring of despair and disillusionment for Rangers, thanks largely to Celtic's contrasting progress from strength to strength. Martin O'Neill's team won a poor quarter-final yesterday to underline their ambitions of a treble, and now only the Uefa Cup appears in doubt.

Nothing, it seems, can stop Celtic in Scotland, but Barcelona will represent a rather more difficult hurdle when they visit Parkhead in the last 16 of the Uefa Cup on Thursday. Despite this merited victory, O'Neill has his fingers crossed that Chris Sutton will be available after injury, the English striker having been badly missed here as Henrik Larsson ploughed a lone furrow for most of a turgid afternoon.

Depleted as they were, Celtic still carved out more opportunities and when one fell to Larsson after 53 minutes he made no mistake. A corner from Alan Thompson, being watched by the England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, a header from Bobo Balde, a shot from Stephen Pearson blocked by Stefan Klos and there was the Swede to swivel and fire the ball home.

That 28th goal of a final memorable season for Larsson confirmed match No73 at Parkhead without defeat for Celtic and put them into the last four along with Dunfermline, Inverness Caley Thistle - who had famously won 3-1 at Parkhead against John Barnes's Celtic team in February 2000 and repeated the feat, 1-0 at home, against O'Neill's in last year's quarter-final - and either Livingston or Aberdeen.

Rangers, meanwhile, are left to rue a season bereft of silverware, but their manager Alex McLeish claimed he could see "light at the end of the tunnel" and said that but for a series of injuries the season would have been better.

"We haven't been able to gain momentum," he said. "I'm not saying we would be top of the league or in the next round of the cup, but we would have been better.

"Newcomers like Gavin Rae and Stevie Thompson, along with Stephen Hughes, have had interrupted seasons through injury and some of the foreign players have struggled to get to grips with the culture here. Although we are disappointed, I can take some positives from today."

McLeish's mention of all things Scottish was no coincidence. He wants more home-bred players in his squad and of his foreign legion it now seems Nuno Capucho, Emerson, Michael Mols, Paolo Vanoli and Christian Nerlinger will be going in the summer, though he said of Celtic: "Their team has been together effectively for three or four years and that shows. They are a powerful side."

There was precious little else to enthuse over as the two teams struggled to get to grips with the occasion. Celtic certainly did that better and created more. Stanislav Varga, Thompson, Larsson and the substitute Craig Beattie had decent efforts whereas Rangers' only genuine chance came in the dying seconds, when Rae shot wide, and their only effort that troubled Rab Douglas was a minute or two earlier, when the goalkeeper held Michael Ball's effort.

So the champions-elect march on. Their domestic supremacy this season is down to a continuity of selection which Rangers have never enjoyed. Douglas in goal, Balde and Varga in the middle of the defence, Lennon and Petrov in midfield and of course Larsson and usually Sutton up front have given them a steely core.

With Didier Agathe and Thompson supplying width, it has been a consistent and successful formula for O'Neill, who occasionally tinkers with systems - as he had to in this match - but seldom unnecessarily disturbs the personnel.

"We have a busy and tough schedule and I thought that showed even in the first half of this match when we were a bit laboured after our midweek European tie in Teplice," O'Neill said. "But it was a very important win which I felt we deserved, and now we can look forward to Barca."

He would, however, dearly love to have Sutton available for Thursday. "He's doubtful and if the game was now he couldn't play," he admitted. "He's a big player for us because he's having a wonderful season, but it's impossible to know at this stage if he'll be ready."

With John Hartson and Shaun Maloney also injured, O'Neill is down to the bare bones in attack but his side are so well organised that they can still expect to unsettle Frank Rijkaard's team in Thursday's first leg.

Man of the match: Neil Lennon (Celtic)

Sutton injury adds to Celtic list

Graham Clark at the Na Stinadlech Stadium
Thursday March 4, 2004
The Guardian

Celtic go into today's fourth-round draw but their passage was earned the hard way yesterday as Teplice won on the night but failed on aggregate.

Progress came at a cost, with the manager Martin O'Neill worried about an injury to Chris Sutton, who limped off in the 71st minute, in the wake of long-term problems with his other strikers John Hartson and Shaun Maloney.

"Sutton went over on an ankle and it's still sore. We will see when we get back to Glasgow whether or not he will need an x-ray," said O'Neill.

"There is also concern over Jackie McNamara, who has a shin injury, and both are problems we could have done without ahead of our Scottish tie against Rangers on Sunday."

The Czech club surprised Celtic with a much more spirited display than in Glasgow last week and Jiri Masek's first-half goal ended O'Neill's plans to give one or two of his players a rest before Sunday.

A power cut that delayed kick-off for 13 minutes coincided with a fierce snowstorm. This seemed to unnerve Celtic and John Kennedy was booked for a foul on Emil Rilke after only two minutes.

A trademark Alan Thompson free-kick held by Tomas Postulka settled Celtic and for a long spell they dictated the pace of the game. Paul Lambert, in for the suspended Neil Lennon, appeared to pick up every loose ball in the middle.

A mistake by Tomas Kuchar almost allowed Henrik Larsson in and a fierce free-kick from the Swede tested Postulka.

But against the run of play Teplice struck after 35th minutes, although the goal owed as much to Stanislav Varga's poor headed clearance from Michal Dolezal's long ball as it did to any incisive attacking. The defender also fell and he was still picking himself up Masek moved on to the ball, took a touch and sent a blistering shot past Douglas high into the net.

The interval allowed Celtic to regroup and Lambert went close shortly. Teplice occasionally threatened but seldom with the same conviction they had shown previously. But Karel Rada headed a Kuchar corner just over and Kennedy alertly cleared from Masek.

With 11 minutes left Celtic should have equalised but Petrov and Larsson were thwarted by Postulka.

Livvy put to the sword
Alison McConnell    

Sunday, 29th February 2004.
Scottish Premierleague,
Celtic Park.

CELTIC……………5 (Pearson 13, Sutton 37, Thompson 49, 79 pen, Larsson 55)
LIVINGSTON……..1 (Lilley 42)

Leap years come just once every four years, but groundhog day can be
seen on match days down at Celtic Park.

Livingston became the latest in a long line of challengers to discover
the potency of Martin O'Neill's side as a 25th successive league
victory was celebrated courtesy of a comfortable 5 -1 win.

It is a result that stretches the chasm at the top of the table to 16
points and takes Celtic's unbeaten run on their own turf to 72 games.
It's quite a record.

O'Neill's side could afford to allow some moments of slackness to
creep into their play without relinquishing their grip on the game,
and although Livingston had pegged back the lead to 2-1 by the
interval, Celtic simply upped the pace and quickly established an
unassailable advantage.

By the time Alan Thompson and Henrik Larsson had added to the opening
half strikes from Stephen Pearson and Chris Sutton, the game was won
and the bulk of the second period was played at a pedestrian pace as
Celtic sought for further openings. Even Neil Lennon almost got in on
the act after he was teed up by Sutton, but his attempt was palmed
away by Roddy McKenzie in the Livingston goal.

O'Neill could afford to hook Larsson and Sutton midway through the
second period with one eye on the coming week's fixtures and through
on Craig Beattie and Momo Sylla. Beattie was felled by Marvin Andrews
with just over ten minutes to go in the box, allowing Thompson to net
his second and Celtic's fifth from the spot when he dispatched a cool
penalty beyond McKenzie.

The Northern Irish midfielder returned to the side after his enforced
absence through suspension on Thursday evening while John Kennedy also
started at the expense of Jackie McNamara who was carrying a knock.

Pearson gave Celtic the ideal platform to add to their burgeoning
tally of successive league victories when he opened the scoring after
just 13 minutes when he converted Stan Varga's pass across the face of
the Livingston goal. After the opener, however, it all went a bit flat
and Livingston were not averse to probing for openings in the Hoops
defence.

Rab Douglas was twice forced into saves, the first a looping header
from David Lilley that the Scotland internationalist tipped over the
bar and the second stop more impressive when he got down sharply to
his right to suffocate a close range shot, again from Lilley after
Stuart Lovell's cut-back.

By the time news filtered through from Tannadice that Rangers were
falling further behind Martin O'Neill's side, it gave the supporters
cause to raise their voice, and within minutes that energy had
translated itself onto the park where Sutton added the second.

Alan Thompson's free-kick was headed on by Larsson and the Englishman
stole ahead of Oscar Rubio to knock the ball low into the net.

Livingston succeeded in pulling one back before the break when Burton
O'Brien's long pass in between the Hoops defence was met by Lovell who
drilled home a low foot shot that escaped the attentions of a late
lunge from Kennedy.

Lennon got involved in a tussle with Jamie McAllister that ended with
the former's name in the book, much to his irritation. In truth,
however, having had a little kick at the player Lennon could really
have no complaints about the booking.

Four minutes after the break Celtic stretched in front again when
Varga supplied Sutton and the striker's neat back-heel was flicked
into the path of Thompson who sunk a low drive well beyond the reach
of Roddy Mckenzie in the Livingston goal.

Livingston's afternoon became more miserable still when Larsson added
the fourth. McKenzie collected a pass-back and subsequently was
penalised with an indirect free-kick inside his own box. Petrov and
Thompson tapped the ball to one another before Larsson swung a shot
that nestled in the back of the net.

Thompson completed the rout from the spot to complete another fine day
at the office.

CELTIC (4-4-2): Douglas; Agathe, Kennedy, Balde, Varga (Valgaeren 74);
Petrov, Lennon, Pearson, Thompson; Larsson (Beattie 67), Sutton (Sylla
67). Subs: Marshall, Lambert.

LIVINGSTON (3-5-2): McKenzie; Andrew, Rubio (McMenamin 46), Dorado;
McNamee, Makel (McGovern 65), O'Brien, Lovell, McAllister; Lilley,
Pasquinelli. Subs: Main, McLaughlin, Brittain.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Chris Sutton

Thompson shines again as Celtic clinch record

Partick Thistle 1 Celtic 4
By Calum Philip

23 February 2004

Celtic put another footnote into the record books yesterday, as Alan
Thompson and Chris Sutton made up for their inability to break into the
England set-up by securing a more lasting piece of fame.
The England manager, Sven Goran Eriksson, will apparently be at Parkhead on
Thursday night to watch the pair - whom he overlooked last week for the
squad that played Portugal - in action in the Uefa Cup third-round tie
against FK Teplice, but neither Sutton nor Thompson is holding his breath.
Sutton scored twice as Celtic chalked up their 24th successive win in the
Scottish Premier League this season against Partick- overhauling the record
set by Morton in 1964 - to establish a benchmark that has never been
bettered in European football.
Thompson set up three of the goals, and on hearing that Eriksson would make
the trip to Glasgow, he replied: "That's up to him - all I want to do now is
concentrate on doing my job for Celtic."
Sutton, the main beneficiary of Thompson's service this season, made the
breakthrough in the 35th minute yesterday after Celtic had passed up a trio
of good chances. Thompson's free-kick was met at the back post by Henrik
Larsson and cushioned into the path of Sutton to head past the goalkeeper,
Kenny Arthur.
Just three minutes later, Stanislav Varga doubled the advantage when he met
yet another inswinging Thompson free-kick and steered a header beyond
Arthur.
The game seemed dead and buried when Sutton made it 3-0 with a penalty in
the 52nd minute after Kenny Milne had brought down John Kennedy, but Partick
pulled one back through Gerry Britton three minutes later.
The former Celtic striker Jorge Cadete, who has just signed a short-term
contract at Firhill, came on as a substitute to pose his old club problems,
but Varga scored from another Thompson corner to seal the record-breaking
day that leaves Rangers 13 points in Celtic's wake.
Goals: Sutton (35) 0-1; Varga (38) 0-2; Sutton pen (52) 0-3; Britton (55)
1-3; Varga (81) 1-4.
Partick Thistle (4-4-2): Arthur; B Gibson, Murray, Madaschi, Ross; Mitchell
(A Gibson, 53), Rowson, McBride (Cadete, 68), Milne; Britton (Bonnes, 79),
Grady. Substitutes not used: Langfield (gk), Chiarini.
Celtic (4-4-2): Douglas; Kennedy, Balde, Varga, McNamara; Petrov, Lennon
(Lambert, 84), Pearson (Maloney, 75), Thompson; Larsson, Sutton (Sylla, 84).
Substitutes not used: Marshall (gk), Valgaeren.
Referee: K Clark.
Booked: Partick: Milne. Celtic: Lennon.
Man of the match: Thompson.
Attendance: 8,131.

Hoops leave it late
Alison McConnell    

Scottish Premierleague,
Saturday, 14th February 2003,
Celtic Park.

CELTIC………………..2 (Maloney 80, Sutton 81 pen)
DUNDEE UNITED……1 (Archibald 60)

Celtic came from a goal behind to beat Dundee United 2-1 and in the
process equal Morton’s long standing record of 23 consecutive victories
without defeat.

Two goals within a minute from Shaun Maloney and Chris Sutton broke
United's resolve, which for long second-half minutes had look like
usurping Celtic's progress towards the record books.

It was a listless first-half display from Celtic, their lethargy perhaps
in part due to Wednesday’s victory over Dunfermline on the contentious
plastic pitch. Bobo Balde was the only change to the side who brushed
the Pars aside midweek, with John Kennedy the player falling out of the
frame.

In any case, O’Neill’s side toiled to repeat the fluid and creative
movement that has been responsible for their unbeaten league status
throughout the campaign to dare, although United deserved some credit
for their desire to have a go at Celtic.

It was the visitors who had the best opportunity of the early stages
when Billy Dodds, always assured a warm welcome at Celtic Park, headed
narrowly over the bar after he met a Barry Robson corner at the back
post.

It wasn’t that Celtic were without their chances, but it was a stuffy
contest in which the Hoops forwards found precious little room for
manoeuvre. The performance was unusually flat, all the more peculiar
given the fact that Rangers had earlier dropped two points at Pittodrie.

Chris Sutton had a half-hearted appeal for a penalty midweek through the
opening period when he claimed to have been barged in the back by Alan
Archibald, but in truth it would have been a soft award.

Most of Celtic’s forward forays into United’s penalty box came through
Stephen Pearson in the first-half with the midfielder’s confident and
composed display one of his most impressive so far in the colours of his
new club.

The Scotland internationalist was at the centre of a clever move with
Alan Thompson with just a few minutes on the clock and although the move
came to nothing in the face of an assiduous United defence, Pearson was
not to be discouraged.

