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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275 Comments- Pages:
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awe_naw
I would say it must have been close to capacity for CL nights.
The stands were full and only the corner closest to the Benfica bus load was kept clear (guess UEFA security guidelines).
Atmosphere was amazing and would never have been achieved without a full house IMHO!
HH
/Bishop B
Thought we done well last night considering players missing with injuries.
James Forrest has to add a bit more to his game and change things when it’s obvious his game plan isn’t working , too predictable at times.
All in all a satisfactory result and I’m sure when we get our full squad fit and playing we will develop into a right good team , last night was part of the building process.
HH
So Spiers gets up to speed on Swally.
He’s fat.
He’s a tube.
Who’d a thought it?
Attendace 57, 786 ‘ish according to UEFA website would be about right to me.
KEVIN BRIDGES TICKET SWAP
Bhoys/Ghirls
Looking to swap two tickets for Friday oct 12th to any date apart from Sat 13th or Sun 14th……going for ma wee Maws 60th……..
Anybody interested ping me an email feedthebhear@me.com
Hail Hail
Afternoon bhoys, warm on the hun free mountain.
Decent preformance against a quality team.
A few of the players shone, a couple didn’t.
Lenny has a blind spot when it comes to Forrest and Hooper.
Overall delighted.
Barca were a wee bit fortunate.
Oh, and I must praise the referee, thought he was very fair.
o.g.rafferty
11:12 on
20 September, 2012
Apart from Spiers finally removing the blinkers, there are 2 other developing disadvantages for sevco (in addition to the fact that sally is not a manager)
1) …..the SFL 3 teams realise that keeping sevco in their Division is a revenue booster, and are, therefore, ‘up’ for every game………. and
.
2)……because of the ongoing pathetic attitude of greengo etc, they have now (IMO) lost their ‘favoured’ status with the SFA / SPL ‘beaks’, so the possibility of no more ‘honest mistakes’. .?
67heaven … i am neil lennon..!!.. ibrox belongs to the creditors
lost their ‘favoured’ status with the SFA / SPL ‘beaks’, so the possibility of no more ‘honest mistakes’.
A wee bit optimistic in this country :-)))
Happy birthday Henrik….Truly the greatest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov5bm7Lhl1o
From a “slightly” older birthday boy.
Teuchter ár lá
Benfica’s team selection showed that they came to sit in for most of the game.
They gave us due respect.
They sensed that we were pushing on late in the game, but instead of falling deeper,they brought on Cordoza and another striker to give us something to think about.
Perhaps Neil thought that Forrest would track back better than Watt, however,I would have brought the boy on for James.
I don’t care what sftb says,I thought Hooper linked the front better,even though his mobility was limited and I can’t see Neil being “conned” into putting hiim on.
Happy with the result and performance overall and another £ 500k in the kitty.
Very few Benfica fans at the match – a few hundred perhaps?
How many Celtic fans will be in Lisbon – 3-4000?
HH!!
ASonOfDan
11:11 on 20 September, 2012
I wish I had that confidence. I know they lost in the end but to go 2-1 up against Barca (albeit with an o.g.) is not to be sniffed at.
Didn’t see the game last night due to a prior engagement, so I can’t comment on the game. On the subject of Izzy: I have steadfastly defended the guy for the last few months from many on here writing him off. But he has been fairly average to poor for the last month or so- it’s a worry. His whole game seems to have changed. Much less cavalier running to the by-line to whip crosses in, more back-passing, dwelling on the ball and clumsy tackles. He really is struggling with confidence. To be fair to Izzy there have been other players playing just as poorly as him but he always seems to be the one who is subbed. Paddy is another one this seems to happen to, as it did formally to Commons and on occasion Stokes- maybe this was the source of the conflict between them and Lenny. It could be easily misconstrued as making someone a scapegoat if they are the ones constantly picked to be subbed. It will only destroy any confidence they have, particularly if they think the manager has lost faith in their ability. Some players do improve with ‘a kick up the backside’- Izzy is not one of those types of players. The same is true with Rogne. Lenny has chosen Big Vic in central defence before him on a few occasions and left him out of key games- and this affects his confidence. The more you target these guys with that sort of approach the more their form will suffer. They needs boosted up and for the management to show they have faith in them to get back to his best. That lack of faith may be a reason Rogne has went in a huff with the management team. The likes of Paddy will accept anything, and that is probably the main reason he hasn’t made it to the level he should have in the game. Paddy just seems to be an ordinary guy who is happy to be playing for the team he supports and making good money with cameo roles here and there.
I still think Izzy will come good.
This is a team that seems to start a season slowly, with a certain sluggishness and malaise- its been the same the past two seasons and now it looks as if its going the same way again. We start slow out of the blocks until we hit our stride in the second half of the season. Hopefully the team will click before then. Although injuries have to be taken into account when it comes to continuity of performance- the injuries this early on in the season have been fairly savage. Big Sammi, Kayal, Stokes, Dylan, Joe Ledley are all out of the reckoning and Scott Brown is only just coming back from injury. Fingers crossed that vacancies in the physio tables will mean a revitalisation of the team dynamic and in our overall performances, especially with so many big games coming up.
