Celtic and Benfica fought out a tight, chess-like, game in their opening Champions League group stage encounter. Celtic had the best of the opening 15 minutes as Benfica seemed to spooked by the occasion. Kris Commons, in particular, made good on his pre-match promise to make the most of his Champions League stage, but once Benfica settled action inside the penalty boxes was limited.
Emilio Izaguirre picked up an early booking, the result of poor positioning and a mistimed tackle, and thereafter was subject to continual pressing from Benfica as they sought-out a weak point. He was replaced after 65 minutes; part of a change of formation which benefited Celtic.
Neither team had a chance worthy of the name but both had good claims for a penalty. Rodrigo raced after an immaculately times forward ball and collided with the impregnable Fraser Forster. The Italian referee waved play on. Five minutes from time James Forrest at last got space to exploit inside the box but Garay caught him mid-flight. Forrest fell, to no avail.
Kelvin Wilson gave his best performance in a Celtic shirt alongside his initial central defensive partner, Mikael Lustig, then alongside Thomas Rogne, when Lustig retired injured shortly after the hour. As Benfica pressed Wilson and Charlie Mulgrew always tried to hold the ball and make a pass. Benfica were strong on the wings and Adam Matthews returned to his best defensive duties to counter.
Victor Wanyama, who also collected an early booking, struggled with concentration throughout the game but Scott Brown put in a tireless shift alongside him.
The change in formation after 65 minutes, when Gary Hooper replaced Izaguirre, improved Celtic enormously. Hooper used his strength effectively to lead the line, whereas Miku looked a forlorn figure until then. The 4-4-2 Celtic now deployed also gave Forrest space to exploit for the first time.
Wilson and Brown both played very well but Kris Commons was easily man of the match. There seemed no part of the field he was not prepared and able to launch an attempt at goal from. Late in the first half, when Benfica were enjoying their best spell, Commons twice in quick succession used his remarkable understanding of the game by successfully tempting an opponent to foul him. Pressure was released and Celtic gained a territorial advance.
Celtic never looked to be in any real danger of losing a goal and the vocal crowd believed a glimpse of daylight inside the Benfica box could deliver all three points but the opportunity never arrived.
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saltires
“WHAT DID THE BOOKIES KNOW TO OFFER 5/2 CELTS TONITE ?????!!!!”
They knew that we had 10 CL debutants on that pitch. They knew it was a 4th seed against a 2nd seed. They called it just about right. I would fear Benfica in the away leg where they will attack more.
sftb
Agree but Victor needs to wise up. He is building up the points and a suspensions not far away.
Mattews was good defensively though his distribution still lets him down, albeit the straight runs that Forrest makes doesn’t help him with this.
Miku doesn’t have explosive pace therefore we’re unlikely to see the best of him by hitting long balls in his direction. When Samaras returns to the team he may be able to develop an understanding with Miku
~Stumptown Bhoy
Kev J is a wind up merchant.
No-one can be that stupid, surely?
He’s just read too much Daily Record in his time. He’s channelling Gerry McNee at his most bumptious, with the emphasis on the first syllable.
FF got his hand to the ball at their penalty claim. So I think the ref made the right decision.
StumptownBhoy-(ex-SanDiegoBhoy)For_wee_Oscar
00:41 on 20 September, 2012
Kevjungle-
Are you often accused of being a wee bit of a bam?
_________________________________________________
No.
But, I’ve no doubt – your about to take my cherry.
Yo Paul67
I thought in the 1st half we were in serious danger of going down to 10 men, Izzie Vic and Broony were the danger.
The Celtic team never reached the heights of the support tonight and those players who sat on their arse last weekend tried a wee bit better, well done for that grrrrr.
IMO thats what needs improving, I think some of our young guns who want to play in the inflated EPL, should be replaced by our young uns coming through the youth system.
our next game at Celtic Park will see an army of wee Oscar Bucket collectors and friends, please tell you’re mates in the pub or on the bus, this wee mhan needs our help….. stick you’re pounds in lads and wee Oscar gets to live. its that simple….. sorry for being so blunt but well you understand why.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4618484545662&set=a.1053801190806.2009996.1399094738&type=1&theater
https://www.justgiving.com/teams/weeoscar
HH
setting free the bears
00:43 on
20 September, 2012
He is either a hunterloper, or a Tim in need of cheering up. In either case he would be better off reading rankersmedia.com report of the QoS game. The pictures accompanying the article are well worth a gander.
Didn’t think Benfica deserved a penalty just as I thought we didn’t either in the Forrest incident.
‘gg
00:45 on
20 September, 2012
FF got his hand to the ball at their penalty claim. So I think the ref made the right decision.
————————————–
That is, well optimistic, thought it was a pen, but also thought Forrest was caught late in SH
kevjungle – murdo..10 men championees..1979
00:45 on 20 September, 2012
Haha! Priceless, you answered my original question for me :-))
Don’t bother replying, I’ll neither read, nor reply to a post of yours again.
