What a night!

This game had everything (well for the last half-hour anyway). With Celtic looking for the first 60 minutes as though they had shot their bolt in the first half and Milan looking content that if we were to score they could reply, the first two thirds of this match was a little dull to say the least. This all changed in the 62^nd minute.

To say that Celtic deserved the lead was an understatement. Their hard work and harrying of their esteemed counterparts led to Milan not being able to string 5 passes together without loosing possession and then committing a foul (Quite how Abrosini remained card free into the second half is beyond me). Lacking the cutting edge required to break down Milan was costing Celtic dear until the much-improved Paul Hartley actually managed a dead ball delivery worthy of the occasion and Parkhead celebrated as only Parkhead can!

I was at this stage a little worried with the theatrics of the Italian side and the fact that although Milan were clearly there for the taking, we were as impotent as a viagara trialist! Lack of midfield support to the wingers meant that everything we did was eventually narrowed into the best centre halfs in the business to deal with easily.

And then the incident that we had all been dreading occurred, Milan ‘earned’ a free kick out on the left and Kaka threw an innocous ball that was not going anywhere near the danger area and the remarkably, astoundingly inept Markus Merk blew for a penalty.

I have yet to see the replay of the incident. As I understand it Lee Naylor had a tussle with the aforementioned Ambrosini with the later going down and the referee awarded a spot kick! There are many questions that have to be asked regarding this award, one which on paper sounds similar to the award that Chris Sutton gained against Juve at Paradise, with the obvious exception that that was a legitimate award!

If Lee Naylor was adjudged to have fouled the player off the ball, why was no action taken against the full back?

Surely the player who was fouled has to be in an area where the ball can be considered active?

Justice was done however in the 90^th minute as the impressive Scott McDonald tucked the ball away and bedlam descended onto Parkhead. You really cant beat that minute of sheer elation as you jump up and down repeatedly knowing that your team has just won an important Euro game against class opposition.

It was in this melee however that the night was forever soured. As the celebrations carried on, a ‘fan’ ran onto the pitch from somehwere around the south west corner of the stadium and proceeded to run up to Dida and struck him on his upper body/face.

One can only assume that this fan was not born in 1984 when Celtic were robbed of progression in the Cup Winners Cup due to the actions of so-called fans. Watching Rapid Vienna (the ‘victims’) making it all the way to the final after that incident was hard to take for all.

Lets hope he is caught soon, for his own sake as much as anything!

The actions that followed beggar belief and are quite frankly an embarrassment to all whom witnessed it. the pursuance of the offender by Dida and then the falling to the ground and laying there for 10 minutes whilst the physios attended to his ‘facial’ injury was an embarrassment to even his own team mates and is the main reason why Milan are not complaining officially regarding the incident.

Celtic are bound to be investigated and fined regarding this incident, as are Milan for the play acting of there Goalie which caused the game to be held up for such a long period of time. One only hopes that the offender is caught swiftly so that the sour finale to this match can be erased and all of Timdom can get on with enjoying the result.

So well done to Gordon Strachan and the Bhoys for a fine result. You did us all proud!

Yours in Celtic

Clydebuilt