Trivia
- The Norwegians flew in late on Monday night. Jock Stein professed to knowing nothing about them. Rosenborg were all amateurs and part-timers.
- Jimmy Johnstone was back and in training but yet to prove he was match fit. The injury list was quite extensive with Hay, Callaghan, Connaghan, Brogan and Quinn all on the treatment table for greater or lesser problems.
- The team wasn't announced to late. Tommy Callaghan made the game and was at left back. Up front in came Macari and Wilson with Bobby Lennox dropping to the bench.
- Norwegian Goalkeeper Geir Karlsen–later to trial with Celtic and sign for Dunfermline–brilliant but breaks ankle.
- Game played at Hampden due to work on the new Parkhead stand.
- Celtic's first Euro tie against Norwegian opposition.
Review
Celtic turn in a poor, low key performance at a sparsely populated Hampden.
Celtic were two up at half time but the team suffered badly from not taking the game seriously and the low turnout and lack of atmosphere at Hampden. Rosenborg played on the break and stunned Celtic in the second half with a well taken goal.
Teams
Celtic:-
Williams, McGrain, Callaghan, Murdoch, McNeill, Connelly, Hood, Dalglish, Deans, Macari, Wilson (Lennox 45) Subs: Connaghan, McCluskey, Davidson
Goals: Macari (16), Deans (44)
Rosenborg BK:-
Karlsen (Torp), Wormdal, Rønnes, Rime, Meirik, Christiansen, Næss, Sunde, Lindseth, Wirkola, Ødegård (Hansen)
Goals: Wirkola (49)
Referee: Richard Navarra (Malta)
Attendance 18,797
Articles
Pictures
Articles
Evening Times 14th September 1972
Glasgow Herald Thursday September 14 1972
Dominant Celtic take only one-goal lead to Norway
By John Downie
Celtic 2, Rosenborg Trondheim 1
The crowd of some 30,000 who went to Hampden last night to see the first leg of Celtic’s European Cup first-round match with the Norwegian amateur side Rosenborg, suffered more than an hour of frustration as the home team maintained almost total domination in possession and territory but contrived to score only twice and conceded a breakaway goal.
The Norwegians looked far from amateurish in some clever attacks in the opening minutes and one almost felt at this stage that Celtic had let them loose to see what they could do.
By the time Celtic had scored in 17 minutes, however, it seemed that Macari’s headed goal from a corner kick by Hood would be the first of many. Murdoch, after all, was at his masterful best in midfield, Callaghan, McGrain, and Connelly in turn were finding opportunities to provide ammunition for those in front and fire in the odd shot themselves, the youthful Wilson was giving an excellent account of himself on the left wing, and Hood, Macari, Dalglish and Deans were all at times troubling a splendidly organised, but increasingly hard-pressed defence.
To make matters more threatening for the Norwegians their 6ft. 4in. International goalkeeper Karlsen went off on a stretcher after having collided by the tiny Macari as they contested a ball slipped into a space in front of goal by Hood.
He was replaced by another big fellow, Torp, who was beaten just before half-time, when Deans rose to head past him from a lobbed cross by McGrain. Clearly it seemed a cake-walk.
But it was not to be. In the opening minutes of the second half Deans missed two chances, the second when he mistimed a brilliant pass by Callaghan that put him clean through in front of goal.
And only four minutes after the restart Celtic’s near total concentration to attack caused them to be caught out. A pass out of defence sent Lindseth striding down the right wing, and as McNeill hastened to cover the flank, Lindseth sent a beautiful pass inside the centre half to Wirkola, who ran in unimpeded and shot past Williams.
There the scoring ended. As the area in front of Rosenborg’s goal became more and more congested Celtic began to fire from longer range. Medium range shots from Dalglish, Lennox, (who took Wilson’s wing place for all of the second half) and Murdoch –a great swerving drive—all were saved by Torp. Then another by Callaghan was knocked against the crossbar by the goalkeeper and dropped to Deans almost under the bar, but he contrived to scoop it over.
FATIGUE
From then on Celtic’s attempts to score became increasingly wild, which seemed doubly unfortunate as I thought Trop showed signs of fatigue in going down to a ground shot by Hood with nine minutes to go, and there was further worry for Celtic that Rosenborg had confirmed the danger of their sudden breakouts when Wirkola went down the right and centred to Lindseth, but this time Celtic were prepared although the Norwegians had reversed roles.
But the only other time the ball crossed the goalline at either end was when Macari confirmed his role as the terror of big goalkeepers by nudging Torp over the line, ball and all. In my boyhood it would have been a goal, but as we have moved closer to Europe, it has become a foul—and one that the visitors fiercely resented.
With eight minutes to go Rosenborg substituted Hansen for Odegard. It did not change the frustrating pattern of the play.
Celtic—Williams; McGrain and Callaghan; Murdoch, McNeill and Connelly; Hood and Dalglish; Deans; Macari and Wilson.
Rosenborg—Karlsen; Meirik and Ronnes; Rime, Wormdahl and Christiansen; Ness and Lindseth; Sunde; Wirkola and Odegard.
Referee—R. Navarra (Malta).
