_
Trivia
- 3 SPL games in a row and we haven't scored!!!!
- Two pts in front and staying there.
- Debut for Willy Flood, very good he was to.
- Huns were very much in voice singing biggotted tunes such as the famine song etc. Shame the police didn't do anything, useless!
- As ever, some cracking banners at the match….
Quick Review
Good first half but awful second half saw much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the Celtic support. Hardly any shots on targets from Celtic with Skippy squandering a very good chance. Rangers should have won if it weren't for the holy goalie, as Boruc pulled off some heroics.
Not a classic, and many will be banging their heads against the wall after this one.
Teams
Celtic
Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Flood (McGeady 62), Scott Brown (Crosas 84), Hartley, Nakamura, McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras 62).
Subs Not Used:- Mark Brown, Loovens, Hutchinson, O'Dea.
Booked:- Vennegoor of Hesselink, Hartley, Scott Brown
Rangers
McGregor, Broadfoot, Bougherra, Weir, Papac, McCulloch, Davis, Ferguson, Mendes, Fleck (Miller 59), Lafferty (Naismith 74).
Subs Not Used:- Alexander, Edu, Boyd, Whittaker, Niguez.
Booked:- Weir, Naismith, Ferguson, McCulloch, Mendes
Att:- 58,766
Ref:- C Murray
Articles
Pictures
KStreet
Stats
Celtic v Rangers
Possession
Shots on target
Shots off target
Corners
Fouls
Strachan content with Celtic draw
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan is backing his side to improve after a drab Old Firm stalemate.
"At the moment we're not at our best, so we've just got to plug along until we get back there," he told BBC Scotland after the 0-0 with Rangers.
"But we've got good players and they will come again.
"To put it simply, last week we were two points ahead of Rangers with 14 games to go; this week we are two points ahead with 13 games to go."
Celtic enjoyed the lion's share of possession in the first half and striker Scott McDonald wasted a wonderful early chance, when he headed wide from just a few yards out.
"Up front, we're not functioning, as a group – because there are five strikers at the club," added Strachan. "That group has to come to the fore now and score us goals.
"All you can do is keep working at it and there's a bit of magic that needs to come along, or a bit of luck to get these guys scoring again.
"It's not for the lack of effort, that's for sure."
Rangers were on top after the break and Artur Boruc, who has been suffering from a lack of form and attracting negative headlines, had to make two good saves to thwart the visitors.
"It was good to see him back to where he was a wee while ago, where he's actually saving games for us," Strachan said, when asked about the Pole's performance. "I enjoyed that.
"But there weren't enough players on the pitch playing to the best of their talent, on both sides.
"(Rangers manager) Walter (Smith) probably had two or three good performances and we were the same.
"First half, we played the way we wanted to play, without the finish. The second half, we played too much back-to-front, which suited Rangers and they picked up the second ball and attacked us from that. "With the way we played, I think a draw is a fair result for us."
Boruc livens Old Firm stalemate
16 February 2009
Provided by: Irish Independent
Scottish CommentaryBy Nick HarrisAT celtic parkceltic……… 0rangers……… 0
Howlers all round. Two teams desperate to avoid defeat made football the loser at Celtic Park yesterday as almost everyone on the pitch, and notably the referee, Calum Murray, gave lame accounts of themselves. Celtic's controversial goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, made two outstanding second-half saves, one of them from a hapless team-mate, to keep the game goalless, but this was no advert for the Scottish game. The pity is it was screened by Setanta and not ITV, because adverts would have been preferable to the action for the most part.
The stalemate means Celtic stay just two points clear of their Old Firm rivals in the SPL, having recently blown a lead of seven points, and the title race remains very much alive. Rangers will be happier with a single point, secured as it was on enemy territory, but their manager, Walter Smith, agreed there were few reasons to celebrate the performance that earned it.
"I felt in the first half we were poor, our possession was poor and Celtic were livelier," Smith said. "I was happier with the second half but this was one of our poorer performances away from home all season." He could find no explanation for the dire quality, besides familiarity. "We play each other four times each season at least and it takes a fair bit to get on top of teams when you know how each other play. Sometimes you need an early goal or something else to lift these games."
In the early exchanges, it looked as if Rangers had come with their attacking heads on, despite Smith's 4-1-4-1 formation in which Lee McCulloch played as a holding midfielder and Kyle Lafferty as a surprise starter alone up front. In the fourth minute, Pedro Mendes and Barry Ferguson combined to feed 17-year-old John Fleck on the left flank. The teenager curled a penetrating cross that would have been dangerous if Boruc had not palmed it clear. And that was where Rangers' first-half threat ended.
Celtic should have scored in the 16th minute but Scott McDonald failed to make contact with a peach of a cross from Willo Flood. Maybe the Australian was jet-lagged: he made a midweek trip to Yokohama to sit on the bench as his country drew 0-0 with Japan in a World Cup qualifier that also featured Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura.
