The good times have returned! It had been a good few matches since Celtic had managed such a comprehensive victory at Celtic Park until last week’s demolition of Hearts. Long gone, it seemed, were the days of cricket scores and clean sheets before a salivating home crowd. The fact that the opposition were of the Jambo persuasion made it all the sweeter.
The goals started with defensive errors by the opposition and this continued as Strachan’s long promised outlook of beautiful football came to pass. The good football had a positive effect on the atmosphere inside Celtic Park so it would seem that the appreciation of talent on display comes when some genuine talent is shown!
Fast forward four days and to one of the best football matches I have had the pleasure to watch. The Champions League is the holy grail for club teams and qualification is worth upwards of £10 million to each team. Standing in the way of Celtic’s progression was Spartak Moscow - the current Russian league leaders. Not since Barcelona, had I witnessed such a good team visit Celtic - their passing and movement was a joy to behold at times.
The game started at breakneck speed with the ball racing from one end of the pitch to the other. Aiden McGeady came out of his shell and produced some scintillating dribbling and an end product that has eluded him so often. Then the crazy referee gave a ridiculous handball decision against a prostrate Gary Caldwell with Pavluchenko missing the resultant penalty amid a cacophany of boos from the vocal home support. A few minutes later and a case of penalty box pinball at the other end presented the industrious Scott McDonald with the opportunity to score his first Celtic goal.
A simple corner at the end of the first half cancelled out the opener and Celtic’s away goal advantage from the first leg. Pavluchenko atoned for his earlier miss by chesting down the corner, turning and drilling past Artur Boruc. This, undoubtedly, railed the Polish keeper - made evident by his half-time spat with the nervy and unconfident left back Naylor.
The second half went by in no time as the game opened up. Both sides had spells of possession but it was Celtic who created by far the most chances. There was a 90 second spell where Celtic’s Japanese superstar Nakamura had 3 chances to score - a lob, one-on-one, and a shot from the edge of the box resulting in easy saves and a balloon over the bar. The rhythm of the game was unfortunately punctuated by bizarre decisions from the Italian ref - none more so than the sending off of Spartak’s Stranzl five minutes from time for a last man challenge where there were another 3 Spartak players in attendance.
And so, after 90 minutes, the sides could not be separated resulting in a further half hour’s extra time. Again, it was mostly Celtic trying to make their numeric advantage pay. It almost happened on the 115 minute mark when Celtic’s Dutch striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink’s penalty hit the crossbar after a Scott Brown shot hit the hand of a Spartak defender.
Penalty shoot-outs - love them or hate them - are an awesome spectacle. Having never been confident about them before - see results against Valencia and Falkirk - I was expecting glorious failure yet again. All of Celtic’s penalty takers looked calm and collected and all, bar Nakamura’s thunderous effort that crashed off the bar and out, scored leaving Maxim Kalynychenko to score at 4-3 to level it for Spartak. Then the Holy Goalie Boruc dived across and clawed his shot to safety. The stands erupted and 59,000 fans jumped for absolute joy - the promised land had been reached. Pure euphoria flooded from the stands as the famous Champions League music bellowed from the PA system.
Fast forward another 4 days and back to Earth and the bread and butter of the Premier League. A side with 3 changes managed to steamroller a poor St Mirren team to a 5-1 defeat without having to break sweat. The impressive Scott Brown again showed why he is Scotland’s most promising player with his sheer talent and unlimited drive - a new hero for the fans.
All this in just over a week. Oh, and Kenny Miller and Thomas Gravesen were jettisoned to the Premiership and we still haven’t got cover at left back… Would that be too much to ask for after the week just gone?!?!