The 20-year-old was then involved in a sweet move between himself,
Larsson and Sutton but his best opportunity by far came just five
minutes before the interval when he cut inside but was guilty of too
much pirouetting before his attempt was blocked.

In between times he had latched on to a delicate chip through the
defence from Larsson before his shot was blocked by Derek McInnes, as
Celtic struggled to repeat the form that has established them firmly at
the top of the table.

That Celtic’s only shot to trouble Paul Gallacher came through a long
shot from Stan Petrov tells a story in itself.

With Dodds dropping back into midfield to bolster United’s numbers in
the middle of the park, Celtic found their attacking options suffocated
and genuine opportunities difficult to prise open.

The best chance of the second period almost inevitably came from a
Thompson set-piece eight minutes after the break. The Englishman
launched a free-kick deep into the United penalty area, Sutton rose to
head it across the face of the goal, Varga connected but his header
crept wide of the target.

It was United, however, who ought to have seared in front following a
catalogue of errors in the Hoops defence. First of all Balde, looking
out of sorts following his return from the African Nations Cup, sliced a
clearance at the edge of his own box. Douglas came out but succeeded
only in heading the ball into the path of Charlie Miller. The
midfielder’s attempt was blocked, then fell to Dodds, who supplied Jim
McIntyre in acres of space. With Balde recovered sufficiently to take
his place on the line, Douglas somehow managed to tip the attempt wide.

It was a warning that Celtic failed to heed and within minutes United
had taken the lead, albeit from a free-kick that never was. Robson’s
delivery found Archibald who got in ahead of Lennon to slice the ball
past Douglas and into the net.

Celtic’s response was swift with Varga again coming close, while Petrov
forced a save from Gallacher with a drive from inside the box. Shaun
Maloney came on for Pearson midway through the second period.

Larsson missed two chances in quick succession, blazing over the bar
after Sutton knocked the ball into his path and then heading over the
bar after a Thompson cross.

As Celtic pushed for the leveller, they could have been penalised at the
back. Miller found himself with plenty of space and had Varga not
recovered to thwart McIntyre, the deficit could have been worse.

It was largely one way, though, and only a goal-line clearance as well
as a fingertip save from Gallacher kept United’s goal unbreached.

Eventually, it came. Lennon provided Sutton and the industrious
Englishman squeezed his way into space before cutting the ball across
goal where Maloney netted his sixth goal of the season.

It was the impetus for Celtic to eek out another and within a minute it
arrived. Petrov was clumsily tackled by Stuart Duff and Sutton kept his
cool to net the result spot kick, sending Gallacher the wrong way as he
speared a low drive into the bottom right-hand corner.

United were reduced to ten men when Dodds was dismissed for his second
booking of the afternoon, a late tackle on Maloney to compound the
misery for Ian McCall.

CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Varga, Balde, McNamara; Agathe, Lennon, Petrov
(Lambert 83), Pearson (Maloney 69), Thompson; Larsson, Sutton. Subs:
Marshall, Sylla, Valgaeren.

UNITED (4-4-2): Gallacher; Wilson, Archibald, McCracken, Duff; Kerr
(Scotland 86), McInnes, Miller, Robson (Easton 78); Dodds, McIntyre
(Samuel 86). Subs: Jarvie, Paterson.

REFEREE: Ian Fyfe
ATTENDANCE: 58,650
MAN OF THE MATCH: Chris Sutton

Hearts 0-3 Celtic

Petrov restores order
Natasha Woods at Tynecastle

HEARTS may have ended up with just nine men on the pitch at the final
whistle, yet this tie was never in real danger of exploding into the
sort of controversy that marred the last meeting between these sides.
There was only one team on fire at Tynecastle and it was Celtic.
They overwhelmed oppon-ents who displayed none of the attributes or
attitude needed to cope with the impressive onslaught. Paul Hartley and
Alan Maybury both picked up two yellow cards and neither deserved any sympathy for their persistent fouling.

Hartley had been lucky to stay on the pitch after flattening Neil Lennon with an elbow in the first half and Maybury was so late with his sliding tackle on the Irishman in injury time that the ball was long gone by the time his studs made contact.

Lennon himself was one of seven players booked – an angry reaction to a late tackle from Phil Stamp – but significantly only two Celtic
players were booked. Their discipline, like their football for most of
this Scottish Cup tie, was excellent.

Hearts were a pale imitation of the side which fought so hard in last
month’s league meeting. That was disappointing, but not so the absence
of crowd trouble that overshadowed Celtic’s 1-0 victory.

No coin-throwing or spitting at players and hopefully no prolonged video
analysis of the game’s more contentious moments. What Craig Levein will
have to study is his side’s woeful defending and how poorly they
supplied their front men when they finally got a foothold in the game in
the second half.

Presumably the manager’s familiar pre-match warning about not conceding
anything early was still wringing in the ears of his players as their
cup ambitions suffered a significant early set-back.

Celtic launched into this game like men possessed, thundering forward;
waves of green and white intent on swamping maroon. Amid this energy was
wonderful, flowing football and the goal was typical of much of what was
to follow.

John Hartson’s absence, due to back spasms, had removed the man who
would have been a figure of hate yesterday; the Welshman’s rash charge
into Andy Webster having sparked the “elbowgate” furore that followed
the previous meeting between these clubs.

But there was another spin-off to Hartson’s absence and that was Chris
Sutton returning to partner Henrik Larsson. Both men were involved in
the link-up play which led to Celtic’s opening goal, which was finished
in emphatic fashion by a midfielder who seems to thrive on the space
created when Sutton swaps midfield for a forward role.

Stilian Petrov was electric yesterday, a dynamo that powered Celtic
forward. Three minutes in and he charged into the box, feeding onto a
superb pass that Larsson had slid inside Patrick Kisnorbo, before
lifting the ball past Craig Gordon.

It was to be a dreadful afternoon for the young full- back, constantly
tormented by the runs of either Petrov, Didier Agathe or Larsson. The
home side seemed constricted by nerves.




It didn’t take long for Maybury to fall victim, under-hitting a pass
back to Pressley to present Larsson with the ball. The Celtic striker
rolled a pass across to Sutton and the Englishman’s rasping shot was
touched over by the 21-year-old in the Hearts goal.

Those looking for a con- troversial spark to ignite this supposed
tinderbox may have thought it would come when Stephen Pearson lifted a
long ball into the box and Pressley and Gordon dallied over who should
deal with it.

That gave Sutton encouragement to challenge the goalkeeper and he
claimed a penalty as Gordon attempted punch appeared to catch him.

Referee Willie Young, impressive throughout in the way he defused
situations, waved away appeals. But there was little relief for Hearts.
Pearson was another who relished the demanding workrate. Centre
midfield, alongside the solid safety net that is Lennon, clearly becomes
the former Motherwell man.

Hearts looked bedraggled and befuddled by it all and it took them until
the half-hour mark to bring Rab Douglas into action, although Hartley’s
shot from the edge of the box provided nothing more than catching
practice for the goalkeeper.

Three minutes later the cup tie was effectively over. A sweeping move
involving half a dozen precise passes saw Sutton pick up possession on
the left. A swift turn and pass inside to Larsson, who flicked it on
instantly to Petrov yet again. This time the finish from the Bulgarian
was even better; a thumping first time shot from 16 yards which gave
Gordon no chance.

There then followed a couple of moments which did raise tempers. First
Stamp crunched into a late tackle on Lennon. Then, with the half moving
to its conclusion, Hartley took it upon himself to execute a leaping
elbow on Lennon. It was reckless in extreme, but he was one of the few
Hearts players genuinely competing.

It was probably unfair to expect Celtic to maintain the same ferocious
momentum in the second half and they were certainly not as devastating.
Hearts earned an increasing share of possession, but the service into
the front men remained poor.

They finally threatened the Celtic goal with a fine move just after the
hour mark.

The final ball did find Mark De Vries in the box, but the Dutchman was
always stretching to get his foot to the ball ahead of John Kennedy and
his resulting shot went wide of the post.

Celtic seemed intent on providing Petrov with his hat-trick, but Gordon
denied both the Bulgarian and Thompson late in the game.

Still Larsson was there to finish off the move which started when
Maybury felled Lennon. Petrov’s resulting shot was parried into the
Swede’s path by the goalkeeper. A simple header ended the game and
finished off Hearts.

08 February 2004

G'Day
Natural Born Killers

PAUL FORSYTH
AT PARKHEAD


CELTIC 5 Agathe 55; Hartson 65, 89; Larsson 76; Pearson 77
KILMARNOCK 1
Skora 84

CELTIC haven't come this far without developing an impressive belief in
their own ability. The small matter of a lacklustre first half in which they
rarely troubled their opponents could not prevent the Parkhead side opening
their stride and blowing Kilmarnock away in this latest episode of their
unbeaten season.

It was their 21st consecutive league win, a triumph that takes them 14
points clear of Rangers, who play Partick Thistle today, but it took them 55
minutes to even open the scoring. Didier Agathe was the player accepting the
congratulations for making it all possible.

His part in Celtic's first three goals was enough to prove that, even when
he is deployed on the right of a back four, he is more than capable of
damaging the opposition. He scored the first, and set up the second and
third, enabling Celtic to coast through the closing stages of what had been
shaping into a troublesome afternoon.

Celtic's breakthrough was a long time in coming, but its arrival 10 minutes
into the second half transformed the match. Agathe surged into the box,
exchanged a flashing one-two with John Hartson, and from the corner of the
six-yard box blasted the Welshman's lay-off high into the net.

The same players would combine 10 minutes later to allow Celtic breathing
space. Agathe eluded the full-back, and found the byeline before swirling a
cross into the danger area. In a straightforward aerial contest between
Hartson and David Lilley, the Celtic striker won out, although he
demonstrated all the finesse of a tree falling as he headed into the bottom
corner.

Agathe's repertoire of tricks was revealed nine minutes later when he
created Celtic's third. This time he cut inside to unsettle the Kilmarnock
defence, slipped the ball through for Larsson, who obliged his team-mate
with a shot that deflected off Gordon Greer on its way into the net.

As if Killie weren't aggrieved enough to have all their work unravel in such
hasty fashion, they fell four behind just a couple of minutes later. Stephen
Pearson scored his first goal at Celtic Park, his second in consecutive
weeks, by latching on to a beautiful Neil Lennon pass and slipping it under
the keeper.

Making his debut for Kilmarnock was defender Lilley, the £30,000 signing
from Partick Thistle, who admitted that he moved in order to spare himself
the trauma of relegation. It is to be hoped that self-preservation is not
the only factor in his decision-making, otherwise the full-back could find
himself in search of another club soon.

It would require a quite catastrophic collapse for Kilmarnock to go down,
but already they are sliding, and the 12 points by which they are clear of
the SPL's bottom club disguises their deepening distress.

That, as well as injuries to Alan Mahood and Craig Dargo, prompted the
Kilmarnock manager to plump for an unusual, if not exactly adventurous,
team. With four at the back, five in midfield and only Eric Skora, the
Frenchman on loan from Preston North End, pushing forward to support Gary
McSwegan, there was no mistaking the visitors' apprehension.

On the basis that Celtic had nothing broken to fix, their manager Martin O'
Neill adopted the same team and formation that had been so comfortable at
Pittodrie the week before. Not even Danny Milosevic, the Australian
goalkeeper who has been signed until the end of the season, could find a
place on the bench.

It was another opportunity for John Kennedy and Stephen Pearson to
demonstrate that they are worthy deputies for Bobo Balde, who is on
international duty, and the injured Alan Thompson respectively. While
Kennedy was a nervy presence alongside Stanislav Varga, misplacing the odd
pass across the back, and twice committing errors that could have been
punished by McSwegan, Pearson was more impressive.

The former Motherwell midfielder built on his goal against Aberdeen with an
influential contribution down the left, several times lurching beyond Lilley
to throw in crosses of depth and power to whoever was lurking at the far
post.

It was from one of those that Celtic fashioned their most threatening effort
of an otherwise forgettable first half. Chris Sutton, ghosting in from his
midfield berth, rose behind full-back Gary Hay, and returned a header back
across the six-yard box. It spun off the Kilmarnock defender, over the
goalkeeper, Francois Dubourdeau, and down off the underside of the crossbar.

Sutton had also been involved in a move after just seven minutes that
created rather a misleading indication of Celtic's peril. With his back to
goal, the powerful Englishman collected a low, searching pass out of the
midfield by Kennedy, and in a trademark example of his strength and
awareness, reversed a cute ball into the path of Henrik Larsson. The Swede's
first-time, angled drive was parried round the post.

Save for a couple of shots over the bar by Stilian Petrov, and a harmless
Pearson header that suffered the same fate, there was precious little else
for Kilmarnock to worry about in those first 45 minutes. Sutton was proving
a handful, as his marker Martin Hardie pointed out by objecting on one
occasion to the Englishman's elbows, but Jefferies' side were seeing nothing
to be afraid of.

McSwegan, in particular, was making a nuisance of himself. Had it not been
for a saving tackle on the edge of the box by Jackie McNamara, he might have
capitalised on Kennedy's mistake. Had it not been for a clumsy finish by
Danny Invincible, whose close-range effort looped wide of the post, he might
have set up the opening goal. And had it not been for a bobble after another
Kennedy slip, he might have put Kilmarnock ahead eight minutes after the
interval.

It all proved to be irrelevant. Although Skora scored with a sumptuous lob
in the closing stages, Celtic had already scored their fifth. Substitute
Shaun Maloney, on for Larsson, turned Lilley inside out before setting up
Hartson with a simple header.

