2017-09-27: Anderlecht 0-3 Celtic, European Cup

Match Pictures | Matches: 2017 – 2018 | 2017-18 Pictures

Trivia

• Champions League 2017-18,
• Group Stages Matchday 2
• Group B – Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain, Anderlecht, Celtic
• Celtic record only second ever away win in Champions League Group stages. First CL win in 4 years or so.
• Bayern lose 3 0 away to PSG, so PSG remain top, whilst Bayern are second joint on pts ahead of Celtic on goals.
• Anderlecht sacked their manager a week before this Champions League clash.
• Bayern sack their coach (Carlo Ancelotti) the day after this match. So two team managers from this group gone in a week.
• Celtic had comfortably defeated Sevco in past weekend so morale was high.
• Does this result seal European football beyond December after just two games? At least Europa League? On paper you'd think so. Anderlecht have now lost their opening two games 3-0 and have no set manager.
• Reports that three major sides have reported PSG for an investigation that they have broken transfer Financial Fair Play rules and should be dumped out the competition. Wouldn't hold your breath on this.
  
• After a history of poor away results in the Champions League group, Celtic have now been unbeaten in three matches in a row.
• Boyata and Simunovic have a peerless match; Ntcham way very out of sorts for most of the first half but set up the crucial first goal.
• First goal was a sublime 25 pass move.
  
• New Paddy Roberts song (Starman) makes it a staple of the support.
• Lisbon Lions to be inducted into Scottish Football Hall of Fame. Surprising and baffling, if they weren’t ever put in there from day 1!
• Celtic hotel, museumand stadium enhancements get green light. Excellent development.
• Ex Hun manager Alex 'EBTs' McLeish revealed to Anderlecht that Boyata was Celtic's "weakest link". Proved completely wrong.
  
• Reportedly,McCoist on 5 live radio said that rangers fans hate the champions league music as they associate it with Celtic. Amazing if fully accurate.
• Dedryk Boyata made the Belgian national squad afterthis outstanding match v Anderlcht in the Champions League. Congratulations.

Review

(vlad of KDS)
A result and a night to savour.

A result that we have waited so long for.

The minutiae of the game can be picked over and all the "Anderlecht were a club in turmoil" stuff can wait for now.

Three to plums away from home in the CL against the Champions of a country that will be enjoying World Cup participation is a belter.

We've gone up another wee level and I'm certain that tonight will boost the confidence of our side in this tournament.

Europa League qualification would be more than tangible evidence of our progress and development.

Anything at all from Bayern, would be stunning

With four games to play we have matched last seasons points total.

I expect Anderlecht to be better at Celtic Park, then again I expect we will be too.

These are good times

Damn good times

Enjoy the ride, it's going to get faster.

(FergusMcGrain of KDS)
A team grows from results like that. The belief in our own ability when playing domestic games is there for all to see and a result like last night means we can start to really believe we can get results anywhere.

Confidence is a massive factor, just look at that Anderlecht team who swept away all in front of them last year and now they are stuttering and making mistakes.

I feel like giving the man of the match to young Ntcham. To have that torrid first 20 minutes and come through it shows the boy is made of strong stuff.

If we can cut out the nervous sloppy play then who knows, 2nd place is not a pipedream.

Hopefully the internal squabbles at Bayern continue.

Time to make Celtic Park a place where no one gets an easy ride.

Thanks Brendan, thanks Celtic

(Bitter report on twitter, Chris McLaughlin:)

Teams

Celtic

Goals

• Griffiths (38' minutes),
Roberts (50' minutes),
Sinclair (90'+3 minutes)

Articles

• Match Report (see end of page below)

Pictures

• Match Pictures

Forum

• Pre-match http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/11041454/
• Match http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/11041810/
• Post Match http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/11041815/

MOTM

• Voting Thread http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/11041816/
• Result Thread
• Winner –

Stats

Anderlecht
Celtic

Possession
Home37%
Away63%

Shots
Home11
Away9

Shots on Target
Home3
Away4

Corners
Home3
Away1

Fouls
Home10
Away13

Articles

Anderlecht 0 – 3 Celtic: Huge victory for Brendan Rodgers’ side


By STEPHEN HALLIDAY
Published: 21:36 Updated: 21:39
Wednesday 27 September 2017


Leigh Griffiths cemented his current status as Celtic’s number one striker by scoring in the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in his career as Brendan Rodgers’ side earned a rare and precious away win at this phase of the tournament.

