CL: Celtic 1 - 0 United
PREVIEW
Tonight’s trip to Celtic Park is an opportunity for United to nail down a place in the next round of the Champions League and to atone for the slipshod performance in Copenhagen.
A passionate crowd is expected, with Celtic not out of the running for qualification themselves, setting up a game likely to be high in drama and intensity.
Sir Alex is expecting nothing else. “We want to come back from Glasgow having made sure we have already qualified,” he said. “Celtic’s support is a definite help. It certainly won’t be an easy game for us and we need players who have the courage to handle the atmosphere.
“We took a risk in Copenhagen. We are well aware of the dangers of taking too many chances. There is a temptation to play my strongest side because we still have another five days before the Chelsea game.”
Nevertheless, the manager, with an eye on Sunday’s match with Chelsea, is expected to “freshen” his team with one or two fringe faces. Gabriel Heinze, a former first team regular now fighting the reborn Patrice Evra for the fullback’s slot, will hope to be given another chance to convince Sir Alex he has fully recovered from injury. If confidence was factored into the selection criteria, the Argentine would be first pick.
“I am optimistic that Manchester United will be in the next round of the Champions League,” he said. “In Glasgow we will win if the team controls the rhythm of the game. United is the leader in England and so are Celtic but today, the difference between the championships is enormous. I believe that we are the favourites. I expect a hard match with many battles. Am authentic British match very similar to Argentinian games in style. Only for men.”
United’s superior quality in every department will give them much of the ball and Sir Alex will hope his free-flowing strike force is in the mood to make short work of the hosts. Celtic however, will be no pushovers and are mindful that United have failed to apply themselves more than once this season. The fighting display that stretched United last September, must have given the Hoops heart and surely put United on their guard.
“We know that we have enough in the squad to go and win the game,” said Celtic striker Kenny Miller. Manager Gordon Strachan was happy to concede United have the better individuals but also fancied an upset. “There has to be a feeling that we can win the game,” he said.“I know our league isn’t the same as the English Premiership but there isn’t that great a difference. There has to be respect for what they’ve got at their disposal. But we have got to stand up to them.”
United are set for a rare old tussle but are likely to draw the sting from the home side before putting the Scots to the sword late on.
MATCH REPORT…
Celtic 1 - 0 United
Nakamura 80
United paid the price for another careless display, allowing Celtic to steal the points and a place in the next round, despite being inferior all evening.
Louis Saha’s failure to finish when clean through on the keeper in the 83rd minute and his missed penalty two minutes from time, meant the game was won by Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura’s perfectly flighted free kick, which gave goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar no chance.
“You must score goals to win matches and we didn’t do that,” conceded a disappointed Sir Alex Ferguson. “We created some great opportunities and were strong in the first half. And for the most part, produced a controlled performance, but our finishing was disappointing.”
The Scottish champions were brave and took the game to United. But it was more in hope than with subtlety, design or method. United had the measure of their hosts for 80 minutes until Nakamura’s moment of sublime skill, enabled by a fortunately-won free kick, converted Celtic’s toil into a priceless goal.
Now it is Celtic who are certain to be in the competition next year. United meanwhile, face a nail-biting match against Benfica, a team which will need to win to be sure of qualification. It promises to be a night of high drama.
Sir Alex will be enraged at the manner in which his full-strength side threw the points away. Their dominance was plain for all to see. Perhaps, United were bored by the ease of it all, because a performance which began as a text-book, European away-day display, gradually transformed itself into team play without tempo, purpose or ambition.
Scholes and Carrick sat too deep and contented themselves with square balls. The attack lacked support and rarely achieved the fluency required of genuine Premiership title contenders aiming to make a mark in Europe. After a few early moments of enterprise, United sat back and invited Celtic to play, as if conserving energy for the weekend clash with Chelsea. Rooney, needlessly employed as a winger, was as peripheral as the out of touch Saha. Only Ronaldo, again, carried any threat but couldn’t win the game alone.
The first half was notable for the lack of any significant action. United probed without threatening the home side’s goal with any real intent. Celtic hustled but mostly allowed United possession in none threatening areas. It was hardly a spectacle of elite European football entertainment.
The game awaited a spark and it was Celtic who emerged in the second half with the greater determination to provide it. United weathered the storm and with 10 minutes to go, the game seemed to be heading for a draw. A job reasonably well-done would have been the headline. Nakumura’s tremendous 30 yard free kick, made sure that Sir Alex awakes to headlines he would rather forget.
TEAM
United: Van der Sar; Heinze (Evra 85); Ferdinand; Vidic; Neville; Giggs
Scholes ; Carrick(O’Shea 85); Ronaldo; Rooney; Saha
Subs: Kuszczak, Fletcher, Richardson
POST SCRIPT
Sir Alex: I am in shock. Losing this game is very hard to take. It is disappointing because we have thrown it away by not scoring goals to win the match. We didn’t do enough in the last third of the field and that is what can happen in football if you don’t take your chances.
Louis is obviously disappointed to miss the penalty but the players will help to lift him because we are all together at this club. Understandably, the players are disappointed. We have five days to lift them but if we want to win the league we have to show character and I am sure we will.”
ON BENFICA : “Our home form has been very good. I have no worries on that score. We have to be a bit more aggressive and take our chances.Unfortunately we have a couple of big matches to play before then. We can focus on those and put the Champions League on the back burner.”
Gordon Strachan: “It was incredible to participate and just be involved in a night like this. Our first half wasn’t great, but we changed the shape at half-time and that helped. In Shunsuke Nakamura, we have a player who is among the best in the world from set-pieces. I would only give us a five out of 10 for that performance. I better check Teletext to make sure.”
Fernando Santos - Benfica coach : “A draw between Manchester United and Celtic would have given us a much better chance, but that result was the worst possible for us. In Manchester we have to win but they have the advantage as they know a draw is enough for them. We have to be calm there and not take too many risks from the beginning because they’ll also have lots of pressure on them.”