Pearson's dawn

PAUL FORSYTH at Pittodrie

Celtic 3  Rangers 0

Catch us if you can

Celtic 3-0 Rangers
A decisive victory for Martin O’Neill’s side means title is only theirs
to lose
Michael Grant at Parkhead

 
IT took until the hour mark of this contest before the Celtic fans began
taunting their rivals with a familiar refrain. “Champions, Champions”
the home support sang in joyful unison; the sound striking a discordant
note for those of a light blue persuasion.
Officially they won’t hand the SPL silverware out for a wee while yet,
but yesterday Celtic as good as put one hand on the trophy. As Alex
McLeish observed afterwards the only way Rangers will now retain their
title is if Celtic fumble the prize.
It is often said that form goes out of the window on occasions like this
and there is nothing predictable about Old Firm games. Yet as Celtic
imposed a vice-like grip on proceedings at Parkhead, there was a
definite air of predictability.
The 3-0 scoreline reflected both Celtic’s superiority and strengths, and
the deficiencies of their opponents. And Rangers, hamstrung by injuries
all season, fell victim to more yesterday.
The gamble to give Gavin Rae his debut despite a hamstring problem blew
up in McLeish’s face when the new signing signalled to the bench his
game was over just after the half-hour mark. By then Rangers were
already on the defensive anyway, the Celtic juggernaut having thundered
straight into top gear as six corners in 15 minutes put Stefan Klos and
his goal under intense pressure.
The German goalkeeper performs heroics with such regularity you expect
nothing less, and on 14 minutes he denied Bobo Balde with a fantastic
save given the power of the Frenchman’s header and the closeness of the
range.
The supply had come from a corner from Alan Thompson, a man whose range
of passing and vision has become so key to Martin O’Neill’s side. Up in
the main stand Tord Grip, England’s assistant manager, was an interested
spectator. His report back to Sven-Goran Eriksson would have made
engaging reading given the outstanding performance the Englishman
produced.
Rangers struggled to clear their lines throughout the game, the ball
always seeming to fall to a Celtic boot after Craig Moore or Henning
Berg had headed clear. McLeish had stationed Bob Malcolm in front of his
back four to provide additional protection, but it was a flimsy
safeguard; Malcolm easily outclassed by the midfield menace of Chris
Sutton and Stilian Petrov.
It was the Bulgarian who opened the scoring on 19 minutes, a diving
header applied to a neat cross from Henrik Larsson. John Hartson
deserved to be credited with an assist, for his run sucked defenders
into the centre and allowed Petrov to arrive unmarked at the far post.
Klos managed to push the ball on to his right hand post, from where it
rebounded and tracked slowly across the goal line, bouncing off the
opposite post and in. With it, effectively, went Rangers title hopes,
for they never looked likely to recover from the early setback.
McLeish orchestrated changes, Shota Arveladze moved from the left inside
to lead the line, Peter Lovenkrands sent out wide where the Georgian had
started the game. It mattered little. Celtic were not about to ease up.
It showed most in central areas where Neil Lennon and Sutton won almost
every challenge they went in for. With Rae already warming the bench,
Mikel Arteta looked lightweight amid such a battle.
McLeish reacted furiously when the Spaniard came off worse after one
50-50 challenge with Sutton, but the manager’s frustrations must have
owed more to the unevenness of the contest.
As half-time approached Didier Agathe slipped one marker out on the
touchline and sprinted in on Michael Ball, tormenting him with his pace
and directness before lifting the ball into the run of Thompson. The
Englishman applied a glancing header, but it went wide of the far post.
Ball cost Rangers £6m, Agathe cost Celtic only around £50,000. But if
you wanted an example of one player totally dominating another it was
out there on Celtic’s right flank.
Rangers offered so little offensively it was hard to recall Rab Douglas
having much reason to cause palpitations among the home support. Chris
Burke dashed about busily on the right wing, but most of the balls
delivered into the Celtic box simply provided the likes of Stanislav
Varga with heading practice.
Michael Mols, having barely managed a touch in the first half having
come on for Rae, worked one decent opening for himself in the second,
shooting low past Douglas’ far post, but Rangers lacked both the finesse
and fight to live with their opponents.
Celtic’s interplay was too precise, their momentum too great. While
there was a familiar pattern and purpose to the home side’s play,
Rangers were simply shapeless and more desperate.
Hence Craig Moore earned a booking for a cynical trip on Larsson after
Hartson looked to have set him on his way with a neat flick. Twenty
yards closer to goal and the Rangers captain may have been sent off, but
his team suffered enough from the passage of play that followed.
McLeish had worried his defence would struggle to cope with Celtic’s
height and power and so it proved; a Thompson corner headed back across
goal by Balde and Varga beating Klos with a brave header.
“Bring on Capucho,” mocked the home support, knowing victory was already
achieved, and the Portuguese winger did arrive to rounds of sarcastic
applause.
He contributed, as he has done all season, next to nothing. At least
those like Moore and Arveladze, who hit the woodwork with a shot late in
the game, couldn’t be faulted for their application.
But what McLeish would give for the likes of a Larsson, or Sutton, or
Thompson, who provided the perfect climax with a free kick of real
virtuosity. Lovenkrands fouled Sutton to present Thompson with his
chance and he stepped up to lift it over the wall and in under the
junction of bar and post. It was the perfect example of a fine skill
well executed. And it left the title aspirations of their rivals all but
dead.
04 January 2004

Celtic 6-0 Hibernian

Sutton wreaks revenge with six of the best
Michael Grant at Celtic Park

THE recent huff between these clubs was addressed at Parkhead yesterday by
Celtic grasping Hibs warmly by the throat.
Ten days ago Hibs were miffed as Celtic's players left the field without
offering handshakes when they lost in the CIS Cup quarter-final. If there
was any laying on of hands here it was only to administer a slapping. Celtic
cannot win the treble because of Hibs, but this was a disproportionately
heavy level of revenge.
Even a mauling can hinge on a single turning point and the pivotal moment
was the sending-off, with the score at only 1-0 after 41 minutes, of Derek
Riordan. The 20-year-old had lunged for the ball and caught Jackie McNamara
above the ankle but the tackle seemed no worse than the four challenges
which had preceded it and earned bookings for a couple of players from each
side. Referee Alan Freeland's tolerance had run out, though, and Riordan
stared up at a straight red when a yellow would have sufficed.
Hibs' incensed players mobbed Freeland. Tom McManus was fortunate to stay on
the field as, having been already booked, he ran from behind to jostle the
referee.
A man down, Hibs' young team soon capitulated.
"It was disappointing," said Hibs manager Bobby Williamson with simmering
understatement. "A booking might have been sufficient but the referee calls
it the way he sees it. Derek caught the boy, but then Alan Thompson's tackle
on Scott Brown caught the boy and he only gets booked while we get a man
sent off. The game's much faster these days, sometimes the ball moves
quickly. If you are committed to a tackle sometimes you will catch a man and
I don't think that's taken into account now. We didn't feel it was a sending
off."
McManus and Kevin Thomson, and Celtic's Thompson and Johan Mjallby, had all
been booked for incidents of varying aggression in a combative first half
leading up to Riordan's red.
"My own view was that up until the sending-off the referee had called all
the decisions correctly in terms of the bookings," said Celtic manager
Martin O'Neill. "From where I was I thought it was a bookable offence, but
maybe a bit harsh as a sending off."
It had seemed unlikely that a moment almost halfway through the match could
be so significant, for Hibs had already conceded an opening goal in the
third minute which undid a week's worth of Williamson's preparations.
John Hartson caught the visiting defence sleeping and threaded a through
ball down the inside left channel for an unmarked Chris Sutton to sweep the
ball into the net with a low right foot shot past Daniel Andersson.
Yet Hibs stirred, were able to absorb that blow, and for the next 40 minutes
made it an even contest. That owed much to the robust approach of the Hibs
midfield epitomised by Grant Brebner and a forcefulness which tempo rarily
reduced the centre of the midfield to a threshing machine.
With their full complement, Hibs had harassed Celtic and almost equalised
when Riordan struck a shot which deflected high off McNamara and forced Rab
Douglas into a reflex parry over the crossbar. But as soon as they were down
to 10 men there was the likelihood of a bloodbath. Celtic gorged themselves,
scoring five at Parkhead for the fifth time this season and then reaching
half a dozen for the first time. Their lead over Rangers in the SPL stands
at 11 points and, for what it's worth, an advantage of 26 goals.
In 15 minutes' playing time after Riordan's dismissal Celtic's lead
snowballed from one goal to 4-0. Andersson had almost palmed a Stilian
Petrov cross into his own net after his central defenders had gawped in
admiration as it crossed the penalty area, but from Petrov's ensuring short
corner Thompson crossed high to the back post for Hartson, unchallenged, to
apply a routine headed finish.
Sutton's withdrawal to midfield did nothing to diminish his threat. Having
scored once, fizzed another shot wide and had a goal correctly ruled out
because Hartson was offside, Sutton's appetite had not been sated and he
helped himself to the first of the second half when Celtic were awarded a
penalty.
Colin Murdock needlessly shoulder-charged Larsson to the ground and Sutton
converted with an impertinent chip straight over Andersson.
Mathias Doumbe had earlier denied probable goals with wonderful blocking
challenges on Larsson and then Petrov, but the Frenchman was not exempt from
Hibs' collective deterioration.
First Larsson brushed him aside - he was booked for a failed attempt to trip
the Swede as he got away - and squared for Hartson to covert his second
routine finish of the afternoon.
Enough of being the provider: Larsson's predatory instincts took over and
when he again wrestled clear of Doumbe through the middle and buried the
chance himself.
There was 24 minutes left for Hibs to endure but they were put to the sword
only once more when an elaborate sequence of Celtic passes ended with Neil
Lennon finding Petrov's clever run and the Bulgarian applied a low finish
for his first league goal of the season.
Larsson would have had another had he not headed poorly into the goalkeeper'
s arms from McNamara's cross, while Liam Miller brought poise to a penalty
area scramble and lofted a deft lob on to the crossbar.
By then Lennon and Sutton were ambling around in an untroubled Celtic back
three. O'Neill dismissed a story linking him with an interest in Sunderland'
s Argentine left-back Julio Arca.
Rather than buying a new defender, O'Neill might have picked himself
alongside John Robertson and Steve Walford and they would still have been
spectators as Hibs felt the back of Celtic's hand.
28 December 2003

So far, so near
Alison McConnell 

Tuesday, 25th November 2003,
UEFA Champions League,
Celtic Park.

CELTIC....................0
BAYERN MUNICH.....0

It is a measure of just how far Celtic have progressed in European
maturity that a draw against Bayern Munich can be interpreted as
something of a disappointment.

The tense 0-0 draw against Ottmar Hitzfeld's side leaves Celtic at the
top of Group A on goal difference, but with the Hoops, Lyon and
Anderlecht all sitting on seven points and Bayern on six, the conclusive
matches promises tremendous excitement and plenty of anxiety.

A draw in Lyon would push Celtic through these initial stages, but
realistically all four teams have a chance of escaping the claustrophia
of the group and making the next platform.

Celtic will have to replicate some of the scintillating displays that
were evident throughout last season's UEFA Cup run, and it will have to
be done without the influence of Alan Thompson whose booking rules him
out of the game against Lyon.

Jackie McNamara and John Hartson both started at the expense of Liam
Miller and Johan Mjallby who had to be content with a place on the bench
while Magnus Hedman survived a back spasm scare on Saturday afternoon to
take his place between the sticks.

Celtic started brightly against the Bundesliga Champions and after just
three minutes those crammed inside the stadium were on their feet when
Henrik Larsson met a Stilian Petrov corner at the near post, but his
effort glanced just wide of goal.

Larsson came closer still ten minutes later when a Robert Kovac shove on
Hartson earned Celtic a free-kick 25-yards from goal. Thompson, watched
by England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, and Larsson stood over it, but
the Swede’s low drive was parried away by Oliver Kahn.

Revelling on the chance to showcase his talent on Europe’s premier
stage, Larsson brought out another save from Kahn when he collected from
Petrov, who eluded the challenge from the experienced boot of Bixente
Lizarazu and flicked the ball into the path of the striker.

Larsson dropped his shoulder, swivelled and set off for goal, skipping
clear of a few interventions on the edge of the box before driving the
ball towards its target but on this occasion the German stopper wasn’t
greatly troubled.

Inevitably Bayern Munich were no slouches when it came to attacking
Celtic on the break and Hedman saved from both Michael Ballack and
Lizarazu in the frantic first 20 minutes, but it was a left-footed
volley from Ballack midway through the opening period that genuinely
tested the keeper who acrobatically tipped the ball over the crossbar.

As Celtic strived to get forward at every opportunity a Thompson cross
was dropped by Kahn, under close attention from Hartson, and broke to
Petrov but the midfielder’s low drive was blocked and the ball was
scrambled to safety before any damage could be inflicted.

Didier Agathe, deployed as a right-back, performed admirably with some
superb tackles and blocks but he caused some anxiety within the Hoops
back line when he was caught in possession inside his own half. The
moves came to nothing and in general Celtic restricted Bayern to
long-range efforts, although one of them from Owen Hargreaves almost
fooled everyone in the Hoops defence before bouncing wide.

Two corners in quick succession almost led to the golden opener for
Celtic eight minutes before the break when a short interchange between
Thompson and Agathe came tantalisingly close to being converted by the
head of Hartson at the back post, but his attempt somehow bounced wide.

Seconds later Kahn spilled a shot from the Welshman but Celtic were
unable to capitalise on the error before the Bayern defence had ushered
the ball away from danger.

Hedman and Varga were almost caught out by the pace of Roque Santa Cruz
when the striker raced forward, but the Hoops keeper managed to block
the attempt while Varga got back to collect it.

Bayern collected three bookings within the space of five minutes in the
second period, but it was the yellow card handed out to Thompson that
was the most costly.

Agathe was forced off with a hamstring injury just after the hour mark
and his arrival was a popular one among the Hoops support. Petrov was
moved back to defence while the Irishman was slotted into midfield.

Celtic had two shouts for a penalty immediately afterwards with Sutton
first going down before Larsson was chopped to the turf but Dutch
referee Rene Temmink spotted no offence in either challenge.

Sutton headed into the side-netting from a Miller corner and while
Eriksson has made it quite clear that he was in Glasgow to watch
Thompson, he couldn’t have failed to take into account Sutton’s clever
and industrious performance against the Germans.

The versatile 30-year-old hustled and harried, held players off,
journeyed forward as well as back and produced the kind of bustling and
inventive display that has long had O’Neill shouting for his inclusion
in the England set-up. Whether it comes or not remains to be seen.

There was one heart-stopping moment with just six minutes remaining when
a long ball upfield by Bayern was booted away by Hedman who raced off
his line, but his clearance smacked off of Varga and for one horrific
second looked as though it might trundle into the empty net. It was
McNamara who recovered quickest to clear.

Three minutes of injury time were played with Celtic come close through
a swirling Thompson cross that almost crept into the top left-hand
corner, but in the end the Hoops had to settle for a point. So near, yet
so far. The adventure continues in France next month.



CELTIC (4-3-1-2): Hedman; Agathe (Miller 63), Varga, Balde, McNamara;
Petrov, Lennon, Thompson; Sutton; Hartson (Sylla 86), Larsson. Subs:
Douglas, Gray, Valgaeren, Maloney, Mjallby.



