2007-10-03: Celtic 2-1 AC Milan, Champions League

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Trivia

Champions League 2007-08
A wee idiot pranced onto the pitch and gave a wee pat on the cheek to the AC Milan goalkeeper who 10 seconds later decided to take a dive over it! Embarrassing and ridiculous, but the wee idiot who run onto the pitch should get clobbered! Potentially could get the club into trouble.
- Luckily for Celtic, we got a paltry £10k fine, and the wee man was banned for life from Celtic. UEFA thankfully saw it was minimal.
- Dida (the Milan goalie) was banned for two games for his embarrassing antics, but was reduced to one on appeal.
- Papers went over the top about us getting banned possibly etc, however ironically the Italians were more measured and saw it as silly over-exuberance by a mad fan and nothing more.
McDonald's first European goal.
George Connelly honoured at Celtic Park, returning after a very long stint away since the 1970s.
First ever penalty scored by opposition at Parkhead (exc penalty shoot-outs) in a European match.

Review

What can you say? We just defeated AC Milan the current Champions League holders at Celtic Park after what can be said to be a topsy turvey game.

A very rainy day but the match was spoiled far more by some extreme amounts of over-acting and gamesmanship by AC Milan.

After taking the lead we were then soon level after their their disgraceful penalty decision, only to steal a victory in the dying minutes of the game.

Teams

Celtic team:-
Boruc, Perrier Doumbe (Kennedy 79), Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, McGeady (Nakamura 85), Hartley, Donati, Jarosik (Killen 84),Scott Brown, McDonald.
Subs Not Used:- Mark Brown, Riordan, Sno, O'Dea.
Booked:- Scott Brown, Donati, McDonald.
Goals:- McManus 62, McDonald 90.

AC Milan team:-
Dida (Kalac 90), Oddo, Nesta, Bonera, Jankulovski, Ambrosini, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf (Gourcuff 55), Kaka, Inzaghi (Gilardino 76).
Subs Not Used:- Emerson, Simic, Favalli, Brocchi.
Booked:- Ambrosini, Nesta.
Goal:- Kaka 68 pen.

Att: 58,643
Ref: Markus Merk (Germany).

Articles

Match Report (see end of page below)

Pictures

Match Pictures

KStreet

Pre-match
Match
MoTM – McManus (Link to MOTM Winners)
Post-match

Stats

Celtic		Milan
2	Goals scored	1
3	Yellow card	2
0	Red card	0
4	Shots on goal	2
3	Shots wide	5
20	Fouls committed	16
3	Corners	5
1	Offsides	0
28' 55''	Ball. Poss. (time)	28' 13''
50%	Ball. Poss. (%)	50%

Gls: Goals scoredSP: Shots hitting postSC: Shots hitting barST: Shots on targetSW: Shots wideFC: Fouls committedFS: Fouls sufferedOF: OffsideAS: AssistYC: Yellow cardsRC: Red cards

Articles

Celtic in display of pride before Dida's fall;Match report;Champions League;Football

Celtic 2. AC Milan 1

Celtic were fearing a Uefa investigation last night after a supporter invaded the pitch near the end of their Champions League match against AC Milan at Celtic Park and was involved in an incident with Dida, the Milan goalkeeper.

Scott McDonald had just scored for the Scottish champions' in the last moments of their 2-1 victory when, amid euphoric scenes, the fan made towards the Milan goal and raised a hand to Dida's head as he ran past. Television pictures confirmed that contact had been made, but also that Dida, who was unhurt, overreacted by slumping to the turf, having started to chase the fan. The incident, nonetheless, proved a big embarrassment for Celtic and marred what should have been a celebrated night for the club.

Celtic officials later confirmed that the club would hold an investigation into the episode. The fan was apprehended by the police after supporters pointed him out to club stewards.

Gordon Strachan, the Celtic manager, refused to comment, claiming that he had a poor view of the incident. "I never see anything," Strachan said. "I'm like the fourth official, I never see anything at any time."

Peter Lawwell, the club's chief executive, immediately sought talks with police and stewards to establish what had happened.

There was speculation last night that the incident might lead to Celtic being ejected from the Champions League, although such a consequence would seem unlikely. The club are more likely to be fined by Uefa and warned over any future conduct at the ground.

Milan confirmed last night that they would not ask for the result to be overturned. "We will not appeal. It is a decision that I have agreed with the president, Silvio Berlusconi," Adriano Galliani, the vice-president, said. "It is a decision we have taken because we are European champions and must behave like that."

There is a precedent for such an episode in Glasgow. In November 2006 a spectator invaded the pitch at Ibrox during a Uefa Cup match between Rangers and Maccabi Haifa and chained himself to a goalpost. On that occasion Rangers were fined Pounds 5,000 by Uefa and warned about future security at their stadium.