ScrollpastCSC
StumptownBhoy-(ex-SanDiegoBhoy)For_wee_Oscar
00:48 on 20 September, 2012
___________________________________________
You see, I hold the opinion that – CQN would become
The Celtic View(80’s & 90’s) if – every poster on here
was a happy-clapper.
-(ex-sandiegobhoy)for_wee_oscar
00:48 on
20 September, 2012
Link? Shirley it’s Sevcomedia.com?
‘GG
Thank God for the Mineshafters!
Bedtime, goodnight CQN.
Happy Clapping obviously;-)
Just watching the first half of the Chelsea – Juve game. Oscar – one touch to control, then a rocket into the net. Not once, but twice. Then the Juve lad does the same.
I know these teams are different class, but unless we shoot more often, we’ll get nowhere.
Forrest, for example, should be trying his luck over on the left, jinking left, then shooting with his right. Commons should be trying the reverse. We’ve all seen him do it before.
Lastly, very puzzled why an obviously unfit Hooper came on rather than Watt.
MrBrown stand up and take the plaudits, he hounded them out of posession.
To date :o) our best chance to take 3 points, were still in the mix.
COME ON YOU BHOYS IN GREEN
Lustig is the center half we’ve been waiting for.
Charlie, Vic and Adam, all improved on the weekend, a couple stayed the same, maybe they were distracted by the upcoming Barca game, that will never work for me, you wear the hoops, the opposition are all the same, they dont wear the hoops.
Said earlier we couldn’t afford two wingers, sticking to my opinion.
Twardzik deserves his chance.
I thought both were pens, I sit right in line with our (Celtic end) penalty box .
I complain when our fans are moaners so happy to say well done tonight.
Great backing and not too much negativity.
With our symetrical scores against Benfica get your dosh on 0-0 away from home.
SFTB
even so ….that was a massive price
I suspected some big hunnenkind bucks on Benfica was skewing the price
hope they didn’t take the 0-0
HH
Givin’ the bookies a tenner was worth it for putting ane extra edge on a hard fought battle. For 10 newbies it was a brilliant display of un-awed effort. To a man, The Bhoys gave their all.
I can’t fault them. Nor do I want to.
When you think that 1 player alone in Benfica has a €40 million price tag and we took them to their limit.
No disgrace at all, and it will get better.
KTF!
Just home
Will catch up tomorrow
But for me lots of positives and we look capable of competing in this company
James Forrest will get past this but he seems weak
Ps pissed off at the problems with turnstile 45. I assume it broke and it took a long time to get us in. Missed the kick off.
Fred C. Dobbs
00:59 on 20 September, 2012
_________________________________________________
Totally agree about the o-o away v’s Benfica
I would guess that when the injured players come back then
hopefully Neil will have a better hand to deal with
so, I can see us scraping apoint at home to Barca.
bournesouprecipe00:13 on 20 September, 2012:
>>>>>
Aye….that’s the game I saw on the box. I love Big Vic and Broonie. The way VW was chargin’ about he was deffo on a yellow from the get-go…..and he knew it. He rattled Benfica and let them know they were going to have to fight for it. From the yellow onwards he played a more refined role but never let up. And Broonie never gave up anything….not once. If it was a midfield battle, we won it at a canter.
HH.
Scott Brown will never play better in a Celtic jersey IMO,and I have been on these pages saying the opposite.He was fantastic for me,and a Captainesque performance.I thought all the Bhoys worked well except Izzy and James Forrest.Izzy is a shadow of the player he was sadly,Neil has tried to give him games to hopefully get back to fitness,and the top player he was.I don’t know the answer with that one.JF has stopped running guys down the touchline,and showing signs of petulance.I thought Lustig looked well at centre back til he went off.But for me Neil put out a great shape of a team against very good opposition,was possibly the best aspect of the night.Samaras,Ledley and Kayal would probably have started tonight,so for me a great point.
KevJungle – Murdo..10 men Championees..1979
00:33 on 20 September, 2012
Good point for us tonight –
Vmhan ….. aye my thoughts innaw
Good experience for ten of starting eleven –
V ……for a young team, its all good experience.
Big Fraz deserved the botd at pen –
V……..is this a scottish media term? Lustig & Wilson looked good together – Personally speaking Kelvin should never play for Celtic at CL level again, not anywhere near the standard required.
Matthews looking like himself again
V…… yes he was good tonight and has good pace, he deserves his place next time IMO.
Izzy ? Only Murdo on shortbread told the truth. where you listening Neil ?
V…… whit? dont know cant comment old chap.
67 teeth pulled after booking
V…….. – Vic was less effective after te booking, surprised he never kept going and walked tbh
Mulgrew in his best position – did well
V…….. agreed
SB looked lively…… he was all over the place and done well playing through the middle, shame really as CFC can get so much better fron SB if he’s played on the right side of mid.
Forrest ? Oh dear
JF was ok and reminds me a lot of Aidan McGeady, he has a lot to learn and when he does then he will have a lot more to give…… stop dropping for nothing JF its an ambarrassment.
Commons required to play a different game from normal. Our biggest threat
Miku ? Who ?
