Can’t beat this feeling! Plucky Celts defy the odds to gain the upperhand in Moscow
I love mornings like this!
You cannot beat waking up on the morning after a great result like that. As you get up and your memory reminds you of the score its like getting two results for the price of one!
There were many big performances last night in the Russian capital, you may remember yesterdays article stated that it was time for heroes, and there were many yesterday.
No one more than the Manager, Gordon Strachan. He deserves massive plaudits for last nights result as he got everything right, from the unexpected 4-4-2 formation to the tactics employed Strachan really affirmed his position as the best man for the job with a gutsy away performance.
He was, however less than happy by the tactics employed by the Moscow outfit and their greenkeeper. The Chelsea tactic of heavily watering the pitch to prevent a passing game did as much to nullify the home team as it did Celtic. Strachan opined, "They really watered the pitch and made it slicker. We weren’t allowed to practice on that. They put a bit of water on it this morning but nothing like that. So the speed of the game caught us out for the first 20 minutes. The players couldn’t really even pass the ball to each other, they were sliding about and that wasn’t what we practiced on.
You didn’t have a clue what was going on. When we were practicing the other day, the ball was holding up.
It wasn’t holding up tonight, it was going straight through."
Strachan had plenty of praise for his team who adapted to the surface after a shaky opening spell. He said after the match, "They are a right good side," he said. "They have won nine out of 12 matches on that pitch this season.
They know how to play on it, they know every tweak, every spin, when the ball goes long, when it kicks up.
So playing a good side on a very unusual pitch, to handle that was fantastic.’’
Special praise goes to a few players, but top of the tree and my man of the match was the unpopular Paul Hartley.
I have been one of Beardie’s harshest critics since he signed for the Champions. I have been unable to recall one good passage of play from the former Jambo, never mind a good performance for ninety minutes but last night he came good, and not only for the cracking ‘Sutton-esque’ goal
Although his major impact last night (goal notwithstanding) was his defensive attributes rather than his quality with his ball at the feet his constant running, harrying and closing down of opponents saw us over the finishing line with parity intact.
Other notable entries last night were Massimo Donati and Shunsuke Nakamura. The former marked the impressive Egor Totov out of the game in the first half. An indication of the difficulty of that task was shown in the second half when it required both Evander Sno and Gary Caldwell to shackle the playmaker.
The Japanese genius would have been forgiven for a lacklustre performance in this tie, such was his lack of any time off this summer, or indeed last. His great ability to hold up play and distribute the ball wisely was a great outlet for a team that was under the cosh for large portions of this match. His workrate and tracking back were major contributors to the final scoreline.
Another great performer was Scott McDonald. Skippy ran himself into the ground last night and his pace, upper body strength and guile gave the Spartak back three a torrid time. He looks to have been a great acquisition and fully atoned for his two last gasp goals in 2005 with that assist. Welcome to the Club skippy!
Regular readers of these pages (Hi mum) will know that I always feel the need to add in a negative, even amongst so many positives and last night is no different. The performance of the defence, in particular the performance of the two full backs was nothing short of attrocious. Wilson’s inability to defend his flank was a major contribution to the two Spartak ‘goals’ and he really has to raise his game in these situations. Both full backs seem to lack an understanding of how to defend back post crosses and this could cost us dear in the future. I’m sure the Moscow outfit will try to exploit this in the return leg.
Having said that however, both the centre half’s performed admirably.
All in all it was a great result and a resolute performance. Not quite the type of scoreline that will send shockwaves through Europe but it will send our knockers away to think again. The greedy amongst us will point to Skoosh’s miss in the dying minutes as a great opportunity spurned. (He stated that he felt he was offside and that caused him to hesitate and then not strike the ball after the keeper spilled it, as he feared a second yellow) But most of us are happy with the result and would have bitten your hand off if you had offered it to us before kick-off!
A word of caution before I sign off, let’s not get too carried away, the job is only half done!
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt