| Match Pictures | Matches: 2016 – 2017 | 2016-17 Pictures |
Trivia
- League Cup, Betfred Cup Quarter-finals
- Celtic had a bye to this round due to the European matches.
- Tournament changed and is to end before Xmas this year like it used to long back.
- Gordon returns and very lucky to stay on the pitch after a very rash challenge, could have been red.
- Forrest is on a high and rejuventated and scored a cracking goal.
- Credit to Alloa, holding out very well till late and all thought it was heading to extra-time (deserved too for Alloa).
- Dembele continues to score and amaze.
- Celtic drawn in League Cup Semis with Sevco. Cue the media rubbing their hands in glee. Aberdeen v Morton in the other leg.
- Celtic have announced a £500,000 pre-tax profit for the year up to June 30. Increased income from player sales are largely the reason for the improved figures, which are compared to losses of almost £4 million for the previous 12 months. Not bad. Revenue was up 1.8 per cent to £52 million but operating costs also increased by 7.3 per cent to £57.1 million.
- Arrest made over hanging effigies at the Celtic end from the league game v Sevco.
- Paralympics (in Rio, Brazil) has finished. Congrats to all competitors in this inspiring tournament. A very successful medal winning tournament for the GB side. Incredibly the 1500m winner in one race won it in faster than the full Olympics time.
- Papers full of Sevco stories over Joey Barton, a flop big wage signing who quite frankly has been woeful. Cynics say they are trying to engineer constructive dismissal, others say he is creating rope for his own neck. He tries to claim that Celtic were trying to get him, Celtic deny it and we all laugh at him. He is trying to publicise his auto-biog and doing a good job at that by controversy etc. What he lacks as a player he knows how to make up for it with publicity making.
Review
(Ownebhoy of KDS)
Really poor finishing.
Other than that it was as comprehensive a victory as you could see.
The odd wasteful pass thrown in too.
Some of the build up play was great to watch, zipping the ball about, good movement.
Throw in some stout defending, some brash defending from old grey fox, and a couple of decent saves from the keeper too.
Two great goals into the bargain as well.
Need to be far more clinical though.
On Gordon, I can sort of see why the ref didn't red card him, although he was still fortunate, especially in Scotland.
Goes for the ball across the player, not into the player, and misses.
Still not good enough for a Celtic keeper.
No replay of the incident where we broke and their player scythed down the Celtic player in the middle of the park.
Looked like a shocking challenge which the ref only booked the player for.
Anyway, another well deserved victory, fair play to Alloa for keeping it 0-0 for so long.
We were never ever in any danger of conceding a goal, and were actually comfortable throughout.
Next round is all that matters now.
Teams
Celtic
1 Gordon Booked at 42mins
23 Lustig
2 K Touré
5 Simunovic Substituted for Christie at 71'minutes
63 Tierney
8 Brown
14 Armstrong
27 Roberts Substituted for Sinclair at 45'minutes
18 Rogic Booked at 67mins Substituted for Sviatchenko at 85'minutes
49 Forrest
10 Dembele
Substitutes
6Bitton
11Sinclair
12Gamboa
17Christie
24de Vries
28Sviatchenko
53Henderson
Goals
Forrest (83'minutes), Dembele (90'minutes)
Alloa
1Parry
2Taggart
5Gordon Booked at 88mins
4Graham Booked at 60mins
3Waters
10Cawley Substituted for Holmes at 78'minutes
7Flannigan
6Goodwin Substituted for Longworth at 84'minutes
8Robertson
11Kirkpatrick
9Spence
Substitutes
12Wilson
14Hoggan
15Marr
16Holmes
17Scullion
18Longworth
21McDowall
Referee:Alan Muir
Attendance:15,900
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
- Pre-match http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/11003440/
- Match& Post Match http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/11003755/
MOTM
- Voting Thread http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/11003761/
- Result Thread
- Winner –
Stats
Possession
Home71%
Away29%
Shots
Home34
Away3
Shots on Target
Home11
Away3
Corners
Home14
Away1
Fouls
Home9
Away7
Articles
Celtic 2-0 Alloa: Late goals floor battling Alloa
The Scotsman
ANDREW SMITH
Published: 22:01 Wednesday 21 September 2016
The fact that it was the small knot of Alloa supporters who found loudest voice as the full-time whistle sounded at Celtic Park last night told all about the Betfred League Cup quarter-final tie to which their team contributed hugely.
