| Match Pictures | Matches: 1998 – 1999 | 1998-1999 Pictures |
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Trivia
- When the fans arrived at their seats in the ground they found an A4 personal message from Allan MacDonald taped to their seats. These became fodder for a hail of paper aeroplanes out of the stands and those nearest to Goram all headed on a bombing mission.
- There was a minute’s silence before the game to honour the first anniversary for the victims of Hillsborough. This was broken and two Celtic fans and a Motherwell fan were ejected from the ground.
- Allan MacDonald and David Kells were in touch with Croatia Zagreb to say that because of the change at boardroom level at Celtic Park then there might be room to negotiate over the continuing Viduka transfer fee saga and not involve FIFA.
- The injury to Gould in the Hearts game turned out to be strained shoulder ligaments and it meant that he might miss the rest of the season. Stewart Kerr, who had just prior been linked with a move to Chelsea put the move on hold. Barry John Corr who had deputised for Gould against Hearts was also available.
- Following the news of Boyd’s three match suspension after the Hearts game it was learnt that Marc Rieper would be out to the end of the season in his struggle to recover from toe surgery. Stubbs was also struggling to recover from an ankle injury sustained against Hearts in February.
- The jockeying had started for positions for the next season. Though nothing officially had been announced it certainly looked as though Jo Venglos would go. All the talk of Kenny Dalglish coming back had yet to be substantiated but there were so many stories and rumours, not to mention MacDonald’s friendship with Dalglish, that this looked like a done deal. Other names started to appear. Rudi Krol, former Dutch international and lastly Egyptian National team coach, started to be mentioned as a possibility for the post of Technical Director. Bobby Robson (PSV Eindhoven) and Howard Wilkinson (Technical Director of the English FA) were also mentioned.
- Kerr duly took the role between the sticks, McNamara was out with a knee knock picked up in the Hearts game.
- Larsson was subbed after receiving a heavy knock to the ribs butr an X-Ray showed no fracture. Lambert was subbed with an ankle knock on the same ankle as he had injured at Tynecastle and when he failed to run it off he was subbed. Mjallby took a further knock to the injured thigh and it looked like he would be out for a while.
Review
A pretty vicious bit of hacking from Billy Davies’ charges, following another hacking event at Tynecastle started to take it’s toll with Larsson needing an X-Ray post match. Brattbakk camre on and ended up playing as a wing-back.
Teams
Celtic: Kerr, Annoni, Riseth, Mjallby (Brattbakk 33), Boyd , Burley , Lambert (Wieghorst 21), Blinker, McKinlay, Larsson (Burchill 88), Viduka.
Subs Not Used: Corr, Marshall.
Goals: Larsson 63 pen.
Motherwell: Goram, McGowan, Teale, McMillan, Gower (Nicholas 61), Valakari, McCulloch, Doesburg (Craigen 46), Brannan, Goodman, Spencer, Craigen (Adams 64).
Subs Not Used: Bannister, Nevin.
Booked: Mjallby, Riseth (Celtic) Booked: Valakari, McCulloch, Goodman, Nicholas, McGowan (Motherwell)
Ref: J McCluskey (Stewarton).
Att: 59,588
Articles
- Match Report
Goram is made to pay the penalty
Sunday Herald 18/04/1999
CELTIC 1-0 MOTHERWELL
A goal made easy for Larsson settles a bruising encounter at Celtic Park distinguished by ugly tackles, injuries and a rash of bookings
It might have been something to do with war fever but paper aeroplanes were being launched from all parts of the ground. On the park the hatred was naked, with ugly tackles, injuries and a rash of bookings. The blitz was fairly continuous, if ill-aimed. The collateral damage was a soft penalty and an unjust defeat of the game's star, the incorrigible Andy Goram.
Most of the venom was, of course, focussed on The Goalie who clearly relished it. He had an inspired, glorious afternoon, belying his age – he's 35 this week – and his dissolute past. It took a penalty to beat him after he had denied a stuttering Celtic with a string of saves, one of which almost denied description, and certainly gravity. In fairness, the award probably balanced an earlier omission (Jim McCluskey was having one of his less than convincing afternoons) when Jamie McGowan seemed to handle a Vidar Riseth cross.
Motherwell manager Billy Davies, stating the obvious, said: "Andy Goram was magnificent today." Had be been worried out the treatment he was destined to receive from the fans? "Andy Goram is Andy Goram. He doesn't worry about anything."
