2011-03-16: Inverness CT 1-2 Celtic, Scottish Cup

Trivia

• Rescheduled game as was cancelled from previous Sunday due to waterlogged pitch (rotten weather continues up north).
• Aberdeen beat St Mirren, so we play them next in the Cup!
• We play Rangers in the League Cup final on Sunday coming!
• Match was only available on C67 as Sky could not show the game on the Wednesday as clashed with the Champs Lge games!!!!
• Brown/Wilson suspended for game. Rogne & Danny M injured.

Review

Job done, our defence was shocking, Hooper was off the pace.

Samaras was shampooe and another game that Commons was poor but no goal to make up for it.

Will be good to have Brown and Wilson back on Sunday and hopefully Rogne.

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• Match Report (see end of page below)

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KStreet

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Articles

Inverness manager Terry Butcher:
"We ran Celtic close here in the opening game of the season.
"We have drawn against Rangers at Ibrox and drawn against Rangers here.
"The only blip was the 6-0 defeat in the League Cup against Celtic but we had a different team out that day. The priority was the St Mirren game on the Saturday in the SPL, which we won.
"So that was mission accomplished that week, even though we went out the cup.
"So we now have a chance for revenge and a chance to make progress."
Celtic striker Gary Hooper:
"It will be very difficult to put aside Sunday's League Cup final with Rangers. It is going to be in the back of your mind.
"But the main thing is we have to get through. It will be very tough, especially going there in midweek.
"They will be up for it. We have to play the way we can and go for it, but the Treble is not on my mind.
"The main thing is winning on Wednesday and Sunday and then go on from there."

Published: 2011/03/15 19:07:06 GMT

© BBC 2011

Inverness 1 Celtic 2: Ledley at the double as Bhoys fight back to set up Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen

By Mark Wilson Daily Mail
Last updated at 2:23 AM on 17th March 2011

Joe Ledley saves his best punches for knockout competitions. This, after all, is the man whose goal once sent Cardiff City into their first FA Cup final for 81 years.



Clearly, those instincts have not been dulled by his move north to Celtic.



On Wednesday night, it was Caley Thistle who felt the force of the double blow he delivered to haul the Parkhead club away from adding to their sequence of shock Scottish Cup defeats against the Highlanders.



In doing so, Ledley ensured an occasionally lacklustre performance by Neil Lennon’s men would not result in their Treble ambitions being harmed. The midfielder could even have claimed the match ball as a souvenir of his efforts had a late, blockbusting drive not been expertly saved by Ryan Esson to deny a hat-trick.It was a bitter outcome for Inverness, who had taken the lead when Adam Rooney rattled in a first-half penalty after Glenn Loovens, making an unconvincing first appearance since October, toppled Richie Foran.



There was no shortage of spirit or skill about Terry Butcher’s men, but moments of slack defending ultimately undid their hopes of following the classes of 2000 and 2003 by downing Celtic in the nation’s oldest tournament.




Lennon watched it unfold from the stand as he served the second match of his ban, the length of which is now subject to another dispute between the Parkhead club and the SFA mandarins at Hampden. For the manager, though, the most important battles are taking place on the pitch.




This victory set up a semi-final against Aberdeen in the middle of next month and, perhaps just as importantly, ensured there would be no stalling of Celtic’s momentum before they face Rangers in Sunday’s Co-operative Insurance Cup final.




Loovens would go on to become Celtic’s sinner but he should have marked his return in triumphant
fashion by hitting the net inside the opening four minutes.




Kris Commons, stationed on the less-familiar right flank, delivered a delicious corner that the Dutchman steamed in to meet on the edge of the six-yard box. Yet despite making fulsome contact with a diving header, Loovens somehow diverted the ball up and over the bar.


It was to prove the best of several opportunities that Celtic spurned over the course of an opening
period spent mainly on the front foot.



Not for the first time this season, it was left-back Emilio Izaguirre who provided their most potent
attacking outlets. Poor Stuart Duff on the right of the home defence was following a blur as the Honduran streaked past him on several occasions.




The first of those saw Izaguirre deliver a tempting near-post cross which Caley goalkeeper Esson
plucked off the head of Georgios Samaras as the Greek, captain for the night and closing in on a new three-year contract, prepared to deliver a telling blow.




Samaras was also the beneficiary of the full-back’s next outstanding surge, this time powering a
downward header fractionally wide.




Izaguirre was also involved in setting up Ledley to cross for Gary Hooper, with Foran’s attempted
clearance almost inadvertently knocking the ball over the line.




Yet, for all the chances Celtic had created, there was a distinct vulnerability about them at the opposite end. Whenever Loovens went near the ball, the visiting support collectively held their breath.



Foran crept behind the former Cardiff man to meet a Shane Sutherland cross with an effort that
screwed across the face of goal from a glorious position, before the centre-back then fluffed an attempted clearance and succeeded only in kicking Nick Ross in the stomach.




The nervousness around the Dutchman reached its zenith after 43 minutes when he conceded the
penalty that had Celtic staring at a fresh bout of Highland heartache.




Again, it was Foran who escaped his attentions as he chased a Russell Duncan through ball, with
Loovens bundling him over before the Irishman could strike at goal.




Referee Mike Tumilty initially seemed unimpressed but pointed to the spot a couple of seconds later, presumably after assistant Stuart Macaulay had a word via their earpieces.



No card was produced for Loovens, yet the true punishment would be ruthlessly meted out. Up stepped Rooney to make it seven out of seven penalties for Caley this term, via a crisp, right-foot drive that flew low past Fraser Forster.

If Butcher’s side could just have made it to halftime then dreams of another legendary upset would have truly begun to blossom. As it was, Celtic struck back in injury time to soothe their mounting
anxiety.

It was no surprise that Izaguirre was heavi ly involved, with a clipped, angled delivery that picked out Ledley. The Welsh midfielder displayed an immaculate first touch that enabled him to spin and crack the ball into the bottom corner of the net. With the restoration of parity, Loovens was off the hook.



The timing of the equaliser could have knocked the stuffing out of certain sides, but Caley are woven from tough fibres. Esson was forced to tip over a looping header from Charlie Mulgrew shortly after the restart, yet his opposite number was drawn into far more spectacular action as the home side stormed forward in the 56th minute.




It was youngster Sutherland who met the ball flush with a tremendous left-foot strike that required Forster to stretch every inch of his huge frame to push wide.

Commons then hammered a free-kick from almost 35 yards that was only just off target but that was the Scot land winger’s last real involvement before he was replaced by James Forrest.




Then, in the 68th minute, came the decisive moment. Duff was booked for a high boot on Izaguirre and Ki Sung Yeung swept over the resulting free-kick from the left. The gap was there for Ledley to attack and he got to the ball before Forrest to send Celtic into the last four.
Inverness (4-5-1): Esson; Tokely, Munro,
Hogg, Duff; Duncan, Cox, Foran, Ross
(Doran 83min), Sutherland (Hayes 72);
Rooney. Subs (not used): Tuffey, Innes,
MacDonald.
Booked: Duff.

Celtic (4-4-2): Forster; Juarez, Loovens,
Mulgrew, Izaguirre; Commons (Forrest
68), Ki, Kayal, Ledley; Samaras, Hooper.
Subs (not used): Zaluska, Rogne,
McCourt, Stokes.
Booked: None.
Referee: Mike Tumilty.