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'We wuz robbed' is a popular refrain amongst footie supporters to indicate that their team was hard done by. Last night, Celtic donned the stocking-over-the-head approach, clubbed an unsuspecting Man Utd round the back of the napper and then high-tailed it into the next round of the Champions League.
Marvellous.
When I saw the starting 11 for this game it would be fair to say I was slightly bemused. WGS had obviously decided to try and contain United on the flanks, try and get the ball up quickly to JVoH and Magic and try and build from there. But the team looked very unbalanced with TG on the right, Sno and Lennon in the middle and Naka wide on the left.
And so it was to prove when for the first 45 minutes Man United simply played us off the park. Celtic simply couldn't string a pass together and Bobo looked very dodgy especially when in possession. Indeed but for a great saving tackle from his own mistake Ronaldo could have put Utd 1-0 before the break after taking the ball off the big man. Sno was also having a nightmare and simply didn't get going. He is still in my opinion a good player with a lot of potential and if he learns from last night so much the better. But he wasn't being helped by his team mates either as Celtic were looking edgy all over the park. Indeed perhaps only Naylor, Telfer, Boruc and Lennon came out of that first half with pass marks. The boys up front couldn't really be faulted as they weren't being given anything to work with. But it's too his credit that WGS realised he had fecked up and somehow gotten away with. He made two changes at half time, Jarosik came on for Sno and Maloney for Magic. The formation changed from 4-4-2 to 4-5-1 with Naka and Maloney on the wings. TG and Lennon in the middle and Jarosik looking to play just behind JVoH. Celtic were certainly more competitive in the second half and Jarosik in particular made in a difference but its fair to say United were still more composed but for all that THEY DID SOD ALL WITH IT. I personally think that Man Utd approached this game with an arrogance that came back and bit them on the hole. And the person doing the biting was one Shunsuke Nakamura. Not a great game from the Japanese Bhoy but I doubt he will ever score a finer or more important goal in his life. A free kick awarded by the ref (and what a numpty he was) looked to be too far out. I sat shaking my head as Naka eyed up the situation. 'No chance' I thought. It took a second for my brain to register that the back of the net was actually rustling as the ball settled behind Van der Sar. Cue an explosion of joy and disbelief. As far as free kicks go, that must surely be up there with the finest of them. But with ten minutes to go we all probably realised that United would come at us hard and so it was to prove. First Saha was to miss what can only be described as a sitter. So bad was it that all of Celtic Park (players and fans alike) stood and gawped at each other for all of 30 seconds before everyone realised he had indeed muffed the chance and he hadn't been offside. However worse was to follow when a United free kick was charged down by Maloney. Now, it probably wasn't intentional but again he made it easy for the ref by putting his hands up in the first place.
Step forward Saha to face Boruc again for a repeat of the Old Trafford penalty face off. Only this time with a much different outcome - the save proved to be the moment when Celtic qualified for the second round of the Champions League. And if plod hadn't been such spoil sports Mr Boruc would have been in the crowd celebrating that fact too :-) MOTM: Naylor.
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