Celtic Football Club @celticfc
@RhebelRhebel Sorry lads, no attendance available for the game last night. Will let you know if that changes (gk)
feedthebhear
Regarding Kevin Bridges, I was at his show last night. You will really enjoy it when you do manage to go.
At one point he started into a piece about Rangers troubles. Even before he’d said anything of note, the boos began to ring out. I think he was a little taken aback and seemed to adjust what he was going to say.
It appears that the peepil can’t even take a little humour.
Just dropped in to ask
Do we have one player within our entire squad who
can turn a game to our advantage ?
If so – who ?
Thanks in advance
KJ
Fat Sally DEMANDS to know the official attendance at CP last night.
HH!!
Read a colleague’s Sun newspaper this morning.
Bill Leckie, the Joke Journalist at it again.
Begrudgery & Resentment at our Champions League presence seeps out of every pore, as he desperately grasps for the negative.
Bill – I feel your pain.
KevJungle – Murdo..10 men Championees..1979
Samaras
weeminger
11:55 on 20 September, 2012
KevJungle – Murdo..10 men Championees..1979
Samaras
______________________________________________________________
I’ll re-word it
Do we have one player capable of turning a game in our favor available to us at this moment in time ?
The major problem last night was the fact that neither Brown or Wanyama are creative midfielders, and as a result we created no chances worthy of the name.
Now both done well in stopping Benfica, but we really need to get a creative player in beside them.
Samaras is available but injured.
The fighting between the record and the sun for what is left of the Sevconians is very predictable.
It will be interesting to see how both of them spin Novembers title stripping
Anybody know what their combined readership is
The sun will have dropped even more after the Hillsborough report.
Hail Hail
weeminger
Agree, Samaras is our main man in the big games.
Hail Hail
Tony Watt has changed a few games for us recently and so has Kris Commons.
Kev you need to start watching Celtic rather than garnering this information off of the internet .. its tedious for all of us keeping you informed.
Hail Hail
greenjedi
12:01 on 20 September, 2012
___________________________________________
Agreed.
But, the thing is – how long have we been aware of this and
why hasn’t it been sorted ?
fourgreenfields
11:39 on
20 September, 2012
I know …..!! LOL
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo
12:05 on 20 September, 2012
_______________________________
Awe, Im only trying to follow your well worn path :o)
Hope you don’t mind.
kevjungle – murdo..10 men championees..1979
11:52 on 20 September, 2012
Just dropped in to ask
Do we have one player within our entire squad who
can turn a game to our advantage ?
If so – who ?
Thanks in advance
KJ
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Is your real name bill leckie, or are you not a Fud ……..?
Kev
It is never going to happen for you bud.
Your wasting your time. I got the lazy journalism angle covered.
Lets talk about Rangers dying today
Hail Hail
I reckon kev thought that I was away and that´s why he sneaked back on LOL
Aint that right Kev
Hail Hail
kevjungle – murdo..10 men championees..1979
12:00 on 20 September, 2012
weeminger
11:55 on 20 September, 2012
KevJungle – Murdo..10 men Championees..1979
Samaras
______________________________________________________________
I’ll re-word it
Do we have one player capable of turning a game in our favor available to us at this moment in time ?
******
…….who has blonde hair,with highlights, a wife called Sadie and a dog called Spoy?
Shiftinggoalposts CSC
Bugger, Why is my PC posting before I’ve finished my piece?
Now personally I feel Brown is better when on either the right hand side of a mid 3 or wide right.
Assuming everybody is fit and the new guys live up to expectations/hopes I’d go with
Forster
Matthew Wilson Ambrose Mulgrew
Lassad Brown Wanyama Ledley Samaras
Miku
With a bench of
Zaluska
Lustig
Rogne
Commons
Kayal
Hooper
Watt
I thought the Benfica support was pretty good, considering the state of the Lusitanian economy.
They might be saving their Euros for the trip to Barca, and who could blame them.
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo
12:11 on 20 September, 2012
__________________________________________
Ha !
No seriously……you see, whats really annoying me is that
some folk on here this morning have just stopped short of
having street parties after our point last night.
I – on the other hand have just watched Celtic FC playing
three hours of football and – all we could muster was one
shot at goal – KC’s at Perth on Saturday.
And you find nothing wrong wi that ?
Bhoys you are all being very hard on
kevjungle – murdo..10 men championees..1979
It takes a great deal of effort to be so negative all the time , but Kev seems to carry it off without any problem .
I just hope I’m sitting down when he says something positive .
Sorry but Miku is not going to make us a better team, he should be shipped back to Spain straight away, hopeless in 180 minutes.
We badly missed Ledley & Samaras last night, again!
HH