| Match Pictures | Matches: 1989 – 1990 | 1989-1990 Pictures |
Trivia
- All ticket game.
- One of the most dramatic and remarkable games ever seen at Celtic Park.
- Aggregate 6-6; Celtic out on away goals!
- Darius Dziekanowski scores a remarkable four goals.
- Partizan managed by future Dundee United manager Ivan Golac.
- Game shown on highlights by BBC UK wide in view of English clubs ban in Europe.
- Partizan lost in the quarter finals to Dinamo Bucharest 4-1 on aggregate.
- The son of the scorer of the decisive goal, Scepovic, signed for Celtic in an unsuccessful spell in 2014-15.
- This defeat inspired music composer James Macmillan’s ‘The Berserking’: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02lh3cj
Review
This was one of the most remarkable games ever viewed at Parkhead with an absolutely disastrous ending for a brave Celtic team.
Scoring went as follows: 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 4-3, 5-3, 5-4.
With Celtic leading 5-3 and going through on aggregate with just two minutes left, Joe Miller lost the ball at the Partizan goal corner flag. A quick break down the left wing saw a cross come in and Scepovic headed it for goal. The despairing Bonner got a hand to out and only served to divert it past Paul Elliot who was on the goal line and would have cleared had Bonner not knocked it past him.
Celtic players and fans were devastated at time up and stood in stone silence as jubilant Partizan players and coaches danced for joy on the Parkhead turf.
Billy McNeill was heavily criticised afterwards for not making one substitution when Celtic were leading 5-3 with minutes to go which would have broken the game up and killed some time.
It is thought that Darius Dziekanowski could have laid on another cert, but went for a personal five. He was later lambasted in the changing room despite having scored four goals, and maybe others were more culpable for the defeat than Jacki.
Teams
CELTIC:
P Bonner; P Grant, A Rogan, R Aitken, P Elliot, D Whyte, M Galloway, P McStay, D Dziekanowski, A Walker, J Miller. Subs: Andrews McCahill Fulton Burns Coyne.
Scorers: Dziekanowski (25, 46, 56, 81), Walker (65)
PARTIZAN BELGRADE:
M Pandurović, V Stanojković, P Spasić, M Milanič, G Petrić, M Vujačić, M Đurđević (M Bajović 77), T Milojević, D Šćepović, M Đurovski, J Bogdanović (A Đorđević 72) Subs: Krali Zupic Stepanovic.
Scorers: M Vujačić (7), M Đurđević (51), M Đurovski (61), D Šćepović (88)
Referee: K Peschel (East Germany).
Att: 49,298
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
- I was there…
Pictures
Articles
Evening Times 28th September 1989
“Celtic win thriller but Partizan edge their way through.”
The Times (London, England) (Sept 28, 1989)
Celtic 5 Partizan Belgrade 4
(6-6 on aggregate; Partizan win on away goals)
On an evening of matchless farce at Parkhead, Celtic and Partizan Belgrade, each playing apparently without benefit of defenders, produced a contest which saw fortune swing capriciously to settle finally on the Yugoslavs, whose passage into the next round of the Cup Winners‘ Cup was guaranteed by a goal from Scepovic in the closing seconds.
Celtic’s battle plan was evident when Miller, who last week presented his club with a written transfer request, was included in the starting line-up. In their customary manner, they thrust towards the opposition goal in an attempt to unsettle the Yugoslavs, but it was the Scots who were caught cold when Partizan proved themelves adept at the counterpunch. The first warning came when Spasic was permitted an inordinate acreage of space on the Partizan left, and his progress was halted only by an inelegant and illegal challenge by the intercepting Aitken.
In the seventh minute Celtic were again caught thin at the back when going forward, and this time they were penalized. Dordevic made ground on the right to cut back a low square ball which Durovski met at the back post only to see Bonner turn his shot past the post. The home players’ relief was temporary, however, and when the kick arrived in the penalty area Vijajic rose to head in easily.
Celtic were clearly shaken, but applied themselves admirably to the task of overhauling what was now a two-goal deficit, and when Partizan began to display a tendency towards physical play, Petric was cautioned for a clumsy foul on Whyte. McStay came forward to orchestrate the free kick and despatched a delicate chip to the right edge of the penalty area. Elliott headed back in and Dziekanowski put the ball beyond Pandurovic for the equalizer on the night.
Two minutes into the second half, Celtic scored the goal which brought the tie level on aggregate, Dziekanowski pouncing to knock the ball across an unguarded line. Celtic had merely to steady themselves to gain a proper purchase on the contest, but instead they hurled away their advantage when Whyte conceded possession to Durovski and he had the simplest of tasks to contrive an opening for Dordevic to tap the ball into the gaping goalmouth.
It appeared that Celtic could not raise their spirits yet again, but the indefatigable Aitken was driving forward down the right flank and it was from that source that the next goal arrived, a Dziekanowski half volley. No sooner had the celebrations begun than they were doused when Pandurovic, kicking from hand, released Durovski, who wandered unhamped on goal, while Aitken drifted mysteriously out of his path, and the Partizan forward was permitted to roll the ball around Bonner and into the net.
By this stage the match was almost beyond description, but Celtic dragged themselves into the lead for the first time in the two legs when Dziekanowski foraged down the right to switch the ball inside where Walker hit it on the run for a glorious goal. With 10 minutes remaining, the atmosphere became hysterical as Galloway found space on the right to strike a raking ball to the far post where Dziekanowski ran the ball into the net.
Celtic merely required to play out time and with a minute remaining they had sustained the advantage which would see them into the next round. Incredibly, they conceded a lunatic goal, allowing Spasic room to gallop down the left flank to set up Scepovic’s winner.