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Vennegoor of Hesselink puts the icing on title cake

 Dundee United 0 Celtic 1


JAN Vennegoor of Hesselink scored the goal that made sure Celtic claimed their third title in three years with a 1-0 win over Dundee United last night.

So it’s official, Elvis is starting his comeback tour. That’s what former Celt Frank McAvennie said was more likely than his former team winning the title after an earlier defeat.

But in fairness to the old striker, there were many who agreed with him. Some even called for Strachan’s head. I wonder if they were among the fans singing his praises at the end of the game last night.

Andreas Hinkel replaced Mark Wilson in defence in the only change from the Celtic side that defeated Hibernian 11 days ago.

The home side showed three changes from the team so controversially beaten by Rangers the day before, with Lee Wilkie, Mihael Kovacevic and David Robertson all missing.

After a thunderous minute’s applause to celebrate the life of Tommy Burns, the home side began the more confident.

Noel Hunt could have done better when a Stephen McManus slip let the Irishman get a glimpse of goal, but he fired straight at Boruc in the sixth minute.

Gradually Barry Robson and Paul Hartley began to make things happen in the midfield and, when the latter stole possession in midfield, he fed a quick ball to Scott McDonald.

The little Aussie striker played a ball out to Shunsuke Nakamura who passed right across goal to Aiden McGeady. The Irish international looked certain to score but Lukasz Zaluska managed to save his shot for a 13th minute corner.

A couple of minutes later and Robson almost had a dream homecoming when his header from a Nakamura cross looked to be dipping under the bar. Somehow, Zaluska got a fingertip to divert the ball over again.

The half continued in this vein with Celtic winning corner after corner without being able to make the breakthrough. And they had to be wary of the swift breaking home side.

Danny Swanson saw a half chance go over before Mark De Vries had the best effort for United when put clear by a clever Willo Flood pass. The striker tried to curl the ball around Boruc but could not keep it inside the post.

United finished the half the stronger but, despite this late pressure, they failed to really test Boruc, while they had Zaluska to thank for keeping them level at half-time.

The Celtic fans wanted an early second half goal to settle their nerves and it looked like they would get it when Vennegoor of Hesselink got half clear of Dods, but he shot straight at Zaluska. McDonald looked to have danced clear a moment later but one touch too many and the chance was gone.

Just before the 50-minute mark Nakamura had a penalty shout when challenged by Danny Grainger but was booked for referee Stuart Dougal who decided the Japanese player had dived.

Just before the hour mark Swanson hit a wonderful dipping shot but Boruc produced a terrific save to keep the scores level.

Just as Scott Brown came on for Nakamura in the 62nd minute news filtered through that Lee Miller had given Aberdeen the lead at Pittodrie and the Celtic fans went daft.

Ten minutes later and the news got better for them when Vennegoor of Hesselink claimed the points with the only goal of the game.

McDonald won a corner on the left and when Hartley swung in the ball the big Dutchman met the cross with a thunderous header which Zaluska could do nothing about.

When news came through with just a quarter of an hour left that Aberdeen had gone 2-0 up the celebrations really began.

To their credit, Dundee United never stopped trying but the tension was broken and Celtic held on to claim all three points reasonably comfortably.

The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for the helicopter arriving with the league trophy, Gordon Strachan’s third in his three seasons at Celtic Park.

MATCH STATS

Dundee Utd: Zaluska, Dillon, Dods, Kenneth, Grainger, Flood, Kerr (Robb 80), Gomis, Swanson (Robertson 79), De Vries (Daly 80), Hunt. Subs Not Used: Camara, Wilkie, O’Brien, Smith. Booked: Flood.

Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor (Wilson 76), Nakamura (Scott Brown 62), Hartley, Robson, McGeady, McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras 81). Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Donati, Sheridan, O’Dea. Booked: Nakamura, Samaras, Boruc. Goals: Vennegoor of Hesselink 72.

Att: 13,613 Ref: S Dougal.

Samaras piles more pressure on Rangers

Motherwell 1
Porter 60

Celtic 2
McDonald 62; Samaras 79

TO GET an angle on Mark McGhee's frame of mind on the touchline think Krakatoa and double it. As the final minutes unfolded he erupted, shaking with anger at a refereeing error that helped Celtic make it 2-1 with 12 minutes remaining, giving it out about the shortcomings of his own defenders who did nothing to help the situation and, eventually, regretting bitterly the loss of all three points when he felt that at least one was his due.