The third tier part-timers lacked nothing in terms of application and determination to survive a pounding for almost 84 minutes last night, before tiredness allowed James Forrest to drift in from the right, wriggle past three men to create a gap and then slot a low reverse effort through that and into the corner from 14 yards. As stoppage time approached, Moussa Dembele powered high into the net to make absolutely sure Brendan Rodgers’ side booked their place in tomorrow night’s draw. Yet, Alloa may believe the night could have offered more if referee Alan Muir did had taken sterner action when cautioning Celtic keeper Craig Gordon for cementing Geig Spence just before the break.
There was much deep-breathing from Celtic supporters at the end. A week before, there was much wailing and gnashing from them at the iniquitous nature of football’s inequalities that underpinned their 7-0 pasting against Barcelona last Wednesday. Yet, if they were the budgetary bullied the previous week, last night they were – on paper – much bigger monetary monsters in being matched up to Alloa in the pair’s cup tie.
At £340m, Barcelona’s football spend is around 13 times that of Brendan Rodgers’ men. At £100,000, the wage bill of the part-time Clackmannanshire club visiting the east end of Glasgow for the first time in 34 years is a 250th of the £25m that the Scottish champions invest. Celtic followers may feel sorry for themselves when exposed to the harsh realities of Champions League football but they do not extend much sympathy to clubs from the lower divisions tasked with avoiding skewed scorelines against them.
The first period of the quarter-final may have been overwhelmingly one sided in terms of opportunities and possession but Alloa provided much sterner resistance than Celtic could muster in the Nou Camp. The stunning start that Jack Ross’s men had made to the season – with 10 victories in 11 games to put them top of League One and into the last eight of a national cup – suggested they could just provide token resistance. They did so much more, though.
Granted, Celtic’s profligacy proved their finest friend. Kieran Tierney was unfortunate to see a ferocious drive rattle the crossbar, but there were at least three occasions when Moussa Dembele was fed an opening inside the six-yard area but somehow failed to capitalise on it. His dithering didn’t help on such occasions, but the willingness of Alloa players to put their bodies on the line play a part in preventing the visitors’ goal being breached.
Jack spoke beforehand that his preparations for a game of huge significance had amounted to taking his players through two hours of drills on Monday evening. That is the lot of part-timers who have to squeeze in two night-time sessions across working weeks were they depend on other day jobs for their living.
The overtime they put in last night warranted double-time-and-a-half recompense. The edginess of the crowd as the scoreline remained blanked going into the last 20 minutes was palpable. These anxieties might have been even more deep seated but for referee Muir failing to see a challenge from Craig Gordon on Greig Spence for the red-card offence television pictures suggest it was.
After losing his place to Dorus de Vries, Gordon was restored for the first time in four matches – a quartet of outings in which the Dutchman didn’t exactly impress. The Scotland keeper may have thought he was making a pitch for reclaiming his no.1 status when he resoundingly beat away a long range strike from Spence early on, but when faced with the same player sprinting down the right channel just minutes before the interval. Gordon was both rash and reckless in plunging into the Alloa striker with studs high. He succeeded in going right through him and nowhere near the ball, and the yellow Muir subsequently showed was inadequate for the transgression.
Rodgers’ clearly decided that the showing of a side he had altered notably from the one that drew 2-2 with Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the weekend to end his perfect domestic record was also inadequate. Scott Sinclair came off the bench to replace Patrick Roberts but the pattern of Celtic driving towards the Alloa goal, and then driving any number of efforts everywhere but into the Allo goal continued.
Jozo Simunovic, who made his first start in six months following knee problems, was then sacrificed for Ryan Christie to give the home side greater forward thrust. That was certainly provided by Forrest with the forcing run that effectively settled the tie, before Dembele put a gloss on the scoreline.
BBC
Match ends, Celtic 2, Alloa Athletic 0.
Full Time
90'+4'
Second Half ends, Celtic 2, Alloa Athletic 0.
90'+2'
Attempt saved. Moussa Dembele (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Goal!
90'
Goal! Celtic 2, Alloa Athletic 0. Moussa Dembele (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Kieran Tierney.