V…………. Commons was brill tonight and re Miku …. ok to start with.
Our 12th man – without them – tumble-weed time
V……… agreed 100% our players often, cannot match our support.
P.S. Commons goal at Perth on Saturday was our only attempt on goal in three hours of football.
No wonder the gates are falling
Hail Hail
My cV comments are up there and I agree with a lot of yir views…… onwards n upwards for the CFC mo chara.
HH
for clarification
“Lustig & Wilson looked good together” –
I thought ………..Personally speaking Kelvin should never play for Celtic at CL level again, not anywhere near the standard required.
Celts, if Kelvin is the standard then we are at rock bottom, I don’t believe we are and therefore as always there is politics at play.
adios amigos, maniana!
Vmhan
01:12 on 20 September, 2012
_______________________________________
Do you know the risk that you’ve just took there by agreeing with some of my stuff ? :o)
Vmham / Kev Jungle @CQN – Coventry branch :o)
I thought we were a credit to the Hoops tonight. The Benficans are still a decent CL outfit.
For all the talk of Benfica being weakened by transfers out and suspensions in the days prior to the match, in my opinion the difference tonight was the players WE couldn’t utilise due to injuries. Young Dylan, Joe, Beram and big Georgios would all have featured tonight if fit and certainly improved the starting line up in 2 or 3 positions.
Scott Brown was inspirational tonight.
Kris Commons continues his excellent return to form. Always looking to make something happen tonight.
Big Miku ran his socks off for the 90 and looks to me to be a great loan for this competition in particular.
Kelvin Wilson also continuing in a rich vein of form. Tremendous pace without a doubt his best asset and if he continues to build on the other defensive areas of his game he could turn out to be a very good Celtic defender. Played well tonight and along with the rest of the defence not least Adam Matthews, kept the mistakes to a minimum.
Big Vic had good game in my opinion but it was definitely affected by the early yellow. On more than one occasion I was holding my breath as he made challenges after that.
Charlie came on to a much better game when Hooper replaced Izzy I thought. He played well prior to that but the pressure Benfica were putting on Izzy had a detrimental effect on Charlie’s game.
Big Forster. Solid. I think he got enough on the ball at their penalty claim for the ref to reject it.
Izzy struggled unfortunately and young James seemed a bit subdued and reluctant to run at Benfica. While they seemed pretty aware of the danger the wee man can inflict when he’s in full flight, due to the fact he had at least two players on him within a second or two of him receiving the ball, I still think he could have been a wee bit more positive tonight.
Lenny and the coaching staff continue to improve on their euro journey.
BroonSauce
Standing Up For The Champions
Sitting in 442, when the Benfica pen claim happened, most of the so called supporters around me had their back to the game, looking to be witnesses to something or other happening behind us.
So being on of the fre in 442 who seen the penalty claim, initially I thought it was a penalty though I also thought there was a doubt, the Benfica player shot and the ball hit our solid keeper before he put out his arms to protect himself, resulting in the player being bowled over.
Has it been Master Forrest I’d have started the mexican waves for him, but his own claim just seemed too little too late, and I couldn’t bring myself to get too excited at what was a penalty being denied.
After tonight he needs to prove himself all over again, hopefully he takes up the challenge, he’s got skill, its just the balls he lacks.
Remember James, you’ve got the hoops they dont, dont blow it, unless the hoops mean nothing to you, then you really need to up your game thats no good enough for a hoops jersey.
Vmham
tbotd = the benefit of the doubt
Hail Hail
Kelvin Wilson has been good but not yet great for most of this season. He will have to improve further to really grow into his jersey but he is a wee bit improved on last season’s form.
Going to my bed now- the CL buzz takes a few hours to wear off
Vmham-I thought Wilson was decent again mate.HH.Lustik was good til he went off too IMO.
CFC are a much better team than we have seen so far this season, why?
Granted we did enough in the qualifiers but they were way down the picking order compared to a team like the Glasgow Celtic.
I’ts my opinion that our trips to far off places, instead of a more traditional pre- season is detremental to our early form.
Its more than likely IMO that our manager disnae have a big say in it, …….. bonus before performance, its a gamble innit.
HH
Vhman
I aologise for spelling yer name wrong.
Sorry
Silly old-pratt – CSC
Izzy was rank as was Miku.
The rest all played a blinder.
Why Watt wasn’t thrown on for the last 10 to run them ragged……..?
I’m never convinced that KW really has the ball under control.
Thought he was fine tonight for the most part but I think he creates problems for himself at times particularly passing it square across the back four with a forward moving to intercept.
Vmhan
01:27 on 20 September, 2012
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Yer right.
CFC driven by the bonus brigade. imo
But, do you know what…
I’m away to my bed noo
Canny believe that sumdy on here can see
some of the things that only I thought I could see.
Definitely need to take that medication back to the Doc’s – CSC
NN
Score draws in Moscow and Lisbon,and a win at home v Spartak should be good enough to take us through,I think.
Can I see us achieving that? Hmmmmm,I’ll need to think…..