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Trivia
- Martin O'Neill's side secured their place in the fourth round of the Tennent's Scottish Cup.
- Celtic took control from the start and got back in the groove after their winter break.
- The Bhoys erased unhappy memories of last year's early departure to lower division minnows with a commanding performance over Stranraer in the third round.
Review
With no sign of rust celtic carved out a glorious opening as early as the second minute. First Henrik Larsson headed Ramon Vega's cross on target, but Stranraer's goalkeeper Mark McGeown got down low to his left to deny the Swede. From the resulting corner Vega fired Bobby Petta's cross over the bar from point-blank range, but the home side were under intense pressure.
Stranraer, however, gave Celtic a scare in the 15th minute following a rare foray into the Celtic half. Harty sliced the Celtic defence wide open with a through ball to Paul Walker, who cut inside Valgaeren before unleashing a right-footed effort which Robert Douglas did well to save low to his right.
Celtic eased any nerves they might have been harbouring when they took the lead in the 24th minute. Vega once again appeared at the far post to head Lennon's free-kick goalwards. It was destined for the back of the net – but Valgaeren made sure by heading home from close range.
In the 42nd minute Larsson crashed a right-footed volley, from a Lennon free-kick, against the crossbar – and the Second Division side breathed a sigh of relief.
Stranraer's hopes of staging a giant killing, however, were shattered in the 51st minute when Celtic produced a top class move to double their lead. Chris Sutton played the ball inside to Larsson who squared the ball to McNamara to blast home an unstoppable right-footed effort past McGeown.
Celtic refused to rest on their two-goal cushion and just five minutes later they got a third goal. Petta's dangerous cross was fired into his own net by Knox – who was supporting a bandaged head after sustaining a cut following a collision with Vega.
Celtic rubbed salt in the Stranraer wounds when they brought on two international stars in the shape of Paul Lambert – making his first appearance since being injured in November – and Moravcik, for Petta and Larsson.
McNamara looked odds-on to grab his second goal of the night when Moravcik played a perfectly weighted ball through to him, but McGeown was quick off his line to deny him.
The home supporters did have something to celebrate in the 84th minute when Alan Thompson was dispossessed by Harty, who crashed a fierce right-footed effort past Douglas.
Celtic, however, had the final say when Moravcik picked the ball up in the middle of the Stranraer half before hitting a tame shot which squeezed under McGeown's despairing dive and over the line.
Teams
Stranraer:-
McGeown, Johnstone, Wright, Knox, George, Hodge, Blair, Billy McDonald, Harty, Jenkins (Bryce 70), Walker.
Subs not used:- Jered Stirling, Geraghty, Rae, O'Neil.
Goal:- Harty 84.
Booked:- Knox, Blair.
Celtic:-
Douglas, Boyd, McNamara, Valgaeren (Mjallby 65), Vega, Agathe, Lennon, Thompson, Petta (Lambert 61), Larsson (Moravcik 61), Sutton.
Subs not used:- Gould, Smith.
Goals:- Valgaeren 23, McNamara 51, Knox 55 og, Moravcik 85.
Att:- 5,600
Ref:- S Dougal.
Articles
Pictures
BBC
No Cup Blues for Celtic
Celtic blast through to the fourth round
Celtic's Bobby Petta takes the ball from Paul Blair
Stranraer 1-4 Celtic
The Bhoys erased unhappy memories of last year's early departure to lower division minnows with a commanding performance over Stranraer in the third round.
The home side, sitting second in the Scottish second division, put on a dogged display at Stair Park, but in the end found it impossible to deny the Scottish Premier League leaders.
The Blues only succumbed once in the first half when Belgian defender Joos Valgaeren put Celtic ahead, but goals from Jackie McNamara and Moravcik, as well as an unfortunate own goal from veteran Keith Knox killed Stranraer's chances.
Ian Harty was able to pull one back in the dying minutes of the game, but it was too little too late for the Blues.
Home resistance
Anxious not to repeat last year's debacle against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the third round, Celtic got off to strong start.
Stranraer keeper had to be at full stretch to tip Henrik Larsson's powerful header around the post in the first minute.
But the Blues were determined not to fold that easily and hussled for every ball they could in the middle of the field.
The move nearly paid dividends as Ian Harty broke free a few minutes later and managed to get a shot on target before being closed down by Joos Valgaeren.
However, Stranraer could only hold on so long, and finally in the 24th minute the Bhoys got the goal they wanted.
Not the most glamorous of efforts, it was Belgian defender Valgaeren's keen opportunism to dart in the box and bundle home Ramon Vega's head back across goal.
Stranraer did well to keep the deficit down to one goal in the first half as Celtic continued to pile on the pressure.
Neil Lennon, Chris Sutton and Larsson were at the centre of everything threatening the goal and came close on a number of occasions
Double whammy
As the second half started, the Bhoys knew they need not change their tactics, confident that they would break down the home side.
That break came a few minutes later as events began to conspire against Keith Knox.
First, the 36-year-old had to leave the pitch with a bleeding head after a nasty clash with Ramon Vega.
In his absence, with the home side down to 10 men, Celtic made their move with midfielder Jackie McNamara blasting their second into the back of the net after some instrumental play from Larsson in the 51st minute.
Finally, the veteran defender rushed back into the fray, with head bandaged up, only to help the visitors to their third goal of the match four minutes later.
Knox, bearing a remarkable resemblance to Terry Butcher in his head gear, panicked as Celtic pushed forward and turned Bobby Petta's cross into his own net
The game looked to be all over, but before Stranraer could be written off, Harty leapt onto a loose ball in the Celtic half, and sneaked the ball past keeper Douglas.
However, Celtic did not want any late revivals and put the result beyond question when substitute squeezed a drive past McGeown for goal number four.
Stranraer: McGeown, Johnstone, Wright, Knox, George, Hodge, Blair, Billy McDonald, Harty, Jenkins, Walker.
Subs: Bryce, Jered Stirling, Geraghty, Rae, O'Neil.
Celtic: Douglas, Boyd, Petta, McNamara, Valgaeren, Vega, Lennon, Agathe, Larsson, Thompson, Sutton.
Subs: Lambert, Moravcik, Mjallby, Smith, Gould.
Referee: S Dougal (Scotland)