If this ends up costing Motherwell a place in Europe, McGhee will have to be sedated for the summer.

A two-part incident turned the game and kept Celtic's title hopes alive. Steve Conroy, the referee, gave Celtic a corner when he should have given Motherwell a goal-kick. He saw the ball go out of play off Chris Porter when in actual fact it was Bobo Balde. Big mistake, that. Barry Robson took the corner and swung it on to the head of Georgios Samaras. This was the second instalment of McGhee's dismay. None of his defenders got near the striker. Where were they all? What were they thinking of? Samaras had to stoop to head it home. Embarrassing.

"I'm adamant it wasn't a corner," said McGhee. "I'm shocked he's given it," echoed Porter. When told of Motherwell's fury, Strachan's reply was swift. "I'm furious, too. I'm furious about the offside decision in Inverness and the penalty. Furious, I am. Thank you. Ta." That was that. Away he went, furiously.

McGhee continued his theme. "Look, we still had an opportunity to clear it. Though the referee made a bad decision he hasn't cost us the goal. It's a major mistake but we still gave away a free header. I just thought that all day there were little decisions given against us, a tug here and a pull there not penalised, small things that undermined what we were trying to do. I'm disappointed we got nothing out of that game."

Celtic were relieved and happy. Lucky, too. But you need luck at this stage. As Strachan pointed out, it's not about pretty oil paintings now but big pictures. They ground and they got the win and, for him, that was the end of the story. Their lead at the top of the SPL stretches to eight points. More pressure for Rangers to contend with. Does it really matter how they did it? Not a lot.

For the longest time the game existed only in bits and pieces. In the first half Motherwell had eight corners yet only had a Brian McLean header, directed wide, to show for all their dead ball possession. From open play they had one chance but Marc Fitzpatrick failed to make the most of it.

That was the upshot of Motherwell's work, pretty much. Celtic? Well, they began the game with Balde in for the injured Stephen McManus (Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink took over as captain). The Dutchman would have been as well staying at home for all the decent ball he got. Celtic's (and Motherwell's) passing was atrocious. Beyond atrocious. It would be the easiest thing in the world to blame the pitch as everyone is wont to do, but the bare and bouncy surface wasn't the sole reason why the passing was inept. It would be a cop-out to say so. For an hour the standard was awful. Truly awful.

The way the game was going you couldn't see a goal coming. Mystic Meg herself couldn't have called it. "Yes, I see world peace, I see an end to famine and pestilence and other assorted unpleasantness, but I can't see a goal. No chance." It appeared like a little miracle in the 61st minute. McLean swung in the first threatening cross of the day and Celtic fared abysmally in trying to deal with it. Balde was the man. He was caught by the accuracy of McLean's cross and the indecision of Boruc in goal. Porter, scorer of two last weekend against Dundee United, was the only alert player in the vicinity. He stooped and headed low into the Celtic net.

Thunderous scenes broke out all around Fir Park. Merriment on a grand scale. The cheers were barely hushed by the time Celtic struck back with the sucker punch. On the sideline, McGhee was telling his players to concentrate, that old truth about a team never being more vulnerable than in the minutes after scoring no doubt bouncing around in his wise old head.

The message was relayed and the message was ignored. Good crosses were like the buses now. Wait an hour for one and two come along at once. Nakamura's ball to the Motherwell back post couldn't have been better, McDonald eluding McLean to finish smartly. McGhee's brain was fried by the concession of the first goal almost as much as the second. "The four we lost to Celtic last time they were here were just like it. (Brian] McLean is 6ft 3in tall and McDonald is allowed to score," said McGhee

At last, the big beast had woken up. Celtic kicked-on and got a brief hold on the game. Strachan replaced Vennegoor of Hesselink with Georgios Samaras – Paul Hartley became the new captain – and Scott Brown came on for Nakamura. Fourteen minutes later, Strachan's prayers were answered when that corner was awarded and that header found the net. Having clawed their way back from the brink, Celtic had to weather some heavy moments towards the end but they survived. "We needed that," said Strachan. "Motherwell are a strong side and they were physically better than us for a while.

"Naka was mugged five times in the first 15 minutes and he did well to keep the heid. Today was all about the importance of getting a result. People just want a result and we're lucky enough to have people who can get them for us."

