Celtic turned in a mature away European performance this evening as the subjugated Qarabag in the heat of Baku. Chances were at a premium for both teams. Qarabag were reduced to hopeful shots from outside the box, while Celtic took an hour to fire their first real effort, but had the best two chances of the game.
Celtic were nervous looking in the opening 15 minutes, as they struggled to retain possession, allowing Qarabag ample opportunity to build attacks. Midway through the first half Craig Gordon attempted to punch with his left hand but missed and, fortunately, the ball hit his right hand and fell to safety.
29 minutes in Qarabag’s best player, Almeida de Oliveira forced a save from Gordon from outside the box but although the Celtic keeper had to stretch to reach it, it was a save he would have expected to make. A minute from the break Nir Bitton attempted an audacious chip from the halfway line which the keeper backtracked to stop.
10 minutes after the break El Jadeyaoui had the first attempt of the game which was made inside the box but Gordon saved easily. Then Gary Mackay-Steven drove across field before passing to Stuart Armstrong, who took a step inside the box before shooting over the bar.
On 66 minutes Qarabag found a man in space inside the box for the first time but by the time El Jadeyaoui took a touch Dedryck Boyata was on hand to block.
Seven minutes from the end Stefan Johansen made his trademark lung-busting run into the box to assist Armstrong but Stefan was a tad ahead of the pass and ended up shooting wide while stretching back.
James Forrest had the best chance of the game four minutes from time. He ran at the Qarabag defence from 40 yards out, rode one challenge, and found himself clean through with the keeper to beat but instead of shooting from 12 yards he tried to square to Griffiths (who was never going to get the ball) and the chance was missed.
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DELANEYS DUNKY
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Fidel McGrain,we are not worthy!
have I?
Tried to post a wee while ago, anyway why complain about things I can do feck all about…
Well played Celtic, Izzy was the Izzy we all love, Bitton and Broonie immense, loved Broonie at the final whistle giving it a ” pyoor GIRUY ” to all around.
It was a mature performance, they were a good football team with no cutting edge at this level, bit like us really. Glad to say my stream allowed me the whole second half, nerves frayed but now enjoying a good cigar and a wee cider to celebrate.
On we go to the next test, that is what they are….tests/exams as Ronnie learns his trade at this level.
Enjoy the moment troops , also loved Lenny, Hartson and Sutty giving it full on support for our club. The Sky team will be busy now looking for all the things that can go wrong, enjoy your pain .
Cannae sleep too happy,
Mike in Toronto,
Can’t agree with that, the ref should be playing to the rules, if there’s a foul he should be punishing the offender, this pish about letting the game flow is just an excuse for refs to ignore the rules of the game, if players are determined to break the rules then they need to be put in their place, if that means breaking up the game every 30 seconds so be it, I suspect after a few minutes players would be getting cards and would be forced to play the game properly or face being off the park.
There that’s made me feel tired :)
PAUL67
Albania would be my choice so hope you are correct again
Also hope like like last game against Albanians Partizana Tirana
B4 we kick off Hvns are geting beat 4-0 i think
Not bt Eintracht Frankfurt
but ??????? Ayr in petrofact cup
Virgil
That was not really their home pitch.
They should be playing 140 miles away bu there is a wee inconvenient war going on there so I suspect their home pitch will be in an even worse state.
So who are the teams we can draw on Friday ?
Haha I’m paranoid! Thanks Professor Beefheart.
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So you thought that it was reffed fairly in regards to fouls conceded in dangerous areas- or even just the opposition half?
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Yir a trumpet with big trousers mate.
Did you not want Ronny’s head if we didn’t go thru? Yes I’m sure you did. Fair weather, big club entitlement tosser.
Enjoyed the game, they all played their part, Cifcti, Izzy, Bitton, VVD, Boyata ET Al.
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We were very comfortable throughout the game and one fantastic save from Gordon.
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Enjoyed watching until 85th minute from there until the 95th minute I have to admit I couldn’t settle. Why, not because we were in danger of losing but with that Referee tonight not giving us anything was possible, awarding a dodgy Penalty or conceding a deflected goal. However, my fears were not realised and Broonie and Co. did what they set out to do, qualify!
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Well done Bhoys.
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Eight games more in Europe, two legs for six more games in the UCL, game on. At worst we will have six in the UCL.
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Keep the Faith!
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Hail Hail!
RobinBhoy on 5th August 2015 8:30 pm
Site is very slow to load also in the UK. Otherwise I like it. Sure there must be a fix.
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Using an iPhone 6 with 30MB wifi in the house. Other web pages open mucho more quickly.
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I’m on a laptop using firefox, I’d imagine lots of tablets/phones will have issues. Though my android phone isn’t struggling when I’ve used it at work.
Cowiebhoy, Why would there be one match less in the Europa League as distinct from Champions League, it is the same format. A few years ago Europa was a 5 team group and you played the other 4 once now its a 4 team group home & away.
I( know some trolls are missing but Rudicantfail is missing as well. cre Rudi to show up and tell us how delighted he is.
What a result
Delighted
Btw Malmo 3-0 up v Salzburg – if that stays the same would do well to avoid them next round
HH
Geezo Delaneys……you are giving me a )))riddy((( but honestly, it was a joy to do it not only because of who it was….but as it was for a brilliant tim…..an absolute pleasure :)
TR
Had James shot instead of squaring it to Leigh, and Stefan did what he did on Saturday, that away goal would have materialised tonight. Don’t care they never scored noo. :)
Saint Stivs
Astana
Skendenbeu
APOEL
Zagreb
Bate
Paul 67
How come your name’s in green?