BAYERN (4-4-2): Kahn; Sagnol, Kovac, Kuffour, Lizarazu; Salihamidzic,
Jeremies, Ballack, Hargreaves; Santa Cruz (Pizarro 73), Makaay. Subs:
Rensing, Demishelis, Ze Roberto, Rau, Linke, Schweinsteiger.

REFEREE: Temmink Rene (Holland)

MAN OF THE MATCH: Bobo Balde

Paul Forsyth


      CELTIC 5
      Hartson 23, 77, Wallace 81, Varga 83, Larsson 87

      DUNFERMLINE 0

      THE recall of Robert Douglas to the Celtic team yesterday could hardly have been more timely. Not so much because of the boost it gives Scotland ahead of next week's international, but because of the one, spectacular save he had to make during the course of a bizarre match.

      Celtic were only a goal ahead when his faint touch was enough to divert Billy Mehmet's shot against the crossbar. Berti Vogts must have been a delighted observer.

      Scotland's national coach will have been as gratified to hear of Ross Wallace's contribution. He came on 18 minutes from the end, with Celtic leading by a solitary first-half strike, to invigorate the home side and play his part in the production of four unexpected goals.

      It was the second consecutive league match in which Celtic had made the points safe with a quartet of late goals. John Hartson, who had scored the first, set ball rolling by charging on to Stilian Petrov's through ball and bending it under the goalkeeper with the outside of his right boot.

      Then, when Chris Sutton laid the ball to Wallace, the young Scot turned his man inside out and drove an angled shot under Derek Stillie. It was only then that Celtic, otherwise struggling to shake off their opponents, could congratulate themselves on establishing an eight-point lead over Rangers.

      Wallace, though, was not finished. With just six minutes left, his curling cross picked out Stanislav Varga, and the Slovakian defender smacked his header into the far corner. The scoring was completed just three minutes later when Henrik Larsson lobbed in the fifth from what looked like an impossible angle.

      The first surprise of the afternoon was before the match. Much though Martin O'Neill will enjoy the suggestion that his decision to replace Magnus Hedman with Douglas was made in the interests of Scotland, he was more than likely motivated by a desire to relieve his player of what would have been a potentially disturbing week of media attention.

      The Celtic manager can see no significant gap between the two goalkeepers and if, as he says, he was going to bring Douglas back soon, it might as well be now. The development will help Scotland in their play-off against Holland and, more importantly for O'Neill, spare Douglas further reminders of his uncertain international future.

      The curious feature of this fixture was that Dunfermline, perhaps the most compliant of any Scottish sides confronted by the Old Firm, arrived in Glasgow as the only team to have taken points from Celtic in this season's Premierleague. O'Neill has presided over a flawless record since that scoreless draw at East End Park on the opening day.

      Dunfermline twice had the audacity to run Celtic close in Glasgow last season, but their slim hopes this time round were all but eradicated by an extensive injury list. The continued absence of Andy Tod, Derek Young and Noel Hunt, plus the withdrawals before this one of Barry Nicholson and David Grondin, made their job doubly difficult.

      This latest plot devised by Jimmy Calderwood to deny an Old Firm side involved relegating Craig Brewster to the bench and deploying Billy Mehmet as his only striker. That enabled the Dunfermline manager to take a leaf out of Hearts' European book by playing five in midfield and four at the back. The strategy proved to be watertight for only 22 minutes.

      Larsson directed a cute ball behind the full-back and Didier Agathe, much as he did against Anderlecht in midweek, was just quick enough to hook his leg beyond the defender and stab a cross into the danger area. Hartson's right foot sent the ball down and into the turf so that it bounced over the goalkeeper.

      O'Neill had chosen to play all four of his recognised strikers, albeit not in the forward line. Larsson partnered Hartson up front, Maloney supported them in the position once occupied by Lubomir Moravcik, and Chris Sutton lined up as an orthodox midfielder in the company of Neil Lennon and Stilian Petrov.

      Maloney was marked rather too closely by the methodical Gary Mason, who required only 12 minutes to have his efforts punished with a booking. It was not one of the Celtic player's better performances, littered as it was with misplaced passes and disappointing free kicks.

      Larsson, in the early stages, was an inventive presence, just failing to find a stretching Petrov at the back post. He and Sutton both had rasping shots parried by the goalkeeper as the game moved into its second half.

      The play was, of course, dominated by Celtic, but not with their usual relentless intent, and an unmistakable tension crept into what had hitherto been an insipid atmosphere. Dunfermline, after managing not a single shot at goal in the course of an hour, nearly punished Celtic. Jackie McNamara's stooped header fell to Mehmet, whose crisp half-volley crashed off the underside of the bar via Douglas's hands. Given the effect it would have on Celtic, the striker probably wishes he hadn't bothered.

Celtic 3 Anderlecht 1
By Chris Roberts, PA Sport

Liam Miller inspired another scintillating European night for Martin
O'Neill's men as they revived their Champions League campaign with a
crushing defeat of Anderlecht.

Having been beaten by the 10 men of Anderlecht in Brussels last
month, manager O'Neill admitted that they would need to win to stop
them looking to the UEFA Cup.

But first-half goals from the Glasgow giants saw Henrik Larsson,
Miller and Chris Sutton hit the net to put them back in the hunt for
the knock-out stages and deny the hopes of the Belgian side, who
grabbed a consolation from Dindane Aruna.

The visitors looked nervous at the back if Vincent Kompany's first
touch was anything to go by as he hopelessly failed to pick out
Olivier Deschacht and put the ball out.

But Celtic seemed far too eager as John Hartson elected to play a
free-kick on the edge of the box too quickly and only succeeded in
playing Agathe into trouble.

The home side's nerves, however, were settled in the 12th minute when
Henrik Larsson pounced for his first Group A goal.

Hartson this time did well to sweep the ball out wide to Agathe and
he whipped a dangerous cross into the box for the Swede to glance his
header past Daniel Zitka.

But that was only the start of it as just five minutes later Miller
scored the second.

Another brilliant move was started by Jackie McNamara's long ball and
again Hartson was the provider as he headed down into the path of the
Irishman to fire low past Zitka.

The home side were threatening to kill off the Belgians by half-time
and they carved out another good chance in the 25th minute.

Hartson did superbly well to brush off his marker and thread the ball
through to the overlapping Miller but his centre was too long for
Larsson to capitalise upon.

Celtic continued to lay siege to the Anderlecht goal and Zitka pulled
off an acrobatic save to tip Petrov's header over from Miller's cross.

But there was nothing that the goalkeeper could do to prevent his
side from going further behind in the 19th minute with Sutton scoring
his third goal in two matches.

Petrov's corner was flicked on by Hartson and the Englishman stooped
to head into the back of the net.

Referee Kyros Vassaras then booked Sutton and Hartson for a foul on
Aruna and handball respectively.

Walter Baseggio whistled a left-foot shot well wide in the 37th
minute for the visitors and Miller should have done better in the
42nd minute but he mis-hit his shot and Larsson and Petrov were
unable to take advantage.

Michal Zewlakow became the next player booked for a rash challenge on
Larsson before Stanislav Varga fired a long-range shot just past the
upright.

Miller broke through again before the break but his cut-back was held
by Zitka.

HT Celtic 3 Anderlecht 0

As expected O'Neill elected to send the same 11 players out for the
second half but he knew that barring a disastrous collapse his side
were already home and dry.

Celtic looked hungry for more goals as they charged forward
relentlessly.

They still had to be careful in defence though and Aruna would have
pulled a goal back had it not been for a double block by Bobo Balde
and Hedman.

Miller was once again involved as Celtic came close in the 56th
minute.
He played the ball to Sutton, who then passed it into the feet of
Hartson and the Welshman turned and hit a low drive which Zitka saved
at the second attempt.

Miller was given a standing ovation as he left the field with an
injury in the 75th minute to be replaced by Gray.
But Aruna won his side a consolation a minute later when he appeared
to go down late following a clumsy challenge from Balde.

Hedman first saved Ivica Mornar's penalty and then kept out his
rebound but he could not stop Aruna's next effort from close range.

FT Celtic 3 Anderlecht 1

Alison McConnell

Saturday, 1st November 2003,
Scottish Premierleague,
Rugby Park.

CELTIC......5 (Sutton 19, pen, 76, pen 88, Hartson 69, Maloney 84)
KILMARNOCK...0

A ten-minute delay before kick-off was allowed as roads works on the A77
caused a traffic backlog, but there was no such tardiness in Celtic's
display.

Chris Sutton netted a hat-trick and in the process exorcised some of the
demons of his last visit to Rugby Park when the afternoon ended in sour
disappointment. The Englishman's fury had been vented that day in the tunnel
and in front of the BBC cameras, an outburst that was punished with a
five-match ban at the beginning of the new campaign.

His strikes were augmented by goals from John Hartson and Shaun Maloney as
Celtic enjoyed a comfortable afternoon ahead of Wednesday's Champions League
outing against Anderlecht which will doubtless provide a more testing 90
minutes.

As the first quarter of the new season ebbs into view, Sutton's strikes
against Kilmarnock helped Celtic to another three points that keeps O'Neill'
s side at the top of the table and also preserves the unbeaten domestic
record. This season's league Championship has been in view since the new
calendar began.

Sutton put Martin O'Neill's side ahead from the spot after 19 minutes when
Stilian Petrov went down in the box after being barged by Gary McDonald
after attempting to take a return pass from Henrik Larsson and Hugh Dallas
had no hesitation in blowing for the penalty. Killie keeper Francois
Dubourdeau did his best to distract the striker, shuffling up and down his
line before eventually guessing the right way, but Sutton's calm strike went
straight into the bottom right-hand corner.

Prior to the kick, Petrov and McDonald had already tangled in the middle of
the park with both players accusing one another of underhand tactics, but
from the minute the game had kicked off Celtic had enjoyed almost
uninterrupted supremacy.

Frequent visits in the past to Rugby Park have proved a daunting affair for
Celtic with points dropped at what was once a notorious bogey ground, but
there were few indications from Kilmarnock that there would be genuine
competition for the victory on Saturday afternoon.

A goal-line clearance and the woodwork were all that prevented O'Neill's
side going into the interval with a more commanding advantage, and the
suggestion in Celtic's deft passing and swift movement was that the level of
performance could be cranked up a gear at any time.

O'Neill switched from his favoured 3-5-2 system, to a flat back four with
Michael Gray and Jackie McNamara on either side, with Petrov and Liam Miller
taking up the left and right midfield roles.

The latter almost made it 2-0 five minutes after the opener in a superb that
culminated with Miller latching on to a delicate chip over the Killie
defence by Larsson, but although his effort beat the advancing Dubourdeau,
his effort was booted off the line by Gordon Greer.

There was no place in the 16-man squad for Didier Agathe, presumably rested
ahead of Wednesday night's critical Champions League outing against
Anderlecht, but the fact that Gray played the full 90 minutes against
Kilmarnock would suggest that he is the strong favourite to replace the
injured Alan Thompson against the Belgians.

Kilmarnock rarely threatened and the closest they came to troubling Magnus
Hedman was in the late stages of the opening half when Sean Hessey struck an
attempt wide of the target after the ball had bobbled about in the Celtic
box.

At the other end Larsson was denied by the woodwork after slicing open the
Kilmarnock defence as Celtic sought further openings.

The opening minutes of the second period was stale in comparison to the
first 45, with Killie making a more determined effort to impose themselves
on Celtic but, as expected, O'Neill's side raised the level of performance.

Miller was booked on the hour mark for persistent fouling, and minutes
afterwards the hosts thought they had levelled when Hedman was forced to tip
away a McDonald drive.

Celtic almost put the points beyond doubt when Larsson and Hartson combined
to tee up Miller, but the midfielder's effort whistled just wide of the
target.

Two minutes later, however, Celtic had got their second. Greer was guilty of
a cynical foul on Larsson and from the resultant free-kick Petrov supplied
Larsson, who flicked the ball wide to Gray. The on-loan Sunderland player
launched the ball into the box where Sutton nodded on to Hartson whose
header beat Dubourdeau.

It was a goal that the striker looked to have been craving in recent weeks,
with his confidence looking somewhat jaded.

Seven minutes later Larsson was the provider for Sutton's second when he cut
the ball low across the six-yard box for the Englishman to push into the
net.

With ten minutes remaining O'Neill introduced Shaun Maloney, Momo Sylla and
youngster Ross Wallace into the game. Within four minutes Maloney and
Wallace had combined for the fourth before Larsson was tripped by Freddie
Dindeleux. The second spot-kick of the afternoon followed and Sutton netted
his first ever Hoops hat-trick to complete a satisfying afternoon for Celtic
and the Englishman in particular.

CELTIC (4-4-2): Hedman; McNamara, Varga, Balde, Gray (Wallace 80); Miller,
Sutton, Lennon (Sylla 80), Petrov; Hartson (Maloney 80), Larsson. Subs:
Douglas, Valgaeren.
KILMARNOCK (3-5-2): Dubourdeau; McLaughlin, Greer, Dindeleux; Shields,
Hessey, McDonald, Fulton, Fowler (Canero 46); Di Giacomo (McSwegan 73),
Invincible (Nish 62). Subs: Meldrum, Hardie.
REFEREE: Hugh Dallas
ATTENDANCE: 12, 460
MAN OF THE MATCH: Chris Sutton

Stephen Sullivan

Scottish Premierleague,
Saturday October 25, 2003,
Celtic Park
CELTIC. 4
Larsson 4, 28, 55, Sutton 45 pen
ABERDEEN. 0
Celtic bounced back from their nightmare in Brussels with a slick,
convincing victory over Aberdeen, the highlight of which was Henrik
Larsson's 15th hat-trick in the hoops.

Chris Sutton also found the net from the penalty spot as Martin O'Neill's
side set about extending their lead at the top of the Scottish Premierleague
to five points following Rangers' 0-0 draw at Almondvale.

Aberdeen's ordeal began in just four minutes when Alan Thompson picked the
ball up wide on the left and curled in a trademark cross, one which Larsson
stole on to, muscling in ahead of his ball-watching marker to volley home
with his left foot. It was a goal which saw the Swede at his opportunist
best, and yet he was guilty of spurning a considerably more clear-cut chance
just a few minutes later.

This one was created by a piece of brilliance from the recalled Liam Miller,
who emerged with the ball on the right touchline having nutmegged his
hapless marker and measured a cut-back which, from six yards, should have
been dispatched into the net. Instead, Larsson side-footed wide of the far
post, handing Aberdeen a reprieve which they gratefully accepted.