Griffiths’ 38th minute opener, an own goal from Senegalese defender Serigne Mbodji early in the second half and a stoppage time strike by Scott Sinclair gave the Scottish champions a fully merited three points against a spirited but limited Anderlecht outfit.

Rodgers is now unbeaten in his last three away group stage games as Celtic manager, bucking the dismal trend on their travels which has handicapped so many of their previous campaigns.

Reaching the last 16 of the tournament this season remains a long shot but in the battle for third place and progression to the Europa League knockout stages after Christmas, the significance of this result cannot be overstated.

Before the outstanding piece of football which created the breakthrough for Griffiths, there were lengthy spells when the action lived up to the widely accepted pre-match perception of two teams scrapping for the crumbs from a Group B table lorded over by Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.

Olivier Ntcham, restored in central midfield at the expense of Stuart Armstrong, would justify his selection with the perceptive and magnificently weighted pass which led to Griffiths’ personal landmark strike.

But it took the French midfielder time to find his rhythm in a scrappy contest which saw him initially as guilty as anyone of losing possession cheaply. Indeed, Ntcham was fortunate to escape an early caution when he cynically fouled Lukasz Teodorcyzk in his attempt to win the ball back after giving it away needlessly to Pieter Gerkens.

Ntcham was penalised again when he floored Anderlecht captain Sofiane Hanni, conceding a free-kick in a dangerous position, but Leander Dendoncker’s effort from the set piece flew over without troubling Craig Gordon.

Celtic were seeing as much of the ball as they wanted, with the home side apparently quite happy to wait for opportunities to spring rapid counter attacks. The visitors looked vulnerable when Hanni’s ball over the top of their back four found Henry Onyekuru sprinting into the penalty area but he was unable to latch onto it as Gordon raced out to cover the threat.

Rodgers’ men were struggling to bring any penetration to their play in the attacking third of the pitch but Sinclair finally found space to force their first corner of the evening in the 25th minute. The winger took it himself, the ball nodded back across goal by Griffiths for Jozo Simunovic who was pulled up for a foul on Uros Spajic.

It was the beginning of the end of Spajic’s night, the Serbian defender then aggravating an ankle injury when fouled by Sinclair and eventually being replaced by Mbodji before the interval.

He hung around long enough to be on the pitch when Celtic took the lead with seven minutes of the first half remaining. Ntcham more than compensated for his earlier fecklessness when he conjured up a magnificent defence-splitting pass to send Kieran Tierney scampering down the left.

The full-back had all the time he needed to look up and drill the ball low across the face of the Anderlecht six-yard box for Griffiths to drill in a shot from close range at the far post. Moussa Dembele, an unused substitute on the night, has a battle on his hands to reclaim pole position up front in Rodgers’ team.

Celtic were almost caught cold from the restart, allowing Hanni to work himself into space on the edge of their penalty area. The Algerian’s powerful low shot was well gathered by the alert Gordon.

It was a quick reminder that Celtic still had plenty of work left to do in order to achieve the optimum outcome from this pivotal fixture. Anderlecht threatened again on the stroke of half-time, Teodorcyzk finding room in behind the right side of the Celtic defence before dragging his shot across the face of goal and narrowly wide of the target.

Anderlecht opened the second half on the front foot, Hanni’s fierce shot from 20 yards blocked by the chest of Gordon, but their hopes of staging a recovery were dented when Celtic doubled their lead in the 50th minute.

There was an element of good fortune to the goal from Celtic’s perspective as Anderlecht gave the ball away on the edge of their own penalty area. Patrick Roberts seized upon the error, cutting inside from the right and firing in a shot which Mbodji could only deflect beyond his own ‘keeper.

It was now just a case of managing the game sensibly for Celtic, a task disrupted a little by the departure of captain Scott Brown with an injury which will be of as much concern to Scotland manager Gordon Strachan as it is to Rodgers. Nir Bitton replaced Brown as Celtic looked to navigate the closing stages with as little anxiety as possible.

A thunderous 25 yard shot from Gerkens, brilliantly touched over by Gordon, was the closest Anderlecht came to pulling a goal back as Celtic saw it out with something to spare, adding gloss to the final scoreline when Sinclair collected a Ntcham pass and lashed the ball high beyond Frank Boeckx in stoppage time.