Celtic force Rangers back on to the ropes


Celtic (2) 3 Rangers (2) 2

Rangers still have a range of beckoning summits in view, but their route lies through a dangerous ravine whose walls threaten to collapse in upon them.
For the second time in 11 days a trip to the east end of Glasgow has seen them bested in a hard fight, reduced in strength on each occasion by a red card - in this case shown to Steven Whittaker in injury time - and diminished in resources by injury. Rangers' consolation is that the Scottish championship remains theirs to lose

Celtic's motivation is that they have made up much of the gulf that yawned recently between them and Walter Smith's side - so much so that if Gordon Strachan's players can win at Motherwell on Saturday they will post an eight-point lead over their rivals.

Sure, even in that eventuality Rangers will have four games in hand, but there is an enormous difference between an option and an obligation, all the more so as the Ibrox side must continually switch their focus from one competition to another as they try to maintain their assault on the SPL title and the Uefa Cup.

In the latter, they look likely to have to play Fiorentina in the return leg of their semi-final in Italy on Thursday without David Weir, who was taken off in the second half after suffering a groin strain.

Perhaps Weir has discovered that this extended effort at such an advanced stage of a veteran career is a stretch too far, even for his remarkable stamina.
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Weir's malady curtailed an otherwise productive afternoon in which he doubled his league scoring tally for the season by getting on to the end of a Steven Davis corner to bring Rangers level after they had fallen behind to an early Scott McDonald strike.

The Australian was just offside when he latched on to a bounced header from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink in the third minute, but the assistant referee failed to make what was admittedly a tight call and McDonald beat Neil Alexander with a sweetly struck finish.

Rangers, so much more adventurous than the team that smothered Fiorentina at Ibrox on Thursday - this performance must have bemused the watching Florentine spies - retaliated impressively with Weir's header and another from Daniel Cousin, this time a skimmed effort, again from a Davis corner.

Had Rangers gone in ahead at the break, the breathing space might have proved invaluable, but Celtic struck a telling psychological blow when Barry Robson and Aiden McGeady combined to find McDonald, who swivelled and struck a shot which looped, with the aid of a deflection from Christian Dailly's boot, high past Alexander.

The contest was now beautifully set up for a riveting denouement and when the turning point arrived - midway through the second half - it was McDonald who breached Rangers' defence for a third time, to be hauled down by Kirk Broadfoot inside the box.

Broadfoot was cautioned, rather than dismissed, for reasons that were not apparent, while McDonald was denied the chance to become the first Celtic player in over 40 years to score three against Rangers in a single game when Robson claimed the penalty and sent Alexander the wrong way for what proved to be the winning goal.

"Robbo said before the game that he was taking it and that was that - he was proved right," said McDonald. "It was going through my mind that no Celtic player had got a hat-trick against Rangers for so long and I got stick from the lads for passing one to Barry when I could have had a go myself.

"But the more the game went on, the more I thought we would get the win and it was encouraging to see Rangers go all out for it because they couldn't have picked a worse day to go at full stretch.

"I don't know where the hot weather came from, because it's been so cold until now, but it had an effect on them.

"They have games in hand, so they're still the favourites, but it's great to get back to winning ways."

Weir, who saw nothing of the second half because he was undergoing treatment, said: "I thought we put a lot into the game, but now the main thing is that our destiny is still in our own hands.

"You don't win championships easily but we have a lot of strong characters and we will respond positively.

"I thought at the time that Celtic's first goal was offside, but these things happen in football and not every decision goes for you. We will take it on the chin and move on from there."

Celtic (4-4-2): Boruc; Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus (O'Dea 65), Naylor; Nakamura, Robson, Hartley (S Brown 82), McGeady; McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras 67).

Subs: M Brown (g), Caddis, Donati, Wilson.
Booked: Naylor, Robson, Hartley, Vennegoor of Hesselink.

Rangers (4-1-4-1): Alexander; Broadfoot, Dailly, Weir (faye 51), Papac; Hemdani (Darcheville 79); Novo, Davis, Ferguson, Whittaker; Cousin.
Subs: Smith, Boyd, Lennon, McMillan, Fleck.
Booked: Broadfoot, Whittaker.
Sent off: Whittaker.
Referee: C Thomson.




CELTIC…2
(Nakamura 20, Vennegoor of Hesselink 93)
Huns …1
(Novo 55)
 
JAN VENNEGOOR OF HESSELINK scored one of the most important goals of his career to give Celtic a priceless 2-1 win over the huns  in an incredible Glasgow derby.

