| Match Pictures | Matches: 1997 – 1998 | 1997-1998 Pictures |
Trivia
- Celtic were ready to recall Tosh McKinlay from his loan spell with Stoke due to a lengthening injury list. Alan Stubbs, Jackie McNamara, Darren Jackson and long-term injury victim Regi Blinker were sidelined, while Annoni and Marc Rieper were considered doubtful after injuries in training. Rieper passed a late fitness test, but Stubbs was out with a thigh strain and Annoni pulled a hamstring. Jackie McNamara with an ankle and knee injury which he had been carrying for a while, Jackson also had a hamstring problem, Blinker was recuperating from a torn calf muscle. This all brought Tommy Johnson back into the fold along with Phil O’Donnell and Malky MacKay.
- Tommy Johnson on as a sub for Larsson suffered knee ligament damage in the 87 minute after a collision with the Dunfermiline goalkeeper Ian Westwater. This put an end to the rest of Johnson’s season.
Review
Rangers were held to a draw at Rugby Park and Celtic went clear at the top of the table with this win but Hearts were now second on the same points but a worse goal difference. Celtic totally outclassed Dunfermiline
Teams
Celtic:
Gould , Boyd , Mahe, Donnelly, Rieper , Hannah , Larsson (Johnson,73 (MacKay ,87 )), Burley (O'Donnell ,60 ), Brattbakk, Lambert, Wieghorst
Scorers: Larsson (4), Brattbakk (28, 60), O’Donnell (61), Wieghorst (68)
Dunfermline:
Westwater, Shields, McCulloch (Bingham ,64 ), Tod, Ireland, Miller (Shaw ,85 ), Huxford, Robertson, Smith, French, Petrie (Moore ,46)
Scorer: Tod (74)
Bookings: Huxford ,McCulloch (Dunfermline)
Referee: M Clark (Edinburgh).
Attendance: 48,502
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Celtic | Dunfermiline | |
| Bookings | 0 | 3 |
| Fouls | 7 | 22 |
| Shots on Target | 12 | 1 |
| Corners | 9 | 2 |
| Offside | 1 | 0 |
Larsson an inspiration as Celtic stroll into top spot
The Scotsman 26/02/1998
Celtic 5 Larsson (4), Brattbakk (28, 40), O'Donnell (61), Wieghorst (68)
Dunfermline 1 Tod (74)
CELTIC looked the most impressive of the championship contenders on a night when their domination of Dunfermline was rewarded with their promotion to the top of the Premier Division.
Harald Brattbakk's double was a feature of a formidable performance by the new favourites for the title, but it was not for nothing that Henrik Larsson, scorer of the opening goal, was accorded an ovation when he was replaced by Tommy Johnson after 72 minutes.
It was a breeze for Wim Jansen's side, who even saw Phil O'Donnell come off the bench -to replace another outstanding contributor, Craig Burley – and score with literally his first touch of the ball. All this, despite supposedly being hampered by enforced team changes.
The injuries which kept Jackie McNamara and Alan Stubbs indoors and allowed Simon Donnelly and David Hannah to come out to play did nothing to inhibit Celtic's eagerness to exert intolerable pressure on their visitors.
When Jansen's side have the scent of prey, they form not so much a hunting pack as a swarm. At times, Dunfermline's defenders must have felt as though a cloud of attackers was swirling around them and Larsson's goal, even as early as the fourth minute, was no surprise.
The little Swede seems to make an impression with every match these days and his 17th goal of the season was merely one aspect of a body of work that was at times spellbinding.
Indeed, had Brattbakk, soon after the goal, possessed the decisiveness and incisiveness of his partner, Celtic would have been further ahead. The Norwegian, of course, would atone later with goals of his own.
That first goal was the product of a neat and fluent series of passes, with Burley eventually pushing the ball through the middle to Donnelly.
The young midfielder's flick put Larsson into the area and, after the ball was blocked, he found it at his feet, five yards from an empty goal and simply drove it over the line.
It was Larsson's next piece of work, however, that was even more enthralling. As the ball dropped out of a floodlit sky, he caught it on his toe, killing its movement, did a little juggle and released Brattbakk on as sweet a pass as any striker could possibly wish. The service was so good that Brattbakk was left with only Ian Westwater to beat and, as happened so often last weekend against Kilmarnock, his indecision seemed to interfere with his shooting prowess and he fired the ball against the goalkeeper's legs.
What nobody could have suspected in that moment, just five minutes into the game, was that Brattbakk may be at his most dangerous when his situation seems to hold little promise.
The goal with which he doubled Celtic's advantage was conclusive evidence.
Stephane Mahe played the ball to the Norwegian on the left and he carried it for a few strides towards the middle. From around 25 yards' range, Brattbakk struck with his right foot and the ball hurtled high to the left of Westwater. The memory of his earlier miss seemed to be submerged in the volcanic roar which greeted the goal.
By that stage, the 28th minute, Celtic had simply overrun the unfortunate Fife side and when Brattbakk made it 3-0 four minutes from the interval, Dunfermline's wretchedness was confirmed, if not complete.
It was a good break from Tom Boyd that led to the goal, the ball being played forward to Larsson, who once again showed his speed of thought and feet with a quick turn and a prod forward. Brattbakk was clear again and his low shot on the turn from 16 yards struck Westwater before trundling over the line.
Celtic's irresistible surges towards Westwater were not even interrupted by the removal of Burley after an hour. The midfielder had indicated during the first half that he was feeling a leg knock, but had continued to make a telling contribution with his intelligent and forceful midfield play. His departure not only brought him relief, but helped produce Celtic's fourth goal.
O'Donnell, returning after months of injury troubles, replaced Burley as Donnelly waited to take a corner kick on the right. By the time the ball was delivered into the penalty area, O'Donnell was in place to head it over the line off the underside of the crossbar. All done with his first touch of the ball and within a few seconds of his arrival on the field. These are moments that confirm a team can do little wrong. What minor irritation came Celtic's way would occur later, when Andrew Tod scored his goal, but that was some time after Morten Wieghorst had scored the home side's fifth.
Dunfermline seemed to be in ruins by then, having had Richard Huxford, Scott McCulloch and Colin Miller booked and having tried desperately to change things by replacing Stewart Petrie with Alan Moore and McCulloch with David Bingham.
The only bad news for Celtic was Johnson, who sustained knee ligament damage near the finish.
He was stretchered off and, although it will not be possible to tell the full extent of his problem until a scan is carried out today, it looks as though he will be out of action for some weeks.
- Manager Interview
Wim Jansen, post match.
"It is nice to be top, but staying there is more difficult
"There are a lot of games to go, but we will do everything we can to keep going. So far the players have handled the pressure well, but we know that the next game is always hard. We meet Hibs and that will be a hard one, too."