| Match Pictures | Matches: 1997 – 1998 | 1997-1998 Pictures |
Trivia
- Rieper was ineligible for this game.
- The Sunday Mail tried to stir things up by alleging there was a boycott of the game by Executive and Investor members. This was pure fabrication.
- Blinker dislocated his shoulder in the game and was out for a month.
- Steve McManaman – scored possibly the best goal ever scored by an opposition player at Celtic Park.
- Regarded as one of the few European matches involving Celtic in the 1990s which are highly rated. A good European performance and result were very rare in those days for Celtic.
Review
Though we went into this one as the under dogs it turned out to be a well fought match in which we looked to have got a result only for the defense to back off McManaman at the end and allow him to score a screamer, running practically the whole length of the pitch to score against us.
Possibly the best goal ever scored by an opposition player at Celtic.
Teams
Celtic: Gould; Boyd, Mahe, McNamara, Stubbs, Larsson, Burley, Blinker (O'Donnell, 45), Donnelly, Hannah, Wieghorst.
Non Used Subs – Marshall, McKinlay, MacKay, Thom, Annoni, Gray
Scorers: McNamara (53), Donnelly (pen, 74)
Liverpool: James, Jones, Bjornebye, Kvarme, Wright, Matteo, McManaman, Ince, Riedle, Owen, Thomas.
Non Used Subs – Berger, Warner, Babb, Kennedy, Carragher, Murphy, McAteer.
Scorers: Owen (5), McManaman (89)
Booked: Boyd (Celtic); Thomas, Ince, James
Referee: C Graziano (Italy)
Attendance: 48,526
Build Up Highlights
Articles
Pictures
Stats
| __________________ | Celtic __________________ |
Liverpool __________________ |
| Bookings | 1 | 3 |
| Fouls | 19 | 11 |
| Shots on Target | 4 | 4 |
| Corners | 6 | 8 |
| Offside |
McManaman magic puts Celtic on the back foot
The Scotsman 17/09/1997
Celtic 2 McNamara (53), Donnelly (74 pen)
Liverpool 2 Owen (6), McManaman (90)
STEVE McManaman exposed Celtic's Achilles heel by plundering a last-minute goal which gave Liverpool an equaliser they ill-deserved in an epic UEFA Cup first round, first leg, tie at Parkhead last night.
The England forward struck after an amazing 60-yard run which saw Celtic's tired defenders back off to allow him to curl a shot beyond keeper Jonathon Gould to cancel out the lead Simon Donnelly's 74th minute penalty had given Wim Jansen's team after Jackie McNamara had cancelled out Michael Owen's excellent early piece of genius.
It silenced the majority of the 48,526 crowd who had seen their heroes tear Liverpool apart in the second half and Celtic were worthy of a greater lead as they left their much vaunted opponents hanging on the ropes in a thrilling climax.
Now though, the pendulum has swung to the Premiership side for the return match at Anfield in a fortnight.
Not surprisingly, the night was launched by a deafening and electric atmosphere as Parkhead pumped up the volume just for the visitors, although fans of both clubs sportingly joined each other in the communal anthem of You'll Never Walk Alone.
In the pre-match warm-up, the demeanour of the sides could not be more different.
Liverpool almost seemed to revel in their Spice Boys tag, strolling arrogantly, joking and even clowning as Dominic Matteo and Owen raised their arms in triumph towards the 3,000 supporters from Merseyside after netting a goal in the kickabout. Celtic, on the other hand, went about their preparations with heads down, a study in seriousness.
Such was the magnetic attraction of this occasion that even Kenny Dalglish, an idol at both Parkhead and Anfield, was drawn away from his Champions League build-up with Newcastle to see it. No-one would have appreciated the stunning opening by Liverpool's young prodigy Owen more than Dalglish.
The 17-year-old forward put the English side in front after just six minutes with a wonderfully executed goal which Dalglish in his prime would have been glad to claim.
Liverpool worked the ball down the left flank from Matteo to McManaman to Karlheinz Riedle. The German's flick into the space behind Alan Stubbs was sublime and in an instant Owen was off, leaving the Celtic defender for dead, and advancing on Gould before coolly chipping the Celtic keeper to silence Parkhead.
Celtic's Craig Burley and Henrik Larsson tried to hit back instantly, but both their efforts were just too high. Then, in the 22nd minute, Donnelly got a clear sight of Liverpool keeper David James's eyes following a flowing move involving Morten Wieghorst and Burley, but the striker's shot from the edge of the area was too direct to trouble James.
Regi Blinker in particular was starting to stretch the Liverpool defence and his marker, Bjorn Tore Kvarme, was struggling to contain the Dutchman. Blinker's tricks created Celtic's best chance in the 44th minute, which had the Parkhead crowd howling for a penalty. The little winger threaded a pass through for Burley, who had ghosted into the box, and although the Scottish international stumbled, he picked himself up and drove a shot at goal which appeared to strike Matteo's arm, but Italian referee Cesari Graziano turned down penalty appeals.
A minute later things got worse for Blinker, when he was stretchered off the field following a challenge by Rob Owens.
Celtic's growing confidence, however, was visible and, after Larsson's shot took a deflection before hitting the post, Jansen's team clawed their way back into the game with a gem of a goal from McNamara which nearly had the Celtic supporters lifting the roof off Parkhead. McNamara, who has recently been sacrificed for Jansen's team plans, burst down the right and exchanged passes with Burley before entering the box to crash a left foot volley high into the net for the equaliser.
Donnelly then featured in two dramatic incidents after an hour. McNamara's corner was knocked out to the Celtic forward on the edge of the area and he returned it with a venomous shot which crashed off the underside of the bar with James beaten.
Then, 60 seconds later, Donnelly appeared to be denied a clear penalty when he was chopped down by Kvarme but received no joy from the Italian referee. However, Donnelly took his revenge in the 74th minute when he converted his penalty after Larsson was brought down by James as the Swede latched onto a splendid pass from Wieghorst.
- Manager Interview
Wim Jansen, post match
“To go down there with the score at 2-2 will not be so easy for us but we are still in the race.
“You never know in soccer and we can go to Anfield with confidence if we play it very quickly up front.
“Liverpool will have to keep the pressure on us and maybe we can utilise any space that will create.
“Especially if we learn from the second half performance as in the first period we played the game square and short.
“But after the break we played the ball much more quickly and as early as possible to Simon and Henrik.
“To win at Anfield will not be easy but we still have the chance as we know we can cause Liverpool problems.”
Roy Evans, Liverpool manager:
"We were upset about the penalty. We didn't feel there was any contact.
"The referee overall had an excellent game, but when the Celtic lad went down we believed, certainly from where we were, that David didn't touch him."
"We were under the cosh for a long time in the second half and Celtic put us under all sorts of pressure, which didn't surprise me after what I saw of them against Motherwell.
“With our goal coming at that late stage, to say it was a bit of a let-off would be a fair comment.
“And I would say that I am extremely happy to go back to Liverpool for the second leg with the score sitting at 2-2.”