Whatever, McDonald was standing in the goalmouth as the ball came in, clocked it visually, and even snapped his head at it as if to apply the glancing touch it needed to steer it into the goal. But he made no contact. That was Celtic's best chance of the game.
The referee, who was fussy throughout and downright incompetent at times, made the first of a string of truly silly decisions when he booked both Celtic's Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Rangers' David Weir after the Dutch forward had fallen accidentally on the Rangers' goalkeeper, Allan McGregor, and Weir had pulled him up. Later on, Murray gave several clear-cut throw-ins or corners the wrong way. He booked Rangers' Barry Ferguson for pointing out one glaring error, and late on showed his lack of control over events by moving the ball backwards at a Celtic free-kick only because he had failed to move the Rangers wall, as he should have done. When the kick was eventually taken, Nakamura's shot was spilled but cleared.
Rangers were the better side in the second half. Madjid Bougherra's cross put pressure on Stephen McManus, whose attempted headed clearance bulleted backwards at his own goal. Boruc saved well, as he did from Lafferty less spectacularly minutes later. The Pole then made a superb save from Weir's header.
"It's nice to see him making great saves to keep us in the game," said Celtic manager, Gordon Strachan, who recently fined his goalkeeper two weeks' wages for assaulting a team-mate, Aiden McGeady, in training. Boruc has made headlines for other slip-ups on and off the pitch this season, but Strachan added: "There's a spring in his step. If you don't like him, that's arrogance, but if you like him, it's confidence."
Celtic (4-4-2): Boruc; Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor; Flood (McGeady, 62), S Brown (Crosas, 84), Hartley, Nakamura; McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras 62). Substitutes not used: M Brown (gk), Loovens, O'Dea, Hutchinson.
Rangers (4-1-4-1): McGregor; Broadfoot, Bougherra, Weir, Papac; McCulloch; Davies, Ferguson, Mendes, Fleck (Miller, 59); Lafferty (Naismith, 75). Substitutes not used: Alexander (gk), Edu, Boyd, Whittaker, Niguez.
Referee: C Murray.
Booked: Celtic: Hesselink, Hartley, Brown. Rangers: Weir, McCulloch, Ferguson, Naismith, Mendes.
Man of the match: Boruc.
Attendance: 58,766.
(c) 2009 Independent Newspapers Ireland Ltd
Irish Independent
Boruc sends answer to his doubters; Goalkeeper's two brilliant saves rescue Celtic against Rangers
Celtic 0
Rangers 0
Gordon Strachan praised Artur Boruc, the Celtic goalkeeper, who did more than anyone to keep his team in the game as the third Old Firm derby of the season ended in stalemate at Celtic Park.
Boruc, who has had a season strewn with clangers on and off the field, produced two eye-catching saves, first to block a miscued header from Stephen McManus and then leaping to thwart a header from David Weir with ten minutes remaining.
Boruc waved and blew kisses to the 59,000 crowd and yesterday's performance appeared to redeem him in the eyes of his manager. "Artur is a big personality for us," Strachan, the Celtic manager, said. "If you don't like him, it's arrogance, and if you do like him, it's confidence."
The game, however, resembled a war of attrition, during which Rangers arguably deserved to win on the basis of their second-half performance. Celtic have dropped nine points from their past five matches in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, though they remain two points clear of Rangers at the top.
"We are not firing on all cylinders at the moment," Strachan said. "We were good in the first half but not in the second half." His opposite number, Walter Smith, pronounced himself reasonably content with a point, but said their first-half performance had been as poor as he had seen in a long time. "Our possession of the ball in the first half was as poor as it has been," Smith said. "Last season we got criticised for not playing enough football. This season sometimes we've played too much football."
Rangers might have had a penalty, which was denied by Calum Murray, the referee, when McManus clattered late into Kenny Miller inside the box after the Rangers strker had a shot at goal. "If it's a latechallenge in any other area of the pitch, then the referee normally gives a foul," Smith said. "So the referee had a decision to make in the penalty area. It was a late challenge onKenny, but we didn't get it."
Celtic (4-4-2): A Boruc — A Hinkel, G Caldwell, S Mc- Manus, L Naylor — W Flood (sub: A McGeady, 61min), S Brown (sub: M Crosas, 84), P Hartley, S Nakamura — J Vennegoor of Hesselink (sub: G Samaras, 61), S Mc- Donald. Substitutes not used: M Brown, G Loovens, D O'Dea, B Hutchinson. Booked: Vennegoor of Hesselink, Hartley, Brown.
Rangers (4-1-4-1): A McGregor — K Broadfoot, M Bougherra, D Weir, S Papac — L McCulloch — S Davis, B Ferguson, P Mendes, J Fleck (sub: K Miller, 57) — K Lafferty (sub: S Naismith, 74). Substitutes not used: N Alexander, M Edu, K Boyd, S Whittaker, A Niguez. Booked: Weir, Naismith, Ferguson, McCulloch Referee: C Murray. " If you don't like Boruc it's arrogance and if you do like him it's confidence
(c) 2009 Times Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved
The Times