Indeed, while many were no doubt expecting the Dons to capitulate at this
stage, they actually began to ask serious questions of Celtic's defence,
carving out a series of decent chances, the best of which was fired wide
from 16 yards by Paul Sheerin.

A comeback never really looked to be on the cards, however, and any hope
Steve Paterson's side had of ending their miserable recent record in Glasgow
's East End was extinguished with 28 minutes played.

It was then that, following a foul on John Hartson 20 yards from goal,
Larsson stepped and slammed the resultant free-kick round the Aberdeen wall
and just inside the far post. It was a terrific strike, and the Swede very
nearly repeated the trick from an identical position with 10 first half
minutes remaining, this time catching Preece off guard with a lofted effort
which cleared the wall only to crash agonisingly back off the inside of the
near post.

That denied Larsson his hat-trick, and he passed up another opportunity to
complete a first half treble when Celtic were awarded a penalty in the final
minute of the opening period.

In fact, it was Chris Sutton who assumed control of the situation after
Russell Anderson had chopped Hartson to the ground and, though his kick wasn
't entirely convincing, it was powerful and accurate enough to put Celtic
three in front.

Larsson remained the star of this particular show, however, and nine minutes
into the second half his hat-trick was complete. Sutton began the move with
an incisive pass drilled down the right touchline for Miller to chase, and
the Ballincollig lad did his part too, measuring a perfect cross that
Larsson, racing through, diverted expertly through the legs of Preece.

Chances dried up a little thereafter, although impressive substitute Shaun
Maloney, who later cleared a Russel Anderson shot off the line, could have
added a fifth goal when he cut in on a Larsson pass and fired his a foot or
so too close to the Aberdeen keeper.

It was a frustrating afternoon too for Hartson, who, having looked more than
a little out of sorts throughout the match, blazed over in the closing
stages after Sutton and Larsson had combined to fashion the opportunity.

Martin O'Neill will have been more than satisfied with his side's
performance in general, though, and in Scotland at least, it appears that
the Bhoys will take quite some stopping.
Website Man of the Match: HENRIK LARSSON
CELTIC (3-5-2): Hedman; Varga, Balde, Valgaeren; Agathe (Sylla 74), Miller,
Lennon (Maloney 59), Sutton, Thompson (Gray 59); Larsson, Hartson
Subs: Douglas, Kennedy
ABERDEEN (3-5-2): Preece; Deloumeaux, McGuire, Anderson; Clark, Tosh,
Muirhead, Heikennen, Sheerin; Mackie (Hinds 69), Booth
Subs: Hutton, Tiernan, Rutkiewicz, Foster

Opportunity missed for timid Celtic

EWING GRAHAME, in Stade Constant Vanden StockOctober 22 2003

Anderlecht 1
Celtic 0

Celtic spurned a golden opportunity to further their claim for a place in
the knock-out stages of the Champions League. They surrendered meekly to
opponents forced to play with 10 men for two-thirds of the match following
the dismissal of their captain, Glen de Boeck.
It was an anaemic performance from Celtic, who have yet to collect a single
point on their travels in this competition and the defeat, which they could
hardly claim was undeserved, leaves them at the foot of Group A.
A match which should have been won was lost as a consequence of a timid and
negative performance. For too long, Celtic seemed content to leave with one
point instead of grasping all three.
One result is that the prospect of finishing bottom of their group, and
missing out on the consolation of a UEFA Cup place, is now a grim reality
for Martin O'Neill's side. Their midfield in general, and their wide men in
particular, failed to pose Anderlecht any problems.
O'Neill's decision to reintroduce Chris Sutton to his starting 11, given the
Englishman's contribution to Celtic's progress in Europe during his time at
Parkhead, was hardly surprising, although the omission of the in-form Liam
Miller would have been difficult for the midfielder to accept.
Victory, of course, was of the essence for the home side and they came close
to drawing first blood in the eighth minute when full-back Olivier Deschacht
struck Magnus Hedman's crossbar with what looked like an attempted cross
from Dindane Aruna's cutback.
Mostly, though, Celtic's policy of containment proved sound enough,
O'Neill's men coping capably enough with the predictable, in every sense,
early onslaught from the home side.
So well did they cope, indeed, that a caution for de Boeck, for a foul from
behind on Henrik Larsson in the 16th minute, was indicative of the
frustration induced by Celtic's control of proceedings.
It was a moment of rashness which would have calamitous repercussions for de
Boeck. Just nine minutes later, the central defender was forced to haul back
John Hartson as he raced on to Stanislav Varga's through ball and referee
Fritz Stuchlik had little option but to produce the red card.
Even before being handed that numerical advantage, Celtic looked the better
side, with Neil Lennon roving the middle third of the park like a man
possessed and denying the opposition any hint of an opening, while Sutton
went close with a searing angled drive which was inches away from Daniel
Zitka's top left-hand corner. Celtic oozed confidence and security at that
stage and had the ball in the net on the half hour when John Hartson nodded
home a Larsson header from Alan Thompson's cross only to be ruled, quite
correctly, offside.
Celtic could have been given the opportinity to take the lead from the
penalty in the 34th minute when Larsson appeared to be pulled down by
Olivier Deschacht as he attempted to reach an incisive pass from Sutton.
Despite it being denied, the travelling support - official figures suggested
they numbered 2000 but there looked to be more inside the stadium - were
understandably content with proceedings and had no difficulty in outsinging
the locals.
Joos Valgaeren, out of action since August, replaced Jackie McNamara at the
interval, the captain having sustained a hamstring injury just before the
break, but the change in personnel did little to alter the patter of the
play. Celtic remained content to absorb the unimaginative probings of an
increasingly frantic home side.
Qualification should have been rendered relatively straightforward for
Celtic in the 50th minute when Larsson dummied an Alan Thompson cross,
allowing Varga a free strike inside the six-yard box. Unfortunately for the
Slovak, he allowed the ball to be caught between his legs and he ended up
scooping the ball wide from point-blank range.
Celtic, though, rarely threatened to capitalise on their numerical
advantage, conceding possession and losing momentum during the second half.
A victory would have gone a long way towards ensuring a place in the
knock-out stages of the competition but O'Neill's men seemed content at the
prospect of leaving Brussels with a point.
Their wariness invited their hosts to seize the initiative and there were
spells when Anderlect, increasingly dispensing with caution, threatened to
unlock Celtic's defence.
That unwillingness to take the game to Anderlecht misfired dramatically in
the 72nd minute when Anderlecht took a lead which, on the balance of play,
was just about merited. A weak defensive header from Bobo Baldé was latched
on to by Christian Wilhelmsson and the Swede burst past Joos Valgaeren in
time-honoured fashion before crossing for Didane Aruna to plant a header
firmly behind Hedman from 12 yards.
The Celtic goalkeeper had not previously been called on to make a save but
the same was true of his opposite number before he dived to his right to
clutch Larsson's 20-yard drive in the 78th minute.
Celtic, quite frankly, failed to grasp the nettle but were stung anyway. It
was no more than they deserved.

Celtic 5 Hearts 0

If black humour is part of every manager¹s armoury then Craig Levein is well
equipped to survive dreadful days like this. His Hearts team arrived at
Parkhead with the reputation of being the best side outside the Old Firm.
They left after being humiliated by an ebullient Celtic who demonstrated the
yawning gulf between first and third.

To five goals conceded in embarrassing fashion, add one further statistic of
depressing note for the Tynecastle side; Dundee have climbed ahead of them
on goal difference in the SPL table.

³We shot ourselves in the foot so often we¹ve got no toes left,² said Levein
after watching his side provide Celtic with the perfect tonic before
Tuesday¹s night Champions League match away to Anderlecht.

The only concern for Martin O¹Neill was that Alan Thompson¹s impressive
comeback was curtailed when the Englishman indicated on the hour mark that
he needed to come off because his troublesome hamstring had started to ache
again.

³It is a wee bit of a worry, but Thompson¹s performance was delightful,²
said the Celtic manager. Celtic¹s medical staff will monitor Thompson over
the next couple of days as both he and Chris Sutton aim to shrug off strains
in time for the trip to Brussels.

Elsewhere, there was only pleasure for those of a green and white persuasion
in a game where Magnus Hedman was never called upon to dirty his goalkeeping
gloves. Hearts, having managed to play 90 minutes without conceding a goal
against Zeljeznicar in midweek, were a far frailer outfit here.

Celtic were rampant, but they could hardly have been otherwise given the
lacklustre performance of the opposition. The much-lauded partnership of
Steven Pressley and Andy Webster has accrued international honours for
Scotland, but they were shredded like tissue paper until Levein had seen
enough and ended Webster¹s agony by replacing him with Kevin McKenna after
the interval.

Not that it mattered. Liam Miller added the second of his two goals five
minutes after the break with the Hearts defence still all at sea. Celtic
hardly needed repeated invitations to plunder goals against such abject
opponents; Miller¹s brace completed with a close range effort after Shaun
Maloney had scampered down the right flank and sent in a deep cross which
John Hartson headed back across into the young Irishman¹s path.

Levein voiced concerns that international and European exertions last week
may have taken a toll on captain Pressley. ³If he is feeling a little bit
mentally tired and cannot get out, then the rest of the team seem to sit on
the same line,² said the Hearts manager.

In criticising Hearts, one must not overlook Celtic¹s endeavours. They are a
team mining a rich vein of form and confidence. The arrival of Miller has
added something new to the mix too, O¹Neill acknowledging as much yesterday.

³Miller¹s inclusion has given us a wee bit of extra energy, he is very
lively and gets on the end of things,² said one Irishman about another.

The 22-year-old had started the rout with a goal which spoke volumes of the
freedom that Hearts allowed dangerous rivals. A clutch of Celtic players
pinged passes to each other; a dissection which would be repeated often
enough until the final whistle ended this parody of what had promised to be
a competitive fixture.

Thompson found Hartson, the Welshman pushed it into Stilian Petrov and he
teed up Henrik Larsson, who shot low and hard at Tepi Moilenan¹s goal. The
giant Finn responded with a fine save, but the ball fell to Miller who
crashed it home for his first league goal for the club.

Celtic were fast and incisive; everything their opponents were not. You
would never have guessed, for instance, that Thompson was only just back
into the first-team picture after the hamstring problems which saw him limp
out of the Old Firm game. The watching scouts from Anderlecht will have
taken note, although surely the Belgian side will not allow him the acres of
territory he patrolled down Celtic¹s left flank yesterday.

Celtic¹s second goal came 11 minutes after the start and epitomised the
sorry state of their opponents. Stanislav Varga took a long throw in from
the right which Larsson nodded on. Phil Stamp, under no pressure and with
time to produce a clearing header of his own, inexplicably headed in the
opposite direction, producing an own goal of comical proportions. Except
no-one among the Hearts staff or supporters were laughing.

A third followed 10 minutes from the break, Moilanen¹s goal-kick directed
powerfully back by the forehead of Varga. His header split Pressley and
Webster and Larsson raced onto it before producing a slide-rule finish.

There was still time for the Slovakian defender to get his own name on the
scoreline before half-time, although yet again Hearts were miserably
inattentive when Thompson delivered an inviting corner.

Varga, finding plenty of space between the two Hearts centre-backs, powered
in a thumping header unfettered by the attention of either Pressley or
Webster.

The second half was ³an exercise in damage limitation² according to Levein
and Hearts fared, statistically at least, a little better, with Miller¹s
goal soon after the restart being the only addition to the scoreline.

That Celtic took their foot off the pedal in the second half was no surprise
for they had exerted enough energy in the first half to earn the right to
cruise during the second.

Tuesday night should be a tougher test, but what encouraging preparation
this was.

Rangers 0  Celtic1

Champions dominate possession but lack the imagination to cause visitors problems as O’Neill’s side go top of the table
Natasha Woods at Ibrox



POSSESSION may be nine-tenths of the law, but it meant nothing at Ibrox yesterday as Celtic went to the top of the SPL table. Rangers had most of the ball, yet none of the inspiration needed to break down a Celtic defence missing key personnel, but lacking nothing in quality.
Chris Sutton and Stanislav Varga were immense at the centre of a reshaped back four. Michael Mols could vouch for that; the Dutchman crowded out of the equation by the quality of the marking and the poverty of his own team’s support play as Rangers lost their 100% record and the advantage over their great rivals.
Still the defensive performance of the afternoon, in a game oddly devoid of flashpoints, belonged to Stefan Klos. The Rangers goalkeeper produced two outstanding saves in the first half and followed up by claiming the ball off the toes of Stilian Petrov late in the game.
It took a deflected goal to beat him, but that piece of luck did not flatter the visitors. John Hartson claimed the winner, and his first goal of the season, after his attempted cross deflected off Zurab Khizanishvili’s arm and in off the underside of the bar just 20 seconds after the second half had begun. Referee Mike McCurry will ultimately judge whether it was an own goal or not, but while the official went away last night to pen his match report, the Welshman was claiming the credit.
It was the least Celtic deserved. Rangers may have moaned that SPL schedulers had done them no favours by kicking off the first Old Firm game of the season just 55 hours after they returned from Champions League action in Athens, but it was imagination they lacked yesterday, not energy.
They started brightly enough; Nuno Capucho pushed up alongside Mols and Shota Arveladze. But these were pretty patterns played out in front of Celtic’s defence, not moves that generated any great penetration.
Alex McLeish stood frustrated in his technical area, awaiting the moment when Magnus Hedman, on his Old Firm debut, would be tested. Instead, at the other end, it was Klos who was called into action when a swift Celtic break saw Henrik Larsson set up Alan Thompson, who drilled in a low effort.
The Englishman was soon removed from the action, complaining of hamstring trouble. Last night it was the only thing that tempered Martin O’Neill’s celebrations, for the manager feared the severity of the injury.
Still Hedman wasn’t challenged. Even when Emerson jinked past Larsson and surged forward, his shot was blocked over the bar by Sutton. It was a scene which was to be repeated time and again, Celtic’s most versatile player proving a more than able deputy for the suspended Bobo Balde. Or the injured Joos Valgaeren. Or the injured Johan Mjallby.
Rangers were methodical but largely without menace. On the touchline McLeish raged at Peter Lovenkrands. The Dane failed to provide any impetus down the left flank. It left Didier Agathe, another stand-in defender, to enjoy a relatively trouble-free afternoon.
O’Neill found all his players responding similarly. Jackie McNamara switched from left-back to right-back following Thompson’s injury and it was impossible to spot the difference, so seamlessly did Celtic adjust.
Their opponents, meanwhile, grew sloppy in defence towards the end of the first half, allowing Petrov too much freedom in the box. The Bulgarian’s second burst into the danger area in as many minutes saw him pull back the ball to Hartson, with the Welshman sending a fierce shot low through a clutch of players towards Klos’s goal.
The German, who must have seen the ball late, needed all his athleticism to dive full length and tip it away with a strong right hand.
Belatedly Lovenkrands responded to the chiding from his manager by picking up the pace and late in the half, set up by Mols, he blasted a shot just wide of Hedman’s goal.
It was the closest Rangers had come and still the Celtic goalkeeper had not been called upon to dirty his gloves.
The non-appearance of Craig Moore after the break caused a ripple of concern among the Ibrox crowd.
Their new captain, only just back after a month out with hamstring problems, had told his manager that he had no speed in his legs and McLeish responded by switching Khizanishvili to centre half and introducing Maurice Ross from the bench. A specialist, suggested McLeish, will now be called upon to look into why the Australian is once again struggling to be fit.
Amid all the defensive realignments, Celtic scored. A swift one-two between Larsson and Hartson had been on the cards when McNamara picked the Swede out with a long ball, but Hartson’s attempted return ball to Larsson from an acute angle flicked off the Georgian’s hand and into the net.
The goal may have been harsh on Klos, but Rangers deserved little else out of the game given the slackness of some of their own play.