Dr Jo Venglos, however, has his concerns. Johan Mjallby has a leg injury, Paul Lambert a sore ankle and Henrik Larsson was off to hospital for an X-ray over a rib injury. Celtic's manager agreed that the game had been "really physical and difficult. In one week three games like that" but this one, he added, was the most physical.
There was a distasteful prelude to the match when, during the minute's silence for the Hillsborough dead, a few sick individuals shouted about terrorist groups and old wars. The play was disappointingly disjointed throughout, played in a mean spirit, the only consistency coming from the strident booing each time Goram touched the ball. The man is a stubborn cuss so it was counter-productive, as he kept his side in it with a series of important saves.
The best, rather the greatest, near the close of the first half, was redolent of Gordon Banks' effort against Pele. Tom Boyd swung in a tasty cross which Larsson, peeling off his marker eight yards out, rose to smartly and ferociously direct down off the turf to The Goalie's left.
There was some denial of the law of physics as Goram first got down to it then palmed it in a wide parabola just over the top. In a week when hyperbole has been rife and the talk has been of the best goal ever scored, this surely had to qualify as one of the greatest saves seen at Parkhead.
An earlier one had, until this stage, seemed merely sublime. Although it led to a correctly disallowed goal, it came on the end of a fierce Tosh McKinlay dunt which came at him though a thicket of legs. His reactions sizzled, he went down to his left to deflect the ball, only into the path of Larsson, clearly offside, who touched home.
Bodies were going down like battle casualties all over the field, as premature retribution was meted out discriminately. Larsson, several times a victim, seemed to leave a leg in against Michel Doesburg, resulting in him being stretchered off, only to reappear, limping heavily, several minutes later. A later head knock, the blood flowing freely, and the stud injury saw him fail to return after the break. It is the second time this season that Larsson has been accused of a cynical foul.
By this time both Lambert and Mjallby had left the field with leg knocks, the result of heavy hits. Celtic had started with three at the back, Enrico Annoni on the left and Riseth as right wing back but with the enforced absences the big blond returned to the centre of the back line, the unfortunate Harald Brattbakk taking up his position, with Morten Wieghorst the other addition. Motherwell started with two in the attack but the pressure of Celtic's uneven attacking usually saw Don Goodman, who still sports a haircut like a villain in a 70s blaxploitation film, dropping into the midfield.
The second half followed the pattern, rather the disarray, of the first, with Motherwell rarely an attacking force and Celtic seldom sticking a passing move together. Riseth had a surging run and a cracking shot past Goram but it cannoned over the crossbar. Bodies continued to go down with regularity and the yellow card was produced almost as frequently – by the end there were five Motherwell names in the book and two Celtic. Motherwell did have one chance, which they failed to take inside the last quarter hour, but it was their first tangible one of the game.
A poor header by Brattbakk reached substitute Stevie Nicholas who shot right-footed on the drop, leaving Stewart Kerr to make a canny save to his left. Goram, by then, had made another save of excellence at the feet of Viduka, who had one of his less troublesomeafternoons.
Tosh McKinnon, from his left foot inevitably, had fired in a low cross which the striker stabbed his foot at, not quickly or accurately enough for The Goalie who stuck his saluting hand at it, deflecting the ball out.
The man was even able to mock himself when he fluffed a pass back. The ball squirmed off his foot and behind so that he had to scamper quickly to finally hack it away. He trotted back to his line, both hands behind his head making ear-waggling movements. An ass presumably.
The penalty had a sad inevitability about it. It seemed an inglorious way to best a great goalkeeper. Goodman appeared to collide with Brattbakk rather than spear him. It was impossible to imagine Larsson missing. The certainty duly arrived when he smacked the ball to the right of Goram, who was – uncharacteristically for him – lunging to his left.
- Manager Interview
Jo Venglos post match:
“”It was a very difficult and very physical match. The players deserve credit because that’s three very difficult games in a week and we have won them all.
“We showed that we had strong character, because as the game went on maybe we doubted that we would score and Stewart Kerr had to make some very good saves.”
Pictures
Stats
| Celtic | Motherwell | |
| Bookings | 2 | 5 |
| Fouls | 8 | 14 |
| Shots on Target | 6 | 3 |
| Corners | 11 | 2 |
| Offside | 1 | 3 |