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Trivia
- Last match of Australia tour.
- Wonderful atmosphere from the Celtic support….
- By coincidence future Celtic coach Harry Kewell signed for Melbourne Victory a few weeks later. The following April future Celtic manager Ange Postecoglu came in as Melbourne Manager.
- Grant Brebner ex-Hibs in the Melbourne team this day.
Review
Nice win, end of tour so back to Scotland!
Teams
CELTIC (4-4-2)
Zaluska; Matthews (Cha 79), Majstorovic, K. Wilson (Ledley 73), Mulgrew; Commons, Kayal (Brown 58) Ki, McCourt (Stokes 66), Hooper (Murphy 79) Samaras
Not Used: Cervi, Towell
Goal: Brown (78)
MELBOURNE VICTORY (4-4-2)
Velaphi; Foschini, Vargas (Franjic 45), Leijer, Ferreira; Pondeljak (Solorzano 45), Broxham, Brebner (Celeski 56), Rojas; Thompson (Jeggo 76) Allsopp, (Lokvanicic 81)
Not Used: Dowisha, O’Dea, Ansell
Attendance: 20,794
Stadium: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
Articles
(official site)
Brown fires Hoops to victory in Melbourne
By: Mark Henderson on 13 Jul, 2011 13:18 Pre-season friendly
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Wednesday, July13, 2011
CELTIC…1
Brown 78
MELBOURNE VICTORY…0
A LATE goal from Scott Brown handed Celtic the spoils against Melbourne Victory in their final match of the Australian pre-season tour.
The midfielder struck with just over 10 minutes remaining, finding the corner of the net via a deflection after Kris Commons had picked him out on the edge of the area.
Although both sides passed up a number of good opportunities in an entertaining encounter, it was well-earned triumph for Neil Lennon’s men who enjoyed a greater share of possession and created the more clear-cut chances.
Predictably, with attaining optimumcondition the main goal of the exercise, the Hoops boss had made several changes to the team which defeated Perth Glory so convincingly last weekend.The likes of Daniel Majstorovic, Georgios Samaras, Ki and Paddy McCourt all came into the starting XI.
Despite the alterations, the Hoops began with great gusto in front of the over 20,000 fans who had turned up on a rainy evening in the Victorian capital.
A wonderful long pass from Kelvin Wilson sent Commons racing clear but Melbourne keeper, Tando Velahpi, rushed out quickly to block his shot. It would be a busy evening for the shot-stopper.
Adam Matthews, who hadcame infor Mark Wilson at right-back, then made a foraging run down the right and was felled at the edge of the area. Commons took the free-kick but it failed to bypass the defensive wall.
Celtic were playing some nice stuff, zipping the ball around the greasy surface with gusto. But the hosts showed they were also capable of constructing good passages of play, with Tomislav Pondeljak ending a slick passing move by firing wildly over.
With both sides intent on forward enterprise, the match was now flowing from end-to-end.
It was then Celtic’s turn to attack. Beram Kayal shot over before Kelvin Wilson headed narrowly wide from Ki’s corner. And, after evading the offside trap, Gary Hooper turned inside his marker, bringing out a good stop from Velaphi.
Lukasz Zaluska then produced a smart stop from Daniel Allsopp at the other end but Celtic swiftly responded through Samaras, the striker sidefooting an effort too close to Velaphi after good work from McCourt.
Commons rifled a stinging drive straight at the Melbourne keeper from the angle of the box and then Ki shot over twice as Celtic mounted the pressure toward the interval.
Samaras, captain for the evening in tribute to Melbourne’s large Greek community, saw another powerful shot saved, after controlling Commons’ cross.
Celtic continued where they had left-off after the restart and Mulgrew saw a venomous free-kick pushed over by Velaphi.
Samaras then slipped in McCourt on the left, the winger dancing past one defender before his low shot from an angle was turned away by the Melbourne minder.
That seemed to spark the hosts into action again. The profligate Alssop passed up two decent chances, including a near-post header which he should have converted.
He did better, shortly after, sending Socceroo strikerArchie Thompson scampering on to a perfectly-weighted through pass but he dragged his shot out for a throw-in.
Celtic replied with Commons picking out McCourt at the far post with a glorious delivery. However, the Irishman was unable to keep his header down.
And as the game entered its closing stages, it was Lennon’s men who had all theattacking momentum.Hooper’s low cross was almost turned into his own net by Adrian Leijer, before Anthony Stokes struck a low shot into the side-netting.
A determined burst into the box by Samaras saw the Greek hitman slide an inviting ball across but somehow Hooper was unable to reach. Had he connected, a goal would have been a certain outcome.
Finally, Celtic’s endeavours were rewarded. Commons took a quick corner and found Brown lurking at the edge of the area. His shot took a slight deflection, before nestling into the corner of the net, sending the huge Hoops support behind the goal into raptures.
Stokes had still time to hit the bar from a free-kick, while Daryl Murphy also came closeon twooccasions.Yet Brown’s goal was enough to end a successful tour of Oz on a high, and send theHoops intothe SPLcampaignwith plenty of confidence.
CELTIC (4-4-2) Zaluska; Matthews (Cha 79), Majstorovic, K. Wilson (Ledley 73), Mulgrew; Commons, Kayal (Brown 58) Ki, McCourt (Stokes 66), Hooper (Murphy 79) Samaras
Not Used: Cervi, Towell
MELBOURNE VICTORY (4-4-2) Velaphi; Foschini, Vargas (Franjic 45), Leijer, Ferreira; Pondeljak (Solorzano 45), Broxham, Brebner (Celeski 56), Rojas; Thompson (Jeggo 76) Allsopp, (Lokvanicic 81)
Not Used: Dowisha, O’Dea, Ansell
Attendance: 20,794
Website Man of the Match: Ki