The Dutch striker crashed home a header in 93 minutes to move Celtic to within one point of the Ibrox  at the top of the SPL. The Hoops can now go back to the top of the table if they beat Aberdeen on at Celtic Park on Saturday.

In a dramatic match,  the huns were reduced to 10 men at 1-1 when Carlos Cuellar ;) handled Shunsuke Nakamura’s  goal-bound shot and was given a straight red. However, Scott McDonald missed the resultant penalty.

Shunsuke Nakamura had earlier produced a spectacular opener for Celtic in the first half, but Nacho Novo  climbed off the bench to equalise for the huns.   However, it counted for nothing as Celtic showed immense character to grab the late winner.

Hoops manager Gordon Strachan opted to field the same side that beat Motherwell 4-1 on Sunday, with Barry Robson  and Paul Hartley continuing in central midfield. Scott Brown was serving the second game of a three-match suspension.

Celtic Park was shaking to its foundations pre-match as a capacity crowd turned up for the first derby at Paradise in over a year. With so much at stake, there was an overwhelming sense of anticipation as the two sides emerged from the tunnel to a deafening noise.

Tackles were flying in from all angles as the game started in explosive fashion. Only 20 seconds had elapsed when Robson was penalised for a challenge on Christian Dailly :-/ and the pace hardly died from then on in.

As expected, Celtic had the bulk of possession from the outset, with the huns  looking to hit on the break – using Jean-Claude Darcheville as a loan striker.

In 10 minutes, Celtic carved out the first chance. Nakamura cut infield and picked out Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink , who had escaped the huns  defence. The Dutchman was racing clear but Allan McGregor was quick off his line and the chance was lost.

With the huns  sitting deep, Celtic had constant possession and the visitors were retreating further and further. Aiden McGeady  was always looking to create as Celtic upped the tempo.

The Hoops were winning corner after corner and Robson  and Nakamura  were taking turns to swing vicious crosses into the box. From one of Robson’s  curlers, Gary Caldwell sent a header towards the net but the huns  scrambled clear.

It seemed that a goal was coming and Nakamura duly delivered with a strike right out of the top drawer in 20 minutes.

Picking up possession on the run, the Japanese genius  took one touch and crashed a swerving, dipping 35-yard half-volley beyond McGregor  and into the top corner.

Goal of the season? Undoubtedly. You will struggle to see a better goal scored in any season and as Paradise erupted, Nakamura  was mobbed by his team-mates.

The goal energised Celtic and they continued to press for more. The closest came when McDonald accepted a slack pass from Barry Ferguson  and raced down the right wing.

With the tireless Robson and Vennegoor of Hesselink lurking in the box, the Aussie striker fired an attempted cross into the box, but the ball flew towards McGregor and the Huns  goalkeeper had to bat it to safety.

In terms of possession and pressure, Celtic were dominant in the first period. Darcheville was the huns  only real threat and his best chance – a low shot – was deflected wide by Stephen McManus :) as half-time arrived.


McDonald had the first opening of the second period. Nakamura, McGeady and Wilson  all combined to find the Australian and he turned into space, before firing a shot over the bar.

Yet, the Huns  would have the next chance in 55 minutes and they made the most of it. Steven Whittaker  stabbed the ball forward on the right and Novo collected possession before rifling a shot into the corner.

It was a blow for Celtic and the Ibrox team  visibly took a lift from the goal. However, the Hoops were handed a glorious chance to equalise in 70 minutes.

Nakamura ::) gathered possession on the right and outfoxed the  Huns defence before firing a shot towards the top corner. It was a goal all the way, but Cuellar stuck out a hand and deflected the ball on to the bar.

Referee- Kenny Clark  immediately pointed to the spot and gave Cuellar a straight red card. It was now McDonald versus McGregor  but goalkeeper flew to his left to save the Australian’s penalty.

Celtic introduced Georgios Samaras for Robson  as they went for the winner, while the Huns  were forced to replace the injured McGregor  with Neil Alexander.

The Hoops laid siege to the Huns  goal and they got their reward deep into injury time. Caldwell picked out McDonald and he headed across goal, where Vennegoor of Hesselink-  found the net as Celtic Park went wild.
 Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Celtic Park, Glasgow


CELTIC (4-4-2): :) Boruc; Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor (Wilson 46); Nakamura, Robson (Samaras 75), Hartley, McGeady; McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink
Subs not used: M.Brown, Balde, Sno, Donati, Samaras, McGowan



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