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Ah waaaaaant ma name in green :-(( :-))
Canamalar … different strokes …. I thought the game had a decent flow to it ….. if he had been very strict both sides would have suffered …. they got away with a bit more than us at the beginning, for sure, but the ref let a few things go for us too … even after SJ got carded, he was chirping at the ref … in the past, we have been caught out too often by the different style of refereeing when we played in europe …. and we have tended to suffer more than our opposition when the refs play too big a role…. so I was happy to see him be less involved.
but, as I said, happy to chat with you, pal, and just as happy to see it differently sometimes.
HH
DD,
Thunder Road’s time and work are much appreciated.
What a talent.
Delighted…… Ronny is the best thing that’s happened to our club, since the king of kings departed.
And that’s to take nothing away from WGS and Lennon, who champs league achievements were great.
But with limited transfer budget, Ronnie is masterminding something special.
We are lucky, as we have a very strong spine to the team. From Gordon, to VanDijk, to Bitton, Broony and Johansen.
If I was being picky, the forward 3 of GMS, Cifti, and Armstrong, offer hard work… but need to carry greater threat.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 5TH AUGUST 2015 8:34 PM
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Whilst the Referee gave us nothing we can have no complaints about our two bookings. Stefan’s was for persistent fouling. Izzy got booked for similar booking young James got in the first game, for booting the Ball away.
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Keep the Faith!
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Hail Hail!
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 5TH AUGUST 2015 8:34 PM
Art of War
BBC stats show Qarabag having 68% possession
They had 12 shots with 2 on target; we had 5 with 1 on target
They had 7 corners to our 1 and we committed 16 fouls to their 9
Even our ‘friends’ at the BBC can’t use those stats to hide the fact that we were the better team throughout.
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/qarabag-0-0-celtic/comment-page-2/#comments
Clougher
I would love any input that you Irish bhoys have about it and any suggestions of what should be in it will be an education so please……tear it to pieces if that’s what’s needed.
AOW
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Stop sitting on the fence. Tell us what you really think
Saint Stivs
Seeds not certain till Friday
When listening to oracles one must assume that they have recently been patched
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 5TH AUGUST 2015 8:12 PM
The wee precocious James Forrest that burst into the Celtic side some years ago, would have wannered
that chance into the Qara ( onion ) bag.
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Season before last he scored the exact same goal vs Hibs away,coming in from the right wing and struck the ball with outside of right foot,I was in line and he had more to shoot at tonight.
Virgil/ SFTB – a mate of mine sent me through a pointer to where Qarabag are from (originally), Agdam. Have a read up of it on wiki and we’ll all realise just how lucky we have it. Bloody he’ll doesn’t quite sum it up. At least their turf was green….kind of…
SFTB- Thanks stato, much appreciated.
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But what were the true foul stats? :-)
We have played 5 competitive games so far.
Won 4
Drawn 1
Lost 0
Goals for 9
Goals against 1
Next the Glesga derby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Goodnight Timland.
COWIEBHOY on 5TH AUGUST 2015 8:30 PM
Can I ask how we have at least 8 European games ?
Only 8 if we get to Champions league group stage
Is it not 7 if it is only Europa league ?
Still Europe until mid December works for me :-)
Hail Hail
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/qarabag-0-0-celtic/comment-page-2/#comments
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Is that one of the higher maths question they were all complaining about this year:)
Next round has two games, plus six from either CL,or EL.
Professional performance tonight Celtic. Thank you. Britton excellent, Ciftci did well and Izzy had best defence display in years. Magic.
TGSC
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I see above you asked about ‘Opera’.
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I’m using Opera Mini web browser on my phone. It is free for Android or IPhone and can be downloaded from the Android store or the app store.
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Opera download the pages through their servers in Iceland and send you a condensed version to your phone, I find it loads the pages pretty quickly. I also selected remember me when I login so I stay logged in and have no problem getting on the site.
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if you are using computer the Opera browser can be downloaded from the link below for windows
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AoW,
Supported Ronny fully. Will continue to do so. Enjoy the evening. Onwards and upwards.
Delighted with the bhoys tonight onwards to the champions league
Seeing as the clock was stopped for the water break and there were no trainers on the pitch. Very few fouls etc.
So where did the 5 minutes of injury time come from
As for Forrest, I just hope all the haters give the boy a break.
Ravaged by injury for too long, he is obviously short of confidence at present. Ronny knows what he is doing with him….nursing him back gradually.
He will come good
SFTB – Yup. Must be disheartening though. Hope we’ve got a CB lined up for when we qualify and sell VVD for £20m :-)
HH
Memories of Dukla Prague.
A pragmatic performance designed to achieve a goal.
Progress.
Mission accomplished.
The bhoys took a wee while to get used to the lively pitch.
Ball was bouncing around as if it was a school playground game.
It didn’t help those with close control and running skills, like GMS or Nir.
I was well impressed by Izzy. He stuck to his task and played as a defender, not a wing back.
He did it well and their winger got little or no joy from him all night.
It was not so comfortable from our right flank where all their danger arose.
Was GMS not tracking back enough or was Brown drawn in to the centre too often?
Johansen was baited into too many retaliatory situations. I guess this was an aftermath of last week’s niggling off the ball contacts.
Ciftci ran his socks off all night in the heat. He didn’t run very fast but he did chase and Harry relentlessly. At least he will get the weekend off, unlike the rest.
Is Craig Gordon world class? Of course he is.
The skeptics who questioned his signing, myself included, have been proven wrong, terribly terribly wrong. I’d like my humble pie after dinner please.
It’s been a nervous July and early August but Ronny’s Bhoys have come through.
Per ardua ad astra.
dd and clougher
I appreciate your kind words and believe me….i am blushing, but lets celebrate the team tonight bhoys….what we did and what awaits……there will be much more boring gaps to fill other times ;)