McLeish tried to inject something different by withdrawing Capucho and introducing Egil Ostenstad, but the tall Norwegian was soon exper-iencing the same frustrations as Mols; it is alright having the ball in midfield or wide on the flanks, but you cannot hurt Celtic from there.
The delivery from set pieces was terrible. Rangers continued to attempt to batter down Celtic, but without the guile that could have unlocked the defence. In such circumstances, Mikel Arteta, one man blessed with the ability to provide that key, was not the influence he should have been.
The real danger always remained with Celtic and their ability on the break. Petrov could have made it 2-0 when he attempted to round Klos with 13 minutes to go, but the goalkeeper removed the ball from danger without upending a midfielder who is infamously unsteady on his feet in such circumstances.
Celtic had luck too, Varga headed onto the roof of his own net in the final minute during a goalmouth scramble, but any other outcome would have been harsh given his own performance.
An uninspired Rangers deserved what they got. Which was nothing.

O'Neill's Bhoys roar against Lyon
Stephen Sullivan 

UEFA Champions League,
Tuesday Sep 30, 2003,
Celtic Park

CELTIC… 2
Miller 70, Sutton 79
LYON… 0

Another unforgettable European night at Celtic Park ended with Celtic
claiming a magnificent 2-0 victory over Lyon courtesy of second half
goals by Liam Miller and Chris Sutton.

The return of Champions League football to Paradise, eagerly anticipated
ever since a 4-3 defeat of Juventus saw the club’s inaugural campaign
end in glorious, was every bit as memorable as we all hoped it would be,
with the Celtic fans roaring their side through every momentous minute.

The din which greeted the teams arrival on the field and the Hoops’
subsequent huddle was positively spin-tingling, and it appeared to
inspire Celtic to launch an early onslaught on their visitors’ goal.

They might even have had a penalty as early as the seventh minute when
Hartson took a tumble inside the box under the challenge of Edmilson,
but referee Eduardo Gonazalez’s judgement in ignoring the Welshman’s
claims appeared sound. In fact, the Spaniard went on to enjoy a fine
game, officiating with authority while allowing the play to run where
possible.

This appeared to suit Celtic in the early stages, and on 10 minutes Alan
Thompson served notice of their intentions when, emerging with the ball
from a 50-50 challenge, he rifled in a stinging left-foot drive which
appeared sure to test Coupet before it was deflected over the crossbar
by the legs of a blocking Lyon defender.

Two minutes later, Celtic were on the attack again, when a flowing move
involving Hartson, Thompson and Larsson ended with Didier Agathe
measuring a low cross for Chris Sutton, standing unmarked 16 yards from
goal. It was a decent opportunity, but the big Englishman made the
mistake of leaning back, resulting in his right-foot volley sailing a
couple of yards over Coupet’s crossbar.

It had been a terrific start by Celtic, but what followed was an uneasy
period in which Lyon, having weathered this early storm, began stroking
the ball around with purpose – and creating opportunities of their own. 


Indeed, on 20 minutes, the erstwhile ineffective Giovane Elber, his back
to goal, directed with a flick of his neck a header which appeared
destined to sneak inside the far post before Hedman scrambled across to
tip it round for a corner.

It failed to knock Celtic’s self-belief, however, and six minutes before
half-time they were presented with a gilt-edged opportunity to take the
lead when Gonzalez adjudged that Anthony Reveillere had been guilty of a
trip on Larsson inside the area.

Celtic’s recent record in such situations is decidedly mixed,
unfortunately, and when Coupet guessed correctly the direction in which
Thompson was intending to place his penalty, the Geordie’s well-struck
kick was straight enough for him to parry the ball to safety.

Poor strike though it was, Coupet deserved credit for what was a fine
save, and one he somehow managed to better nine minutes into the second
half. On that occasion, Hartson was the man denied, the big Welshman
accepting a pass from McNamara and nutmegging his marker before forcing
the Lyon keeper into a quite magnificent save with a vicious right-foot
drive. 

Celtic refused to allow Coupet to be the hero, however, and, inspired by
the most awe-inspiring atmosphere, they set about claiming their first
Champions League points on season 2003/04.
First Larsson snatched on a half-clearance by Reveillere to smash in a
powerful volley, again superbly saved by Coupet, and then, just a couple
of minutes later, Martin O’Neill made the inspired decision to replace
John Hartson with young Liam Miller.

It was a change which brought immediate dividends, with Miller beginning
a patient move which ended with him sneaking in on a perfectly judged
cross from Henrik Larsson, who was turning in yet another virtuoso
European performance. It was the spark for scenes of wild celebration
around Celtic Park, and nine minutes later delight in Paradise turned to
delirium.

Larsson was once again the architect, drifting in from the left flank
before lofting yet another pinpoint cross towards the back post. This
time it was Chris Sutton who was the beneficiary, and the former
Blackburn striker made no mistake with a precision header beyond the
despairing clutches of Coupet.

It sealed a tremendous Celtic victory, one which sent the superb Hoops
support home with the victory their backing more than deserved.

Website Man of the Match: HENRIK LARSSON

CELTIC (3-5-2): Hedman; Varga, Balde, McNamara; Agathe, Sutton, Lennon,
Petrov, Thompson; Larsson, Hartson (Miller 65)
Subs: Douglas, Gray, Sylla, Kennedy, Petta, Maloney
LYON (4-5-1): Coupe; Deflandre, Edmilson, Muller, Reveillere; Govou
(Malouda 80), Dhorasoo (Luyindula 75), Carriere (Essien 64), Juninho,
Diarra; Elber
Subs: Vercoutre, Sartre, Berthod

Larsson lifts the hangover

Celtic 3 - 0 Motherwell

Patrick Glenn
Sunday September 21, 2003
The Observer

On a day when Celtic took half the match to warm up, Motherwell eventually felt the searing heat of the home side's ambition. After Henrik Larsson, the renowned pathfinder, had opened up the route to Gordon Marshall's goal soon after the interval, traffic passed though in ever-increasing numbers and, for the visitors, with alarming regularity.

This could not have been anticipated by anyone who saw Martin O'Neill's team struggle to overcome their own ponderousness in the first half. The natural, deadening after-effects of a demanding night in the Champions League tend to be aggravated by the kind of bludgeoning disappointment Celtic experienced in Munich last Wednesday. In the circumstances, even a home support accustomed to blitzkrieg tactics could not have been surprised by the relative sluggishness that informed their team's play for that lengthy period in this first outing since.

Motherwell would be immeasurably less effective than Bayern Munich in the matter of stimulating a Parkhead side for whom wide-margin victories in their own stadium against Premier League opposition have become virtually ritualistic. In their only two previous domestic matches here, they beat Dundee United and Livingston 5-0 and 5-1 respectively.

The hunger and sharpness that had been at the core of Celtic's performances on those occasions took some time to materialise. Almost predictably, they seemed to be triggered by a perceived injustice at the hands of referee Iain Brines.

It was when Larsson - always an exception to the general lethargy - suddenly spurted clear into the area that the incident happened. The striker slipped the ball wide of Marshall and, as the goalkeeper challenged, the striker landed on the turf.

The referee had a clearer view than anyone in the stands and unhesitatingly awarded Motherwell a free-kick before showing Larsson the yellow card for taking a dive. Dogmatic opinion is impossible without the aid of television slo-mo, but the conviction shown by the referee suggested that his judgment was correct.

The event did, however, shake Celtic out of their torpor and, in the 11 minutes left between then and half-time, the home side imposed themselves relentlessly on the visiting defence. In trying to cope, Steven Hammell was cautioned for a pull on Mohammed Sylla and, in a rare break from the visitors, Stanislav Varga was similarly punished - he had been verbally warned earlier - for a foul on David Clarkson.

Celtic's renewed vigour also brought the crowd to life, although their acclaim for a John Hartson header off Alan Thompson's free-kick from the right proved to be premature as the ball slid marginally wide of Marshall's right post.

Larsson had also been responsible for the only other half-chance created by Celtic before the interval, the Swede gathering the loose ball around 20 yards from goal and forcing a full-stretch save from Marshall with a powerful, low drive to the left of the goalkeeper.

That brief flirtation with aggression must have revived Celtic's bloodlust, as they were ahead within two minutes of the resumption of play and exhibiting the energy, ambition and ruthlessness that have become their hallmark when playing on their own turf. It was the least surprising aspect of the day that Larsson should do the damage. It was, too, one of those simple, orthodox goals in which the great striker specialises. Thompson's free-kick from the left curled, shoulder-high, towards the Swede and his cool header - there never appears to be much effort in these instances - streaked low to the right of Marshall from 12 yards.

Celtic's most conspicuous worry at that point would be their goalkeeper. Magnus Hedman had pledged that he would not allow the appalling blunder that brought his team's defeat in Munich to undermine his confidence, but the words were made to appear as trite as they sounded when he flapped unconvincingly at corners.

He did make a good save at the feet of Stephen Pearson when the Motherwell striker burst into the box on a precise pass from Steven Craig, but he does not have the assured look one would expect of a man who has more than 50 caps for Sweden. Hedman would have been as relieved as anyone in the stands when Chris Sutton doubled Celtic's advantage.

It was from another exceptional pass from Larsson that the big Englishman received the ball in the inside-right position, took a few strides forward as he gained control and drove it right-footed low to the left of Marshall from 12 yards.

The big goalkeeper must have wondered what he had done to offend his former club when Shaun Maloney, who had replaced Hartson after 59 minutes, scored the third. The little striker's free-kick, from 20 yards to the left of goal, swerved inside the goalkeeper's right post, doubtless taking a scraping of paint on its way past.

Harsh lesson in Munich
Alison McConnell 

Wednesday, 17th September, 2003.
UEFA Champions League, Group A,
Olympic Stadium.

CELTIC............................1 (Thompson 57)
BAYERN MUNICH.............2 (Makaay 73, 86)

Under the watchful eye of the commanding Olympic Tower, Celtic launched
themselves onto the Champions League with a monumental performance that
nevertheless wasn't enough to claim anything from the encounter against
Bayern Munich.

Martin O'Neill's side took the lead in the 57th minute when Alan
Thompson headed the Hoops in front, but Bayern retaliated with a double
from last season's Golden Shoe winner Roy Makaay to sink Celtic.

It was a harsh return from what had been a composed and controlled
performance in the Olympic Stadium, but that alone will be scant
consolation as Celtic started the journey back to Glasgow with no reward
for their endeavours.

There were a few surprises in O’Neill’s starting line-up, with Swedish
internationalist Magnus Hedman retaining his place in goal while Jackie
McNamara also kept his starting berth. He was joined at the back by Bobo
Balde and Stan Varga as O'Neill stuck to his favoured 3-5-2 formation.

Chris Sutton was deployed just behind a front pairing of John Hartson
and Henrik Larsson, while Neil Lennon and Stilian Petrov had the job of
negating the threat of Michael Ballack and Owen Hargreaves in the middle
of the park.

Bayern’s Michael Ballack, Willy Sagnol and Ze Roberto both made the
starting line-up, despite being classed by Ottmar Hitzfeld as doubtful
24 hours earlier.

Celtic were piped out to a chorus of a familiar ditty as ‘Simply the
Best’ greeted the emergence of the players from the tunnel into a
stadium that was disappointingly someway short of capacity.

Both sides eased themselves gradually into the game with Celtic quick to
find their feet in the Olympic Stadium. Indeed, by the time the whistle
had sounded for the interval after the first forty-five, Celtic could
have claimed to have enjoyed the better of the chances created.

In the sixth minute Didier Agathe created the first real opportunity of
the game when he used his pace to beat Bixente Lizarazu and cut a low
ball across the face of goal. With Chris Sutton closing in, Robert Kovac
was forced into pushing the ball out of play for a corner. Alan Thompson
took the set-piece, but although his attempt came to nothing it was an
indication of just how potent the threat of Agathe could be.

It was a danger that Lizarazu was quick to realise and as the game wore
on the defender was alert to Agathe's running both on and off the ball.

As expected, Bayern were content to adopt a patient build-up in which
they retained possession and gradually moved their way upfield but it is
to Celtic’s credit that in the opening 20 minutes of the game they
restricted their hosts to just one shot on target that Hedman
comfortably collected.

Claudio Pizarro caused a few problems with his trickery taking him
beyond both Stan Petrov and Varga at one point in the opening half
before he slipped the ball into the path of Hargreaves whose eventual
shot was blocked by Balde before it could make its way to its intended
target.

Balde also had to be quick to keep pace with playmaker Ze Roberto after
he had been released into behind the Hoop defence. The Hoops defender
kept his eye on both player and ball before making his tackle, which was
sufficient to avert any danger.

Just before the half hour mark Agathe was judged to be guilty of a foul
on Lizarazu and from the resultant free-kick Hargreaves sent an attempt
just past Hedman’s left-hand post.

Pizarro, booked for a tackle on Larsson in the 32nd minute, tipped a
shot just over the Swede’s crossbar, while Sutton went into the book two
minutes later for a late challenge on Ballack.

