soccer

Dundee 1—2 Celtic

A James Forrest double gets us over the line. With four games remaining, Celtic, with a win over Hearts, can effectively win the league by beating Rangers at home in the penultimate match. This was a twitchy match. Like many others we could have been out of sight or left reeling in injury time when Mellon missed a free header at the back post.

The Dundee plan was exactly what we’ve come to expect. Sit in, hit longish balls towards the forwards, focus on Taylor and Liam Scales side of things were Celtic are vulnerable to cross balls and corners in particular.

Celtic do what we always do. Started well with seventy or eighty-percent possession, with a few half-chances. Nicholas Kuhn and Reo Hatate threatened. The latter hitting the post with a wonderful drop of the shoulder, in the second half, but his shot hit the inside of the post. With Celtic two ahead that would have settled the match. Hatate is not back to his best, but he always tries to make a forward pass. He was the best midfielder in Scotland last year. Kuhn has had teething problems with his teeth and weight loss. I’ve yet to see him play a good game. To me, he is an empty jersey as he was again today.

James Forrest—yes I used to slag him off, but even a blind Rangers supporter would recognise him as our best winger in a poor bunch—match winner. Brendan Rodgers said something along the lines of he was the best winger at the club. Play him, many of us have been saying so for weeks. Palma looks good enough for backup. Yang may prove a good buy next season or the season after, but it doesn’t look good. Kuhn (sigh) I don’t understand why he keeps starting. I’m waiting for him to prove me wrong.

Forrest has nothing left to prove. But he’s only 32. His first goal on the half-hour mark was a belter. Kyogo teed him up from the edge of the box. A ball fired into the Japanese striker. He spun away with the outside of his boot. Forrest took it first time on the volley and fired it in the net.

Around the hour mark, after Dundee had started the second half strongly and corner after corner created goal scoring opportunities for the Den’s men, Forrest robbed a defender on the edge of their box. He played a give-and-go with Hatate and got on the end of it. Ricki Lamie and Portales played like Laurel and Hardy and Forest nipped in and nutmegged the keeper. That looked like job done.

Forrest, of course, comes off for Palma. Kyogo off for Idah. But it was the loanee Norwich striker that brought Dundee roaring back and looking for an equaliser. Mo Sylla and Jordan McGhee headed past the post and straight at Joe Hart. The Celtic defence looked to have cleared—yet another—free kick. Portaless’s downward volley was nothing like Forrest’s, but it hit Idah and wrong-footed Joe Hart.

Hart found time to get a late booking for time wasting. He deserved it. But it would be interesting to see if the same rule was applied when we play home and away and keepers take an eternity and opposition players fall down.

Man of the match by a mile, James Forrest. I gave him the man of the match for his contribution against Aberdeen. Let’s hope he’s a certain starter for the remaining fixtures. We still lose too many goals. McGregor still looks off the pace, but he’s still far superior to Iwata. If we can get Maeda back and Forrest on the other side, we’d be full strength for the remaining four league fixtures and the cup final. We’ll win the league, not the cup. I’ve been saying that for a while. I hope I’m wrong and we win both. Maybe Kuhn will get a hat-trick in the Cup final. Let’s just get over the line. Hearts at home. Home win.

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Celtic 3—0 Saint Mirren

Zach Hemming had little or nothing to do in the first-half. Celtic had two enforced changes from the team that started against Rangers. Liam Scales has picked up an injury. I’m not particularly worried. He’s been on a downward slide. Nawrocki gets his chance and did OKish. I am worried about Maeda. We saw his value at Ibrox. It’s not so much the work he does with the ball, but his closing down, in that sense he is irreplaceable.

Yang got the nod. He took the wrong choice with a chance in under sixty seconds. He could have shot, but chopped back. His form has been up and down as it was here. The same could be said for Kuhn. He’d a disastrous start to his Celtic career and then had a few assists. I’d have preferred Forrest at Ibrox and Forrest now, which tells you everything you need to know of what I think of our wingers. But Kuhn made a few tentative passes and you wonder if he should have shot instead.

Most of our goal-scoring opportunities came from the right wing. After giving away the penalty that wasn’t a penalty last week, Alistair Johnson had a man-of-the-match performance with a hand in our two goals.  

Reo Hatate from the edge of the box and an attempted nutmeg inside the box were one of the few other first-half chances. O’Riley a sidefooted shot but didn’t look like scoring.

But it was Hatate’s genius that opened the scoring. A pass from Johnston and inside the crowded box, the Japanese international pinged it into the top corner to open the scoring and the floodgates of relief in the 53rd minute.

 Much has been made of there being lots of rain over Dundee. No conspiracy. Just Scottish weather and bad groundkeeping. The assumption being, Dundee wanted to avoid defeat by employing a rain maker. Someone explain that to me. All our games are must-win now. We take it for granted that is going to happen. But I get nervous, pre-match. We’ve seen what happened this season and it’s not been good enough.  