Booking
88'
Ben Gordon (Alloa Athletic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
86'
Attempt missed. Scott Sinclair (Celtic) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left.
Substitution
85'
Substitution, Celtic. Erik Sviatchenko replaces Tomas Rogic.
Substitution
84'
Substitution, Alloa Athletic. Jamie Longworth replaces Jim Goodwin.
Goal!
83'
Goal! Celtic 1, Alloa Athletic 0. James Forrest (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Ryan Christie.
82'
Attempt blocked. Kieran Tierney (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
81'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Neil Parry.
81'
Attempt saved. James Forrest (Celtic) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
79'
Attempt missed. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Substitution
78'
Substitution, Alloa Athletic. Graeme Holmes replaces Kevin Cawley.
77'
Attempt missed. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right.
77'
Attempt saved. James Forrest (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
76'
Foul by Scott Sinclair (Celtic).
76'
Iain Flannigan (Alloa Athletic) wins a free kick on the right wing.
74'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Kevin Cawley.
71'
Attempt missed. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.
Substitution
71'
Substitution, Celtic. Ryan Christie replaces Jozo Simunovic.
69'
Attempt missed. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
68'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Jon Robertson.
Booking
67'
Tomas Rogic (Celtic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
66'
Tomas Rogic (Celtic) has gone down, but that's a dive.
64'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Andy Graham.
63'
Attempt missed. Kieran Tierney (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
61'
Attempt missed. Scott Brown (Celtic) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
61'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Scott Taggart.
Booking
60'
Andy Graham (Alloa Athletic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
60'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Neil Parry.
60'
Attempt saved. Moussa Dembele (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
59'
Corner, Alloa Athletic. Conceded by Kolo Touré.
58'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Andy Graham.
58'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Neil Parry.
58'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Andy Graham.
56'
Attempt missed. Scott Sinclair (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right.
53'
Attempt missed. Jozo Simunovic (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
52'
Tomas Rogic (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
52'
Foul by Jim Goodwin (Alloa Athletic).
51'
Foul by Stuart Armstrong (Celtic).
51'
Kevin Cawley (Alloa Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
48'
Attempt missed. Scott Sinclair (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Second Half
Second Half begins Celtic 0, Alloa Athletic 0.
Substitution
45'
Substitution, Celtic. Scott Sinclair replaces Patrick Roberts.
Half Time
45'+1'
First Half ends, Celtic 0, Alloa Athletic 0.
44'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Kevin Cawley.
44'
Attempt saved. Ben Gordon (Alloa Athletic) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
43'
Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).
43'
Jim Goodwin (Alloa Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
43'
Attempt saved. Iain Flannigan (Alloa Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner.
Booking
42'
Craig Gordon (Celtic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
42'
Foul by Craig Gordon (Celtic).
42'
Greig Spence (Alloa Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
41'
Hand ball by Jordan Kirkpatrick (Alloa Athletic).
40'
Attempt missed. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right.
38'
Attempt missed. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left.
37'
Attempt blocked. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
36'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Ben Gordon.
35'
Mikael Lustig (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
35'
Foul by Iain Flannigan (Alloa Athletic).
34'
Iain Flannigan (Alloa Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
34'
Foul by Patrick Roberts (Celtic).
33'
Attempt missed. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.
31'
Attempt missed. James Forrest (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
29'
Kieran Tierney (Celtic) hits the bar with a left footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the left.
28'
Foul by Jozo Simunovic (Celtic).
28'
Ben Gordon (Alloa Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
28'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Calum Waters.
27'
James Forrest (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
27'
Foul by Jim Goodwin (Alloa Athletic).
25'
Attempt blocked. Moussa Dembele (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
25'
Attempt saved. Moussa Dembele (Celtic) right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is saved in the bottom right corner.
23'
Foul by Stuart Armstrong (Celtic).
23'
Jim Goodwin (Alloa Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
21'
Attempt missed. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left.
19'
Attempt saved. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
18'
Attempt missed. Mikael Lustig (Celtic) header from the right side of the six yard box is too high.
18'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Jim Goodwin.
16'
Attempt missed. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
15'
Attempt saved. Greig Spence (Alloa Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
15'
Attempt missed. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) left footed shot from the left side of the box is too high.
13'
Attempt saved. Moussa Dembele (Celtic) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is saved in the bottom left corner.