With Balde and Varga heading into Bayern’s box for every set-piece,
Celtic had an impressive aerial threat. Five minutes from the interval
it almost resulted in the opening goal when Thompson’s free-kick from
the left was met by the head of the industrious Balde, but the
defender’s attempt was palmed over the bar by Oliver Kahn.

As Celtic enjoyed the ascendancy in the minutes before the break,
Larsson created another opportunity for the visitors when he escaped
from the clutches of Sagnol on the left before sending a curling cross
across goal and into the box. It was met by Hartson who nodded the ball
back over the six-yard box, before Bayern scrambled it to safety.

A Bayern corner two minutes after the restart had the nerves jangling in
the Hoops defence when Ze Roberto’s kick was flicked on at the near post
towards last season’s Golden Shoe winner Roy Makaay, but the striker’s
header bounced just over the bar and onto the roof of the net.

Two minutes later it was even closer for the hosts when Makaay played Ze
Roberto through, but the Brazilian’s attempt shaved the side-netting.

It was Celtic, however, who stung their hosts with the opening goal
after 57 minutes. Like the nature of the mature and collected
performance, it all began at the back with Hedman beginning the move.

A long attempt upfield from Bayern had the Swede out of his goal to
launch the ball forward deep into the German’s half. Sutton rose to meet
it at the edge of the box and the ball broke wide where Larsson went in
pursuit before knocking it into the path of Agathe.

The winger took a step forward and a glance up before unleashing a cross
towards the back post. With both Hartson and Thompson in the hunt to
meet the attempt, it was the midfielder who connected, heading the ball
inside Kahn and into the net.

It was a goal that brought the Olympic Stadium to life, with the German
fans eager to provide the impetus for Bayern to attack more freely, and
immediately after beating Kahn, Thompson was quick to spread the message
that his team-mates had to keep their concentration.

It was a philosophy that almost went unheeded when Makaay was allowed
time and space to misdirect a header from a Bayern corner within a few
minutes, but after taking the lead Celtic composed themselves and held
firm.

Liam Miller replaced Hartson Sutton moved further forward as Celtic
sought to contain Munich, but with 18 minutes remaining on the clock
O’Neill’s side found themselves pegged back as Bayern restored parity.

Makaay’s stinging low drive skimmed under Hedman at the right-hand post
after Celtic had failed to properly clear, and the two were back on
level terms.

Bayern grew in confidence from the leveller and with four minutes
remaining took the lead with a goal that cost Celtic a harsh three
points. Makaay's ball from the right flank bamboozled Hedman and the
Hoops defence, and crept all the way into the right-hand side of the net
to sink the visitors.

It was a bitter end to what had been a memorable performace and Celtic
were left to reflect on what might have been.

CELTIC (3-5-2): Hedman; McNamara, Balde, Varga; Agathe, Lennon, Sutton,
Petrov, Thompson; Hartson (Miller 66), Sutton. Subs: Douglas, Gray,
Sylla, Petta, Maloney, Kennedy.

BAYERN MUNICH (4-4-2): Kahn; Sagnol, Kovac, Linke, Lizarazu (Rau 73);
Salihamidzic, Hargreaves, Ballack, Ze Roberto; Makaay, Pizarro. Subs:
Schlosser, Kuffour, Demichelis, Santa Cruz, Scheeinsteiger, Trochowski.

REFEREE: Massimo de Santis (Italy)

Dundee 0-1 Celtic: FT Report

PA

Celtic emerged triumphant from a hard-fought battle at Dens Park courtesy of
Bobo Balde's first-half winner to reclaim top spot in the Bank of Scotland
Premier League - but Martin O'Neill watched in horror as his Champions
League injury crisis deepened.
O'Neill: 'Extraordinary' refereeing
Last season's UEFA Cup finalists were fortunate to take the points as
calamitous referee Dougie McDonald dubiously awarded them a free-kick in the
lead up to the only goal.
But the official also infuriated the Celtic boss when he controversially
showed Didier Agathe a straight red card after he had won the ball fairly.
O'Neill's mood was also not helped by the sight of Stephen Crainey hobbling
off just days before they open their European campaign against Bayern Munich
in the Olympic Stadium.
His squad is already being tested to the maximum after skipper Paul Lambert
joined injured quartet Johan Mjallby, Joos Valgaeren, Ulrik Laursen and
Steve Guppy and the suspended Chris Sutton on the sidelines after being
ruled out for at least six weeks.
But after a nervous start, Celtic took a controversial lead against the run
of play on eight minutes.
McDonald harshly penalised Gavin Rae for a challenge on Alan Thompson near
the touchline, but from Crainey's free-kick Bobo Balde towered above the
static Dundee defence to head into the back of the net off the underside of
the bar.
Worryingly for Dundee, who were looking for their first win here against
Celtic in 15 years, the visitors stepped up a couple of gears and had a good
chance to double their lead in the 16th minute.
John Hartson, starting his first game for Celtic since the victory at Ibrox
in April, did well in the centre and his poor pass was directed into the
path of Henrik Larsson, but his shot was comfortably saved by Julian
Speroni.
O'Neill's injury worries deepened in the 20th minute when Crainey was forced
to hobble off after coming out worse from a late challenge on Rae.
He was subsequently replaced by promising midfield talent Liam Miller, but
Celtic suffered more misery five minutes later when they were
controversially reduced to 10 men.
Lovell sent Nacho Novo clean through with a superb pass, but Didier Agathe
sprinted back and appeared to take the ball away from the falling Dundee
man, but to Celtic's amazement the referee first awarded a free-kick to the
home side and then brandished the red card.
O'Neill took every opportunity thereafter to hurl abuse at the under-fire
official and the official made the relationship even more strained by waving
away Hartson's protests after he was wrestled to the ground by Lee Mair
inside the area.
Dundee manager Jim Duffy made three changes to the side which drew with
Kilmarnock with Steve Lovell, Jonay Hernandez and David Mackay coming into
the side as Brent Sancho, Tom Cowan and Garry Brady missed out, and they
always looked dangerous in attack.
Novo was causing Celtic major problems in their new-look three-man defence
and his cross should have brought better in the 37th minute, but Lovell
headed over from six yards.
Varga could have eased the tension in the Celtic dressing room at the break,
but he headed Thompson's corner just wide from close range.
As the sides emerged for the second half, O'Neill looked slightly calmer
after trying to confront the referee when they made their way off the pitch.
His emotions were almost eased even further two minutes after the restart,
but Petrov was just unable to reach Miller's inviting ball across the face
of goal.
The hard-working Hartson was sacrificed as Momo Sylla came on and signalled
for Larsson to operate in midfield.
But the referee went card crazy again and booked Thompson for dissent and
Lennon for gesturing at the crowd before Georgi Nemsadze was cautioned for a
foul on Petrov.
Duffy made a change on the hour with Juan Sara coming on for Mackay and
Celtic's defence found themselves increasingly under siege.
Lovell's name was the next to be taken for tripping McNamara, but O'Neill
was relieved to see Larsson return to his feet after sustaining a heavy
challenge late on.
The Swede was not moving freely as the referee blew his final whistle which
would suggest that the next few days will be as worrisome as the previous 90
minutes.
O'Neill: 'Extraordinary' refereeing
Celtic boss Martin O'Neill couldn't believe the sending-off of Didier
Agathe.
'It's an extraordinary decision by the referee and quite embarrassing
really,' he told reporters.
'The referee and the linesmen are pretty close to the incident so it was a
big decision to make.
'The great thing for us is that we knew Didier's pace would carry him back
to win the ball and it's actually a foul against Didier.
'We've been a man short and I will be looking to appeal this because Didier
is devastated and I'm sure the referee will look away when he sees it
later.'

30/8/03

Celtic 5  Livingston 1

Celtic 1 MTK Hungaria 0 (Agg: 5-0)

By Chris Roberts, PA Sport

Martin O'Neill might be unable to add to his squad for the Champions League group stages - but the return of Chris Sutton and John Hartson could be like signing two top stars.

The controversial Englishman blew away his frustration at being suspended for the first five league games of the domestic season with the goal which assured the Bhoys of their place among Europe's elite and alongside Scottish champions Rangers in Thursday's draw in Monaco.

But even though the game inevitably failed to set the pulses racing - after the comprehensive victory in Budapest a fortnight ago - the return of Hartson after four months out would also have given the Celtic boss great attacking options going into those vital group matches.

The home supporters were so confident of avoiding such an embarrassment that many opted to stay away and save money for the mouth-watering encounters which lied in wait.

But O'Neill picked a strong team despite making five changes from the the side which won unconvincingly at Partick on Saturday.

Magnus Hedman got his chance to claim the number one jersey and the rest of the Celtic players were still looking to put on a show for those who had paid out.

Sutton was looking to make the most of a half chance in the fifth minute when he got on the end of a trademark Alan Thompson cross, but flicked his outstretched volley wide.

More slack defending by the visitors almost gifted Stilian Petrov with another goal against them three minutes later after standing off, but his low shot from seven yards out was comfortably saved by goalkeeper Vegh Zoltn.

The first great chance fell to Sutton in the 10th minute when Thompson whipped in another cross, but the striker failed to hit the target with his header from close range.

Sutton, however, made amends with his head just three minutes later from a more difficult chance.

The hungry frontman pulled away from his marker and steered Didier Agathe's cross past the despairing dive of Zoltn and into the bottom corner from eight yards.

Thompson again looked on top of his game as he charged past a number of challenges and clipped the ball back from the byline in the 27th minute.

Henrik Larsson would have been favourite to convert the chance had he not lost his footing which gave Juhsz Roland the chance to head clear.

Youngster Liam Miller also showed some great touches and his cross and the build up in the 37th minute deserved a goal.

But fortunately for the Hungaria players, Halmai Gabor sliced his clearance across goal and away from the waiting Celtic stars.

Miller almost deservedly weighed in with a goal of his own, three minutes before the interval, when he exchanged passes with Larsson inside the box, only for his shot to be kept out by the feet of Zoltn in the Hungaria goal.

O'Neill knew the tie was dead and buried, and decided to rest Bobo Balde and Petrov by bringing on the fresh legs of youngster John Kennedy and forgotten man Bobby Petta.

Hungaria's one chance of glory fell to Torghelle Sandor just three minutes after the restart, but he sliced his right-foot shot wide of Hedman's left post from nine yards.

It seemed only a matter of time before Larsson got his name on the scoresheet, but Zoltn did well to save his powerful free-kick from just outside the box two minutes later.

O'Neill could even afford to take off the Swede, who has 31 European goals, in the 58th minute and bring on Hartson for his first appearance since the win at Rangers in April.

The Welsh international was given a hero's welcome by the Celtic supporters, but he should have hit the target in the 63rd minute with his first sight of goal.

Sutton's persistence almost paid off as he won a challenge before threading the ball through to Hartson, but he wildly sliced the shot wide.

Sutton was inches from doubling his tally in the 64th minute when Hartson knocked the ball down into his path, but he prodded the ball past both the onrushing keeper and the upright.

Celtic are now guaranteed a further #10million in revenue from the group stages which might have to stay in the bank as the transfer deadline rapidly approaches.

But with Sutton and Hartson on their way back to first-team duty that might not be as problematic as many feared.

Thompson on the spot for Celtic
Partick Thistle 1 Celtic 2
By Phil Gordon
24 August 2003
Alan Thompson's penalty miss on the final day of last season cost Celtic the
Scottish Premier League title, but the midfielder is making up for it with a
vengeance. Thompson's ruthless efficiency from the spot for the second game
running secured Martin O'Neill's team a hard-earned victory across Glasgow
at Firhill. In truth, though, Celtic's slipshod finishing prevented them
from putting the game well beyond Partick Thistle, with Shaun Maloney the
most culpable in a profligate second half.
That was a shame, because Maloney was the most polished performer in the
opening period as the youngster, denied his debut for Scotland in midweek -
Berti Vogts chose just to introduce Manchester United's Darren Fletcher
instead - tried to enhance his claim for international honours.
Diminutive Maloney may be, but the 20-year-old, who is deputising while
Chris Sutton is sidelined by a five-game suspension, possesses great touch
and trickery. He underlined his growing reputation in the ninth minute,
eluding a brace of Partick Thistle markers to supply Thompson on the left
wing. Thompson's overhit cross was kept in by the industrious Stilian Petrov
on the far side. He wrestled past Eddie Forrest and rolled the ball into the
path of Paul Lambert, whose raking shot squirmed through the grasp of
goalkeeper Jakup Mikkelsen for the opener.
Thistle were stung. Their manager, Gerry Collins, had recruited a dozen new
players in the close-season, and while two were involved in restoring parity
after 25 minutes, the vital influence came from an old hand, Gerry Britton.
The veteran striker displayed deftness and intelligence in equal measure as
he controlled a low cross into the box from Jean-Yves Anis, a summer signing
from Chelsea. With his back to goal, Britton laid the ball into the path of
James Grady, and the striker buried an angled shot beyond Robert Douglas.
"There's only one team in Glasgow," taunted the Partick fans.
At the other end, the Partick captain, Derek Whyte, kept a tight rein on the
robust Bobo Balde at set-pieces, but sadly for Whyte his colleague Ian Ross
was less circumspect, and conceded the penalty that allowed Celtic to regain
the lead in the 43rd minute.
A swift counterattack saw Petrov deliver a perfect pass wide to Larsson. The
ball was bent into the run of Petrov at the far post, but the midfielder was
barged by Ross, allowing Thompson to put Celtic ahead.
Thistle absorbed a lot of pressure in the second half, but Stephane Bonnes,
recently recalled from Parkhead, could have embarrassed Celtic had he
capitalised on a goalmouth scramble at the death.
Partick Thistle 1
Grady 26
Celtic 2
Lambert 8, Thompson pen 44
Half-time: 1-2 Attendance: 9,045

16th August 2003

A walk in the park for Celtic

MOIRA GORDONat Celtic Park


CELTIC 5 Maloney 12, Agathe 27, Thompson 45 pen, McNamara 67, Larsson 84
DUNDEE UTD 0

IT WAS slightly ironic given the fact that this match had been brought
forward to accommodate an Orange Walk through the city streets, but this
turned into little more than a green-and white-stroll in the park, with even
the opposition manager stating his side had been "outclassed".

If the stalemate of the season's opener against Dunfermline hadn't
galvanised this Celtic team, or news that Aberdeen were leading their title
rivals 1-0 at the time of kick-off provided extra impetus, then the wake-up
call delivered by United in the third minute proved as effective as a klaxon
to the eardrum.