We’ve had high winds over Paradise making it harder to judge passes. A twelfth man. With Saint Mirren and all other teams coming to sit in, including Rangers, we know what to expect. Long throws were their primary weapon. In the main we dealt well, with them. Carter-Vickers brings composure to our defence and allows us to pass from the back.  But corners present the same challenge. But Saint Mirren’s first, and only corner, didn’t come until the 89th minute and we were 3—0 up.  

Kyogo’s goal, fifteen minutes into the second-half, settled the game. Again it was Johnstone with the assist. A delightful ball over the top took out Gogic. Kyogo from almost inside the six-yard box headed home.

Celtic upped a gear. Greg Taylor, strangely reluctant to shoot, with Hemming saving awkwardly with his knees locked together. Yang getting into a muddle in front of goal, again.  Hatate’s effort swinging past the post.

Obviously a quiz question in later years, both teams made six substations. We weren’t really sure how that worked. Something about a head knock.

Adam Idah got a late goal in the 89th minute. Luis Palma should have scored but fluffed it. His rebounded shot hit by Paula Bernardo. The ball looped into the air and easily knocked over the line by the Norwich loanee. Every point counts. Every goal counts as we know from the recent past. We weren’t as ruthless as we could have been, but after a wind-strewn first-half, most everyone would have settled for a three goal, full-time lead. Let’s hope it doesn’t snow on Hampden next Saturday.

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Celtic 3—1 St Johnstone

Pre-match, We’d Never Work Alone was song by different-abled kids in sign language. Celtic in any language is our team. We’ve stuttered. Looked off the pace. Not today. Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn and James Forrest scored, but there was something extraordinary that we were only three goal to the good.

Joe Hart was angry when Connor Smith netted Saints’ consolation goal. Substitute Stevie May heading across goal, Hart making the save and Smith netting the rebound, in which was the away team’s only effort on goal.

There was still time added on for an Idah effort to be saved. Alistair Johnston to have a goal disallowed, even though he was onside and for Iwatta to miss a sitter, heading over by two yards.

 Brendan Rodgers made two changes to the team that won against Livingston. Carter-Vickers comes in and so does Kyogo. Both improve the team. The difference was this was Kyogo of old. He could have hit four or five. He’d two goals disallowed for offside. Scored with a fabulous header with a dinked pass from Kuhn (also checked for offside). And set up the goal the effectively finished the game, with a minute gone in the second half, playing a ball across the goal for Kuhn to tap in.

We await the return of Hatate and McGregor then we’ll be back to full strength. Idah drops to the bench, because, quite simply, he looked like a Norwich reserve last weekend.

First twenty minutes, as we expected, total possession. Kuhn half-chance the only threat. Craig Levein is predictable. His sides sit in. Open and expansive isn’t going to happen. Sidibeh lands a quick long ball forward and took on Carter-Vickers. One-on-one. That’s what St Johnnstone were playing for. But there was only one winner. We were far enough ahead after seventy minutes to rest the American. Odin Holm coming on for him.

But it was the new-old boy, James Forrest that made the difference. O’Riley hunted down the ball in the last third. His ball across the box played in Forrest. He took his time and picked the corner of the net. He almost made it a double in the last few minutes. His shot blocked. 

O’Riley, like his midfield partners, looked back to his best. He’d a late free kick tipped onto the bar.

Kyogo earlier had also lashed a shot off the bar. He’d an early one on one saved. In retrospect he should have played in Maeda for a tap in. He chested in one and scored another both offside. His run in behind from Greg Taylor’s pass was something he did all afternoon. The difference today was his teammates found him.  

A chance missed as the ball bobbled about the box. Bernardo had a chance cleared from a first-half corner. Iwata had a shot cleared off the line. Kyogo just off target as he chips one over Mitov but also the bar.

Celtic denied what looked like a stone-wall penalty after thirty minutes. Matt O’Riley whipped in lots of corners and we looked like scoring from most of them. Carter-Vickers had a shot on goal from ten yards, which was blocked. Maeda (as usual) got to it and whipped in the rebound. As expected, lots of players were on the goal-line and in the six-yard box. Kucheriavyi kept the ball out of the next with his hand. I don’t care if it’s natural of unnatural. If his hand isn’t there, it’s a goal. If his hand is there, it’s a penalty. No penalty.

Great to see Kyogo hitting top gear again. Maeda did what he does every week. Kuhn got man of the match. I’d written him off as a dud. I wanted to be wrong. Maybe Lagerbielke will also prove me wrong. The international break gives us breathing space to get our top men fit for Livingston and then Ibrox. If we can win those games—and I’m sure we can—then we should win the league. Today was high-tempo football was some great cameos. It was like old times. Disappointing to lose that goal and not score more. For those of us that remember Helicopter Sunday, we know goals for and against can decide who wins the league. We always need a wee bit of luck.  

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Celtic 7—1 Dundee.

Six first-half goals and a second-half strike by teenage substitute Daniel Kelly hit Dundee for seven. No big surprise those players that finished so strongly against Motherwell get their start. Cameron Carter Vickers came back into the team and got us the first goal in seven minutes. Nodding in a cross at the back post. Two-goal hero Idah quickly added a second tonight with another header. Matt O’Riley had seen what looked like a goal of the season come off the bar. But he wasn’t to be denied. He too scored with a header. Daizen Maeda, who had the miss of the season against Motherwell, failing to score from close in with a header, made amends here and it was all his own work. He got to the byeline and chopped back inside the Dundee defender, placing the ball beyond Carson.