12'
Attempt saved. Kieran Tierney (Celtic) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
10'
Kieran Tierney (Celtic) wins a free kick on the left wing.
10'
Foul by Scott Taggart (Alloa Athletic).
8'
Foul by Kevin Cawley (Alloa Athletic).
8'
James Forrest (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
7'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Scott Taggart.
7'
Foul by Patrick Roberts (Celtic).
7'
Jon Robertson (Alloa Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
5'
Attempt missed. Moussa Dembele (Celtic) header from the left side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the left.
4'
Foul by Jim Goodwin (Alloa Athletic).
4'
Tomas Rogic (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
1'
Attempt saved. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Kick Off
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
BBC
By John Barnes
BBC Scotland
21 September 2016
Celtic's James Forrest celebrates
James Forrest made the breakthrough for Celtic
Celtic had to rely on two late strikes before overcoming dogged part-timers Alloa Athletic and reach the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup.
While the Premiership leaders dominated the first half, home goalkeeper Craig Gordon was fortunate to escape with a yellow card for a foul on Greig Spence.
Kieran Tierney fired against the Alloa bar, while keeper Neil Parry made some fine stops for the League One leaders.
James Forrest struck with seven minutes left and Moussa Dembele fired a second.
It was a laboured victory for Brendan Rodgers' team, but pressure told and they join city neighbours Rangers and Greenock Morton in the last four, with the last quarter-final taking place on Thursday between Aberdeen and St Johnstone.
A determined defensive display by Alloa was finally undone, but the plaudits will go to Jack Ross's side.
Parry's parries deny Celtic
As was expected, Celtic dominated the early period and could even have gone in front within the first minute if it hadn't been for Parry smothering Tom Rogic's first-time shot.
Dembele and Tierney both drew excellent saves from the Alloa goalkeeper and it was all Celtic until Spence speculated with a 25-yard strike on the counter-attack and Gordon, back in the Celtic goal in place of Dorus de Vries, did well to push away the striker's effort.
Alloa's Greig Spence is fouled by Celtic's Craig Gordon
Alloa striker Greig Spence was fouled by Celtic's Craig Gordon
That was a rare venture forward for Alloa as the Premiership leaders continued to probe and create but met a wall of black and gold producing competent last-ditch defending.
Tierney rattled the crossbar with a volley from wide on the left, while Rogic and Forrest went close from range.
Wasps almost produce sting
Gordon was punished with a yellow card after a kung fu-style tackle that floored Spence just outside the Celtic penalty box.
And, having withstood all Celtic's pressure, Alloa ended the first half by going close when Ben Gordon rose highest to head a free kick towards the top corner, only for his namesake in the Celtic goal to make a fine save.
Celtic manager Rodgers decided a change was required and introduced Scott Sinclair at the interval for Patrick Roberts.
However, the former Aston Villa winger encountered the same misfortune in front of goal with his first couple of efforts.
Forrest cuts down Alloa
It continued to be a procession towards Parry's goal, but the part-timers maintained their stubborn stance.
Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong, Tierney and Rogic all had efforts off target before a competition developed between Forrest and Parry.
The Alloa goalkeeper made two inspired saves from the Celtic winger, but he could do nothing to stop the Scotland winger opening the scoring with a low left-foot strike into the bottom corner from 17 yards.
Alloa's dream of reaching their first national cup semi-final was truly extinguished when Dembele, with a brilliant solo goal, added the killer second goal in the last minute.
Reaction
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "They [Alloa] defended very, very well. They made it very, very difficult. Big applause to them.
"We weren't clinical enough. We kept going. We got there in the end, we got the job done. Our objective was to qualify for the semi-final and we're into the semi-final, and [with] a clean sheet, which is important.
"You have to be patient. Credit to both teams – for my team for sticking at it and for Alloa, who came and put up a great performance."
Alloa Athletic manager Jack Ross: "Neil Parry had an excellent game. We did what several Premiership teams have not done at Parkhead this season – we contained them for long spells.
"They [Celtic] are a very good team. We had to be incredibly resilient.
"I've not too many complaints about the overall outcome of the game but I would always argue that my players deserve something from it. I thought they were terrific.
"It's not a particularly clever challenge from Craig [Gordon] that results in only a yellow card. These are things that maybe didn't quite go our way but there's a lot of things that Celtic would complain didn't go their way."