Last night's incident was more serious, given that contact was made between the Celtic supporter and Dida, although some observers were mindful that Dida has "previous" in terms of his behaviour in such occurrences.

In April 2005, the Brazilian slumped to the ground as missiles rained down in a Champions League quarter-final between Milan and Inter Milan at the San Siro. Uefa disqualified Inter and awarded the tie to Milan 3-0.

In the past, Uefa has chosen to eject clubs from its tournaments on the basis of crowd disorder. In 1998 Fiorentina were thrown out of the Uefa Cup after a fourth official was injured by a missile thrown by a supporter during a tie against Grasshoppers. On that occasion the Swiss club were awarded the tie.

Celtic have also been involved in a similar incident, when Uefa ordered a Cup Winners' Cup tie between the club and Rapid Vienna at Celtic Park in November 1984 to be replayed after a bottle had been thrown on to the pitch. Celtic were leading 3-0 at the time -4-3 on aggregate -but lost the replay 1-0 at Old Trafford a week later.

William Gaillard, the Uefa director of communications, said last night that the governing body would wait for a report from Markus Merk, the referee, before deciding on any possible sanctions, but Carlo Ancelotti, the Milan coach, played down the incident.

"A fan must never enter the field of play, but I don't believe Dida has done anything serious," Ancelotti said. "I didn't see it at the time, I've only seen it on a replay. It had nothing to do with the result. We lost because of a defensive mistake. It was a very tight game on a slippery pitch and neither side made many chances. I don't think it's serious. We played a good game on a tough field that didn't allow us to play. The team did well and we conceded practically nothing."

The Times

Celtic's dignified Donati has the last laugh

By ROGER HANNAH

Last updated at 08:51am on 5th October 2007

Comments

Keeping a cool head when all around you are losing theirs can often be the difference between glorious success and spirit-crushing failure for elite sportsmen.

Massimo Donati, his pulse quickening at the prospect of gaining revenge over a coach who deemed him surplus to requirements at the San Siro, could have been excused had he struggled to maintain his composure in the closing stages at Parkhead on Wednesday night.

All credit to the former Milan midfielder, then, for staying calm and outshining Rino Gattuso and Co on an evening when tempers flared and a torrential downpour gave way to a tide of raw emotion.

And Donati insisted yesterday that the ability to marry 'intelligence and passion' can be the key as Celtic covet a return to the last-16 knockout phase of the Champions League.

Celtic's mettle was tested time and again by the reigning European champions yet, whatever Milan tried, Gordon Strachan's men stood their ground and answered in style.

When Clarence Seedorf dictated the early play, Stephen McManus and Gary Caldwell were resolute in blocking their path to goal.

When Kaka's controversial penalty cancelled out McManus' opening goal, the SPL champions again mined reserves of will to pick themselves off the floor and go again.

And Donati believes those qualities will serve Celtic well in the remaining Group D games and perhaps beyond.

"Milan are the best team in the world, but Celtic played with intelligence and passion," he said. "It was a fantastic game and a fantastic win. I'm very happy.

"This is what I had dreamed of. I have been thinking of this all the time ever since we were drawn against Milan and I'm happy because I played well.

"We want to qualify from this group and Shakhtar winning in Lisbon wasn't ideal for us. It was so important for us to win after losing our game in Donetsk.

"This is a very important win for us, which we wanted so much and really fought for. It was also a happy night for me as I had 25 friends who had come over from Italy and they were all supporting Celtic and me."

Donati, a one-time £10million signing for Milan, was never given an opportunity by Carlo Ancelotti and feels he proved a point with his performance at Parkhead.

And the 26-year-old couldn't resist delivering his own withering assessment of the current state of Milan, as Champions League-winning coach Ancelotti clings on desperately to his position.

"I feel sorry for Milan, but I remembered them as being better than that," added Donati. "I didn't expect to see them play the way they did on Wednesday night.

"We were the better team in the first half and they were better after the break. That's football – sometimes you win and sometimes you lose – but this was perfect for us.

"They should not have been given a penalty – it was never a foul. But the Celtic fans were incredible, they had an important part to play and the atmosphere was terrific."

Celtic 2-1 AC Milan

By Colin Moffat BBC

Scott McDonald celebrates his late winner for Celtic
McDonald celebrates his late winner for Celtic
Celtic claimed the scalp of reigning European champions AC Milan thanks to a late goal from Scott McDonald.

Following a dreary hour of play, Celtic captain Stephen McManus forced the ball into the net from a corner kick.

Milan levelled with a Kaka penalty but Celtic snatched victory when Dida failed to hold a Gary Caldwell shot and McDonald netted from close range.

A great win was soured with Dida carried off on a stretcher after a fan ran on to the park to confront him.