At 5—0 the game is over. Dundee had started strongly with Joe Hart having to make the first save of the match in two minutes. Carter-Vickers had also fluffed his lines with a backpass that fell short allowing a run on goal. Curtis Main also had a goal chopped off after indecision by Carter Vickers and Liam Scales allowed the Dundee forward to force his way past them and power the ball into the net. Marginally, offside after a VAR call.

Callum McGregor made is six in added time of the first-half. He’d played a one-two with Taylor inside a crowed Dundee box and got his shot away.

Brendan Rodgers had the luxury of using whatever substitutes he liked as the second-half got under way. Findlay Robertson was booked for a late tackle on Johnston, who had a fine match, as did Yang down the right. Our wingers have been pretty dreadful of late. This was a different game with many more balls going into the box, rather than back the way.

Among all the dross we’ve signed, Idah looks a real find. His headed goal getting above two defenders was encouraging. He’s edged out Kyogo, and we’d never have thought that was possible on last season’s form. Kyogo come on and cannot score, but comes close with Carson making a wonderful save.

 Kuhn takes a place on the bench. He has done nothing to suggest that’ll change. Palma comes on and hits the bar, but he too looks reserve material. Rodgers rested Taylor, bringing on Ralston at left back. Phew. Talk about square pegs for round holes. He’s always cutting inside and playing the ball inside. We need better simple.

Hard to be critical, but every goal matters and it could come to the count. Substitute Michael Mellon came off the bench, finds himself unmarked at the back post and volleys home. Consolation goal.

For the first time in a long time I wasn’t apprehensive about this game. I think we’ll go to Tynecastle on Sunday and win. Just keep winning. That’s what we need to do. The eleven who started here is (without Hatate) the strongest. No room for sentimentality. Idah is delivering where Kyogo is not. We know our strongest team. Keep going. Rangers will drop points. Let’s not make it easy for a mediocre Ibrox team.   

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Celtic 2—1 Feyenoord

Sometimes you can’t make it up. Gustav Lagerbielke nods in Matt O’Riley’s cross in the 91st minute to win it. Fans celebrated as if we’d won the Champions League (me included). If I say we will next year, you know I’m getting carried away.

Substitute, Yankuba Minteh, who’d been booked and should have picked up a second yellow card, was home alone at the back post and equalised in the 83rd minute. Feyernoord looked the team more likely to score the winner. We’ve been here before many times in the Champions League. Lazio stealing the winner in extra-time of added time. A sucker punch we know all too well.

Even in the 96th minute, when the Feyenoord keeper came up for a corner, if he’d equalised it would have felt like déjà vu. We’ve grown used to swapping victory for defeat.  

Much was made of the defeat to Kilmarnock. Let’s put that into context. Three points in the Champions League tonight guaranteed more money than the combined budget for players and staff at Rugby Park for a year. Much the same team that capitulated to Kilmarnock started tonight. Nat Phillips, who for many is the reincarnation of Shane Duffy, not surprisingly, drops to the bench.

Stephen Welsh, who hasn’t kicked a ball since August, comes back into the team. He was caught ball watching in the first half. Gimenez’s goal was ruled marginally offside. He’d a shot blocked by Joe Hart. Geertruida hits the inside of the post. Celtic rode their luck.

It’s 50/50 whether we score with a penalty now. Luis Palma slotted it away on the 33rd minute. Zerrouki wrestles man of the match, Liam Scales to the ground at a corner after the referee had warned him twice. He, too, should have picked up another booking. But to score from a penalty and a corner is perhaps to ask too much from the Papal blessing.  

Lagerbielke, joins Phillips on the bench, but it shows where he stands with Welsh playing in front of him.

The exclusion of Oh Hyeon-gyu for Kyogo is no surprise. The South Korean missed a few sitters on Sunday. Kyogo was Scotland’s player of the year. The Japanese international had a couple of pot shots on goal. He worked tirelessly as you’d expect, but it’s still not going for him now.

Oh had the ball in the net after shrugging off a defender and rounding the keeper. But he was pulled back for fouling. A strange decision since the referee let a lot worse than that go. But I’ve ran out of conspiracy theories for this week. I’ll begin again when we play Rangers, or even Hearts if it’s a slow week.

Result in Europe have made grim reading. Even under Sainted Ange we only picked up two points. We can stop using metaphors like monkeys and backs. We’ll maybe stop being compared to Man U. Well, maybe not. But it feels good.

It was a big night for Lagerbielke for all the right reasons. Perhaps he won’t be such a dud. Perhaps even he’ll start the next game (unlikely). Let’s not get carried away. I always get excited by wingers. Mikey Johnston did put a great ball across the goal that was crying out to be knocked in. But Mitchel Frame (17) to make his debut in a Champions League game. Wow. I hope he gets used to winning. I hope he’s not another Mikey. We’ll wait and see about both.