From a ball into the box, Danny Griffin managed to get his head to it before
Magnus Hedman could pluck it out the air and were it not for Stanislav Varga
sliding back to clear off the line it could have been an early lead for the
visitors. Like all the talk surrounding Ian McCall's new and improved Dundee
United, though, it proved something of a false dawn.

The future was supposed to be bright for the team in tangerine after a
close-season of shipping in and out and shaping up but having lost to a late
Hibs goal last Saturday they could fair no better yesterday, only this time
defeat looked inevitable a lot earlier in the 90 minutes.

There were a couple of very early palpitations for the Celtic support as the
more cumbersome figures of Bobo Balde, Varga and Joos Valgaeren took time to
get to grips with the United forward line of Collin Samuel and Billy Dodds,
who buzzed around them like a couple of bothersome bees, but from the moment
Celtic opened the scoring in the 12th minute it was clear there was only one
side on the pitch with a sting in its tail.

By that stage United sweeper Scott Paterson had had to leave the field after
tweaking his knee but with Johan Mjallby still injured, Chris Sutton
suspended and Paul Lambert, Neil Lennon, and Rab Douglas all rested, Martin
O'Neill was also resorting to his back-up options, bringing in Hedman,
Varga, Jackie McNamara, Lee Miller and Shaun Maloney.

"If we make it [into the Champions League] with the squad we've got, they'll
all have to be as fit as possible and as match fit as possible," said O'
Neill when asked to explain the mass switch in personnel. While he is still
desperate to add to his squad, yesterday proved that domestically at least
even his second string are capable of doing a job for him.

Fluid and with the kind of movement off the ball that left their
counterparts looking leaden-footed, Celtic combined the passing game with
some direct, positive running down the flanks.

The first goal was netted by Maloney darting in on the angle of the six-yard
box to slot past Paul Gallacher, while the second came courtesy of some
woeful defending. With all eyes on Henrik Larsson, Jim Patterson allowed
Didier Agathe to lumber in at the back post and head home unchallenged from
only yards out. In between those efforts Celtic had laid seige to the
visitors' goal, with Gallacher tipping a Maloney shot over the bar, saving a
Stilian Petrov volley, and counting his blessings when the crossbar denied
Varga.

Maloney had another opportunity when he rounded the keeper but miskicked and
then minutes later was denied again, this time by a last-ditch David McLaren
blocking tackle.

"By then their tails were up, the crowd were in party mood and it was plain
sailing," said McCall afterwards. "I don't think we crumbled, I thought we
were outclassed. It was Celtic's day but I'm sure they'll have a lot of days
here at Parkhead."

A case of minimising the damage, it didn't help when Gallacher, who was
enduring a 24th birthday he would rather forget despite playing well, felled
Larsson in the box and although he felt the Celtic talisman "went down a bit
easy", referee Alan Freeland pointed to the spot and Alan Thompson
converted.

The second half was more demonstration than competition and having scored
with foot, head and from a set-piece and having watched Varga have his
second effort of the day blocked by the crossbar, Celtic tried something
different again for the fourth, which was a beautiful goal. If patience is a
virtue then it was rightly rewarded, as a careful build-up of numerous
passes back and forth across the length and breadth of the United half saw
them probing and poking until they found an opening and the ball was finally
laid off to McNamara, who belted it from long-range to net the goal his
afternoon's play merited.

"Jackie came in and was exceptional for us," said O'Neill. "The goals we
scored were delightful." And the fifth and final one was no exception.

A long ball forward from Varga and Larsson was on hand to dink it over
Gallacher from the edge of the box. The scoreline was a sore one for United
but truth be told they will know it could have been a lot worse.

Hedman, who had feared that injury was once again creeping up to haunt him
when he took a blow to his arm in the early scoring opportunity, chose to
stay on the park, ice his arm and grin and bear it an in affort to prove
himself indispensable to O'Neill. Given the paucity of United shots on
target and how little he had to do yesterday, though, dispensable is exactly
what he turned out to be.

Celts Hoop it up in Budapest
Alison McConnell

Puskas Ferenc Stadium,

Wednesday 13th August 2002,

First leg, third round, Champions League qualifier.

MTK HUNGARIA……..0

CELTIC………………...4 (Larsson 18, Agathe 36, Petrov 60, Sutton 90)

Celtic brought Champions League football a step closer with a
convincing night's work in Budapest that gives Martin O'Neill's side
a 4-0 cushion for the return leg at Celtic Park in a fortnight's time.

Henrik Larsson's name went into the record books when the Swede
netted his 31st European goal for Celtic and it was a strike that was
supplemented by goals from Didier Agathe, Stilian Petrov and Chris
Sutton.

It was a comfortable performance from Celtic although the pre-match
hype suggesting that MTK Hungaria would be over-physical failed to
truly materialise. O'Neill's side ensured that there would be no
repeat of last season's exit at this stage of the qualifiers when
they came up against Basel, and their application was measured and
controlled.

By the time that Larsson put Celtic ahead the Hoops scarcely looked
in danger of relinquishing their hold on the game, although Rab
Douglas still had to be alert with a couple of timely stops.

Johan Mjallby failed to make it after picking up a knee injury on
Saturday afternoon at Dunfermline. He was replaced by Stan Varga who
made his fourth Celtic start while Shaun Maloney's place was taken
over by Chris Sutton.

Those were the only two changes to the starting line up made by
O'Neill, but the performance had all the vim and vigour that was
frequently missing at East End Park.

Stan Petrov peppered the Hungarians goal with a couple of efforts in
the early stages, one of them flying harmlessly over the bar from the
edge of the box while the other was straight into the waiting arms of
Zoltan Vegh.

It was a patient build-up by Celtic who were nevertheless made to
work hard in the sweltering conditions, but their tactics were
rewarded after just 18 minutes when Larsson put the Hoops into the
lead while simultaneously setting a new European goalscoring record
for any one player at a British club.

The Swede's overall tally puts him ahead of the former holders, Peter
Lorimer and Ian Rush and no-one would bet against the striker signing
out of Celtic with a record significantly higher than that.

Didier Agathe's second throw-in in as many seconds from the right
flank was hustled out to Paul Lambert and the Celtic captain
immediately lofted a ball goalwards. The bounce beat both Larsson and
the MTK defence, but it was the striker who was first to the ball,
spinning at the edge of the box and hooking a strike high beyond the
flailing arms of Vegh.

It was a goal eagerly celebrated by the visiting bench, although
amidst all the excitement O'Neill almost ended up with an injury when
he leapt in delight to greet the goal and promptly crashed his head
off the roof of the dug-out.

Rab Douglas had to be alert to deal with the threat of Brazilian
forwards Carlos Silva midway through the opening half, but ten
minutes before the interval Celtic had established a 2-0 lead.

Agathe was the final executioner of the strike, although much of the
praise ought to go to Sutton. The forward collected a through in from
Petrov before turning his marker and powering a shot towards goal. It
was saved by Vegh but continued trickling along the line where Agathe
converted.

It could have been three just minutes later. Larsson bounded forward
to meet a long clearance from the Hoops defence following an MTK
corner and cleverly hooked the ball beyond two onrushing defenders by
sending it to Petrov. The Bulgarian continued forward before finding
Thompson whose cutback across goal was missed by inches by Larsson at
the back post.

The only blip for O'Neill was the soft yellow card shown to Bobo
Balde for ungentlemanly conduct a couple of minutes before the break.

With little to lose, MTK inevitably started the second period with
the intention of pulling something back and five minutes after the
restart Gabor Zavadszky shrugged off a challenge from Varga before
taking aim at Douglas. The Scotland internationalist, who appears to
be winning the battle for the number one position, wasn't overly
troubled by the shot and easily held the attempt.

It wasn't just the Hungarians defence, however, that had sprung a
couple of leaks. Ten minutes after the break a sprinkler beneath the
surface erupted deep inside the MTK half and with a cascade of water
producing a mini foundation the game was held up by a couple of
minutes until the groundsmen brought the situation under control.

When the game recommenced MTK almost succeeded in hauling themselves
back into the tie when Fuzi's cross was met by substitute Sandor
Torghelle whose header looped over Douglas only to bounce off the
crossbar.

While the hosts were still berating themselves for the missed
opportunity, Celtic went up the other side of the park and added
their third of the evening.

It was Petrov who took the glory of the goal, but Thompson was the
architect of the strike with some superb footwork and movement. The
Geordie danced inside with a deft nutmeg of his man before taking
aim, and although his shot was blocked it fell to Petrov deep inside
the penalty box who slotted into the net.

Larsson and Sutton combined in the final minutes to add the gloss to
the result with the fourth of the evening when the Swede's cross was
met by the Englishman who dived to head into the net. All in all a
good night's work.

MTK HUNGARIA (4-4-2): Vegh; Fuzi, Juhasz, Pusztai, Molnar (Pisont
61); Rednic (Szabo 63), Halmai, Jezdimirovic (Torghelle 24),
Zavadszky; Silva, Illes. Subs: Kovacs, Zabos, Czvitkovics, Pandur.

CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Valgaeren, Varga, Balde (Crainey 80); Agathe
(Sylla 78), Lennon, Lambert, Petrov (Miller 78), Thompson; Sutton,
Larsson. Subs: Hedman, McNamara, Maloney, Smith, Crainey.

REFEREE: Kim Milton Nielson

Celtic display cruise control

CELTIC 1-0 KAUNAS

STEPHEN HALLIDAY AT CELTIC PARK


Referee: J.Granat (Pol). Attendance: 40,284.

Celtic won 5-0 on aggregate

MARTIN O'Neill's decision to travel to Finland yesterday instead of watching
his side complete the formality of this Champions League second qualifying
round tie proved to be just as astute as many the shrewd Celtic manager has
made during his Parkhead tenure.

While O'Neill can only benefit from seeing MTK Hungaria earn a narrow 3-2
aggregate success over HJK Helsinki last night, to confirm Celtic will
travel to Budapest next Wednesday for the first leg of their third
qualifying round tie, he was fortunate to miss out on a largely tortuous 90
minutes back home.

Complacency, subconscious or otherwise, was understandable in the Celtic
ranks given their 4-0 first leg win in Kaunas last week but it's safe to say
his players will be hoping O'Neill uses the fast forward button when he
views the tape of this one.

The best thing which can be said about the narrow second-leg win, courtesy
of a first-half own goal, was that it further boosts Scotland's UEFA
co-efficient.

The performance of Liam Miller, easily the most effective and eye-catching
player on the field, will also have done his burgeoning prospects no harm.

Celtic will certainly face a far sterner test against the Hungarian
champions in the final hurdle before the group state of the Champions League
and O'Neill will ensure the motivation lacking last night is fully restored
next week.

Although O'Neill eventually concluded he was able to leave this foregone
conclusion in the hands of his able assistants, the inclusion of the tie on
the Celtic season ticket book ensured a far healthier attendance than might
normally have been expected in the circumstances.

It's doubtful if Billy Connolly has to renew his seat on an annual basis,
but one of Celtic's most notable celebrity punters also took the view it was
worth venturing to Glasgow's east end on a glorious evening when the
composition of the home line-up held more interest than anything demanded of
them in the 90 minutes.

O'Neill, having no doubt penned the list himself before boarding his flight
to Helsinki, decided Didier Agathe, Stilian Petrov and Henrik Larsson could
all have the night off while Neil Lennon took a place on the bench. The home
fans were gratified to see Miller, Celtic's young man of the moment, given a
starting slot.

The Irish midfielder joined captain Paul Lambert and Alan Thompson in
central midfield as Celtic adopted their familiar 3-5-2 formation with Momo
Sylla and Jamie Smith on the flanks.

Chris Sutton, partnered by Shaun Maloney up front, was one man in need of
match practice as his five match league suspension looms and he almost gave
Celtic the early lead most present anticipated when his stinging fifth
minute shot was well saved by Kaunas goalkeeper Gytis Padimanskas.

On a night which gave fringe players the opportunity to shine, Smith was
clearly frustrated by a couple of poor early touches and he was fortunate to
escape a booking when he gave vent to his feelings with a rash foul on
Kaunas captain Tomas Kancelskis.

The kind of sloppiness O'Neill had spoken so keenly of avoiding in his
pre-match media briefing on Tuesday manifested itself on more than one
occasion in the first half. Fortunately for Celtic, Kaunas were simply not
up to the task of taking any kind of advantage.

The Lithuanians ought to have opened the scoring in 18 minutes when Martin
Opic was given all the room he wanted to cross from the left to his unmarked
strike partner Ricardas Beniuskis who wastefully headed wide from close
range.

Padimanskas, the goalkeeper who has endured such a wretched time against
Scottish opposition in recent years would not have been surprised to finally
be beaten in 22 minutes but he was dismayed to find the perpetrator was one
of his team-mates.

Miller's cute reverse pass had allowed Smith to whip in a cross from the
left which Darius Gvildys was favourite to meet first. Indeed he did, only
for the big defender's thunderous header to fly into his own net.

Celtic's failure to add any further goals on their own account before
half-time did cause a few murmurs of discontent around the stands and there
was genuine alarm when Joos Valgaeren sleepily allowed Opic to get the wrong
side of him for a clear shot on goal which Robert Douglas did well to fist
to safety.

As the second half progressed with no change to the tame pattern of
proceedings, John Robertson and Steve Walford attempted to liven things up
with the introduction of much vaunted teenage striker Craig Beattie, who
replaced the curiously subdued Maloney, while Lennon came on for the
ineffective Sylla.

Yet it was Kaunas, for all their limitations, who still appeared the more
energised and were denied an equaliser in 63 minutes when Douglas plunged to
his left to keep out a shot from Tadas Papeckys. Kaunas even had the ball in
the net in injury time, but Celtic's blushes were spared when substitute
Martynas Karalius' effort was ruled out for offside.

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Mjallby, Sylla (Lennon 58), Miller,
Lambert, Thompson (Wallace 80), Smith, Maloney (Beattie 58), Sutton. Subs
not used: Hedman, McNamara, Crainey, Kennedy.

Kaunas: Padimanskas, Kancelskis, Zelmikas, Gvildys, Regelskis, Gedgaudas,
Petrenko, Barevicius, Papeckys (Puotkalis 77), Beniuskis (Karalius 36), Opic
(Sanajevas 87). Subs not used: Stonys, Kunevicius, Juodeikis, Sirmelis.