Anderlecht 0 – 3 Celtic: How the Celtic players rated

CRAIG FOWLER

Published: 22:03 Wednesday 27 September 2017

Ratings out of ten for each and every Celtic player after an unforgettable win in Brussels.
READ MORE – Anderlecht 0 – 3 Celtic: Huge victory for Brendan Rodgers’ side

Celtic team-mates celebrate after Leigh Griffiths opened the scoring. Picture: AFP/Getty
Craig Gordon – 7
Spilled a routine shot from Sofiane Hanni early in the second half, but made people forget about that with a superb one-handed stop from Pieter Gerkens.
Mikael Lustig – 7
Celtic were guilty of slack passing early with the full-back one of the worst offenders. Defensively he was sound, though, and improved his distribution as the game went on.
Jozo Simunovic – 9
Composed in possession and always seemed to be in the right place to try and snuff out the danger when Anderlecht attacked. The defence was rock solid and Jozo excelled as their leader.
Dedryck Boyata – 8
Was turned a little easily for Hanni’s chance just after Celtic scored, but that was the one blemish on an otherwise confident performance. You’d never have been able to tell he never played this season prior to last midweek.
Kieran Tierney – 8
Asked to play more cautiously than normal. Defended superbly and still got forward to put in an excellent cross for the opening goal.
Scott Brown – 7
His composure on the ball helped settle down Celtic after a nervy opening 30 minutes from the visitors. Went down with a hamstring injury and replaced.
Patrick Roberts – 8
Pretty anonymous before the break but came on to a game in the second period. Got a bit of luck with his goal but deserved it through his decisiveness when other players may have dallied. Defensively he was great, constantly tracking back to cover Dennis Appiah’s runs from wing-back.
Olivier Nthcam – 7
Alarmingly slopping in possession throughout most of the first half but made up for it with a killer pass through for Kieran Tierney in the build-up to the opener. Improved tremendously after the break.
Tom Rogic – 6
Played in a slightly deeper role than he’s used to, shading out to the right of centre in Celtic’s 4-1-4-1. Was closely marked throughout his 65 minutes and struggled to make an impact.
Scott Sinclair – 8
With his strong running he was able to continually drag Celtic up the park, either when they were sloppy in possession in the first half or under the kosh in the second. Rounded off a fine performance with his goal.
Leigh Griffiths – 7
His touch was off at times and he was a little isolated early in the game. However, he never stopped running and showed great instincts to attack the back post where he was able to finish Tierney’s low cross.
SUBS
Callum McGregor – 7 – Brought some renewed energy to the midfield area.
Nir Bitton – 5 – Caught in possession too often after replacing Brown.
James Forrest – 6 – Another who worked hard to preserve the victory.

What the Belgian newspapers are saying about Anderlecht 0-3 Celtic
Most of the comment in the Belgian press focused on Nicolas Frutos. By PATRICK McPARTLIN
Published: 17:05 Updated: 17:21
Thursday 28 September 2017


The headlines in Belgium’s papers following another 3-0 Champions League defeat for Anderlecht make for grim reading for fans of the Brussels outfit.

‘Nicolas Frutos fails his big test against weak Celtic,’ read a headline in De Standaard.

Het Nieuwsblad went with ‘Limp Anderlecht can cross off European campaign after home defeat to Celtic’.

Het Nieuwsblad journalist Jef Van Hoofstat also suggested that Frutos might not be ready for the Anderlecht job, saying: “According to Frutos, [Pieter] Gerkens and [Adrien] Trebel played a ‘great match in difficult conditions’ – but those were difficult conditions that he himself had caused.

“Frutos has repeatedly spoken of ‘his idea’ but after three games we are still not clear what that idea might be.”

Alex Teklak of La Derniere Heure suggested that caretaker boss Frutos had ‘no plan B’ but did write: “The first quarter of an hour from Anderlecht was pretty good. We saw clearly what Frutos wanted to do. The players, including the attackers, were doing a great job to make it work.”

Het Laatste Nieuws was particularly scathing in its player ratings, marking Polish forward Lukasz Teodorczyk as 2/10, adding: “Spent more time on the ground than he did upright. Lost every header. Very, very, very weak.”

