| Match Pictures | Matches: 1996 – 1997 | 1996-1997 Pictures |
Trivia
- John Hartson (later to play for Celtic) played for Arsenal in this game.
Review
GOALS in the last seven minutes from Simon Donnelly and Phil O'Donnell helped Celtic to a 2-1 win over Arsenal in a pre-season friendly before a sell-out 47,300 crowd at Celtic Park last night.
The home side had their new East Stand in use for the first time and Celtic manager Tommy Burns gave a clear indication of the club's intent for the forthcoming season. "We'll give until it hurts," he told the supporters before the game.
Two of his players, Alan Stubbs and Paolo Di Canio, took him to his word and both were substituted after taking knocks. Burns later revealed they had been taken off only as a precautionary measure.
It was Arsenal who looked the more dangerous side early on and Lee Dixon gave them the lead after 26 minutes when he flicked a shot in off the post.
Seven minutes from time Donnelly shot across David Seaman and into the corner of the net for an equaliser and, in the final minute, Phil O'Donnell swept the ball home from the edge of the penalty area.
Arsenal manager Bruce Rioch clearly relished the challenge Celtic had offered. "This wasn't a friendly match in the way it was played and that's the way we wanted it," he said afterwards. He also revealed he had signed a contract with the London club after almost 13 months of negotiations.
Teams
Celtic: Marshall, Boyd, McNamara, McKinlay, Stubbs (McStay, 55), O’Neil, O’Donnell, Grant, Van Hooijdonk, Cadete (Thom, 58), Di Canio (Donnelly, 68)
Unused Subs: Kerr, Wieghorst, Hughes, McLaughlin
Arsenal: Seaman, Keown, Linighan, Bould, Dixon, Parlour, Hillier (Hughes, 84), Platt, Winterburn, Merson (Shaw, 85), Hartson (Dickov, 74)
Unused Subs: Lukic, Rose
Scorers:
Celtic: Donnelly (83), O’Donnell (89)
Arsenal: Dixon,(26)
Referee: Tait
Attendance: 47,300