News conference: Gordon Strachan

And the home team could be in hot water with Uefa, although the Brazilian appeared to suffer little more than a cheeky slap.

Celtic and Milan now sit on three points each, with Shaktar Donetsk leading Group D after a win at Benfica.

A torrential Glasgow downpour made life difficult for both sides and a messy opening period was littered with stray passes and clumsy challenges.

The game's first shot on goal came after 18 minutes and Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc gathered a skidding long-range drive from Kaka with ease.

The foul count continued to grow at a bewildering rate and the normally noisy Celtic Park was muted with frustration at the wretched stop-start nature of the match.

Six minutes before the interval, Scott Brown managed to guide a shot on target but Dida was not troubled by the busy midfielder's effort from distance.

The game showed no signs of coming to life until Celtic grabbed a goal from nowhere on the hour.

An ungainly touch from Alessandro Nesta resulted in a corner and Paul Hartley's delivery was bundled into the net by McManus at the back post.

AC Milan were almost gifted an immediate equaliser when Andrea Pirlo's deflected free-kick wrong-footed Boruc but the Polish keeper recovered to awkwardly scoop the ball over his crossbar.

However, the visitors were on level terms soon after, following a foolish foul from Lee Naylor on Massimo Ambrosini.

With the ball sailing harmlessly by, the Italian collapsed when the full-back tugged at him and Kaka sent Boruc the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Aiden McGeady fizzed in a shot that Dida spilled as the game threatened to open up at last.

And the home side were rewarded with a dramatic late winner.

Caldwell fashioned a shot from the edge of the penalty area and the unconvincing Dida pushed the ball straight into the path of McDonald, who gleefully tucked away the easiest of chances.

Celtic: Boruc, Perrier Doumbe (Kennedy 79), Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, McGeady (Nakamura 85), Hartley, Donati, Jarosik (Killen 84), Scott Brown, McDonald. Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Riordan, Sno, O'Dea.

Booked: Scott Brown, Donati, McDonald.

Goals: McManus 62, McDonald 90.

AC Milan: Dida (Kalac 90), Oddo, Nesta, Bonera, Jankulovski, Ambrosini, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf (Gourcuff 55), Kaka, Inzaghi (Gilardino 76). Subs Not Used: Emerson, Simic, Favalli, Brocchi.

Booked: Ambrosini, Nesta.

Goal: Kaka 68 pen.

Att: 58,643

Ref: Markus Merk (Germany).

How Dida’s Celtic Park theatrics resulted in his Milan downfall

By Lubo98 4 May, 2020 No Comments
https://thecelticstar.com/how-didas-celtic-park-theatrics-resulted-in-his-milan-downfall/
LAST NIGHT BT Sport showed a Celtic classic as Gordon Strachan’s side defeated Champions League holders AC Milan 2-1 at Celtic Park. A second half goal from Stephen McManus had been cancelled out by Kaka’s penalty before Scott McDonald netted in the 89th minute.
The goal sparked wild scenes in the corner of the Jock Stein and North Stand as the players celebrated. However, while everyone was focused on celebrating, a supporter entered the field and cheekily tapped Brazilian Dida on the cheek before running towards the jubilant Celtic players.
Dida, a World Cup winner in 2002, made after the supporter before collapsing in a heap in the goalmouth. The Italian side’s medical staff made their way onto the pitch to tend to the keeper.
The stretcher soon made its way onto the park, with confusion as to what had happened. Judging by his reaction, you would be forgiven for thinking that Dida had been hit by a bottle.
Following the game, Celtic were fined for a supporter entering the ground but the footage of the incident was beamed around the world and Dida was accused of overreacting. However, despite Celtic and the football community condemning both Dida and the pitch invader, Dida may have expected some sympathy from his employers, AC Milan.
Celtic were fined £25k as Dida was banned for two Champions league matches. Although I Rossoneri were less than impressed with Dida’s antics.
AC Milan commented following the passing “We are European champions and we must behave like that. Certainly it would have been better if the fan had stayed in his seat and Celtic would have won all the same and everyone would have been happy.”
The supporters wanted this incident to be Dida’s last in a Milan jersey. On the Gazzetta dello Sport forum, AC Milan supporters slated Dida for his actions as well as his goalkeeping performances.
“How much longer do we have to put up with this circus clown Dida?
“He was hardly touched, tried to run after the fan and then thought maybe I should fall to the floor – and then to add to the embarassment he leaves on a stretcher – what an insult to AC Milan.”
Another wrote: “How much longer do we have to put up with Dida? If he is not gifting goals or making huge clangers then he is falling to the ground like a third rate actress.
“The quicker he goes the better.”
Dida returned but a mistake in the Milan Derby in December that year amounted in his downfall with Ancelotti’s side. He suffered a knee injury in January and was replaced as Number 1 at the club.