Veteran defender Olivier Deschacht (3/10) was ‘sleeping for the first goal’ while Henry Onyekuru was rated 3/10 with the comment: “Each time he was on the ball, you felt that something could happen. However, it never did. Must do more.”

A number of Belgian newspapers mulled over the possible appointment of Hein Vanhaezebrouck, the recently departed KAA Gent boss, with Frutos described as ‘not yet ready’ for the Anderlecht job by Het Nieuwsblad and Le Soir, the latter suggesting that the Argentinian lacked the relevant experience to take the top job.

BBC
By Tom English

at Constant Vanden Stock Stadium

27 September 2017
From the section European Football


Celtic's Leigh Griffiths and Patrick Roberts

Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths opened the scoring against Anderlecht and Patrick Roberts' shot was deflected in for the second

Celtic ended their run of 16 European group games without a win as goals by Leigh Griffiths, Patrick Roberts and Scott Sinclair saw off Anderlecht.

The win moves Celtic level with Bayern Munich in Group B, and establishes a crucial advantage over Anderlecht.

Griffiths' opener was created by a fine passing move involving Olivier Ntcham and Kieran Tierney.

Kara Mbodji inadvertently deflected Roberts' shot in after the break then Sinclair crashed in a late third.

Celtic: Rodgers delighted with 'outstanding performance' in Brussels

The only setback for Celtic was the departure of captain Scott Brown during the second half, the midfielder limping off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

He could now be a doubt for Scotland's World Cup qualifying double header against Slovakia and Slovenia, but for Celtic this was their first away shut-out in the Champions League group stage.

Celtic began nervously, and for the opening 25 minutes they couldn't hold on to the ball, their passing letting them down hugely. From Ntcham to Roberts, they coughed up possession constantly and invited Anderlecht on to them.

Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths

Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths finished emphatically after a fine passing move involving Olivier Ntcham and Kieran Tierney

The saving grace was that the Belgian side, beleaguered in their domestic league, were nowhere near good enough to take advantage.

Celtic settled when the goal came – and it was a beauty, a study in accurate and clinical football, the polar opposite of what had gone before.

It began with Ntcham, who delivered a gorgeously weighted pass to Tierney, scampering down the left flank. The timing of the pass and the run were exquisite, as was Tierney's driven cross to Griffiths, who had cleverly peeled away from Olivier Deschacht in the box.

Celtic winger Patrick Roberts

Celtic winger Patrick Roberts saw his shot deflect off Anderlecht defender Kara Mbodji on its way into the net

Three touches and one goal. Ruthless. Celtic were up and running. They had a few scares before the break, Sofiane Hanni and Lukasz Teodorczyk both going close for Anderlecht, and just after the restart Hanni again gave Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon an anxious moment.

In the main, though, this was comfortable and it became a joy for the visiting support when Celtic doubled their lead.

The skies above Brussels caved in on the hosts six minutes after the break. Celtic's second was a calamity for Anderlecht, a series of self-inflicted wounds that added up to a goal.

Leander Dendoncker played a seriously unwise pass across his penalty area to Deschacht who was extraordinarily lax in dealing with it while under pressure from Roberts.

Deschacht merely flicked his foot at it and presented it to Roberts who ran in on goal. Roberts got a shot away that the Anderlecht goalkeeper Frank Boeckx looked capable of dealing with until Mbodji deflected the ball into his own net.

Celtic threatened again. Roberts had a chance and then Callum McGregor, on as a substitute, couldn't make the most of it when Anderlecht were short on numbers at the back.

Anderlecht came back into it but they couldn't break the visitors' resolve. Rodgers' team were mature in shutting the game down.

Celtic captain Scott Brown

Celtic captain Scott Brown suffered a potential hamstring injury in the second half and was replaced

There was even a flourish at the end when the third came, Dendoncker presenting the ball to Sinclair, who went on to beat Boeckx with a terrific finish.

A huge night for Celtic, one that gives them a long-awaited victory and some precious momentum. It also gives them a massive advantage over Anderlecht in terms of the battle for third place and the spot in the Europa League that goes with it.

Celtic might still have dreams of second place, but this will go a long way to ensuring that whatever happens here on in, the Scottish champions are the hottest of favourites to earn European football in the new year.