With the fifth round action in the Scottish Cup obviously the game of the round came at Ibrox, if you’re counting on your Old Firm bingo cards, this was game number three, with three or possibly four to go. This game had it all, a superb long range effort from Jamie Ness after only three minutes. It should have been two when Steven Davis crashed Nikica Jelavic’s cross against the underside of the bar.
Celtic slowly came back into the game, and the midfield battle was being won by the tic. Soon the breakthrough was found, Kris Commons scored his second goal in three games for his new club when he buried Joe Ledley’s cut back.
Commons playing just behind Hooper, with Joe Ledley on the left and Brown on the right worked really well. I can honestly say I am not a fan of Brown as a person or a footballer. In this day and age you need more to your game than just being a headless chicken. Yes Sunday was one of his better games, and then as usual we all think this is the turning point, only to see him do nothing for a couple of weeks. If he spent less time trying to wind everyone up and just got on with playing football he’d probably be a better player, and it was great to see Ki Sung-Yeung back in the midfield adding some calm during the storm.
Celtic were soon down to 10 men when Fraser Forster brought down Steven Naismith in the area, Forster was shown red and goal scorer Commons was sacrificed for Lukasz Zaluska, Steven Whittaker stepped up to put away his third penalty of the season. Scott Brown did what any captain should do and stepped up to bring his level, a lovely left footed shot into the corner of McGregors net.
Brown then showed his other not so great side as he was booked for his celebration in front of El Hadji Diouf. As much as a reputation as Diouf has, the Celtic captain should not be putting himself in this situation.
Alain McGregor was Rangers hero as he made a fantastic reaction save to deny substitute Georgios Samaras header from point blank range. Steven Naismith then did his best to ruin Rangers chances, going down without contact in the Celtic box and Calum Murray made the right choice and gave Naismith his second yellow and off he went.
The final whistle brought to an end one of the better Old Firm games in a long time, but then the realisation that the replay would ensure a 7th Old Firm game this season, unprecedented in any other season. Some fans despair, some rejoice.
Amazing that this weekend in the league Celtic don't face Rangers.....that’s the week after.
type="text/javascript">
Follow ESPNsoccernet's Football Correspondents on Twitter and Facebook
Comments
 |
Posted by Daniel on 02/08/2011
Start 'supporting' your club and support our captain instead of knocking him!
|
Posted by hairlikespaghetti! on 02/08/2011
Overall, the most comfortable Celtic performance at Ibrox that I have seen since the 1980s. With a pass count of 189/216 to 489/525 in favour of the Hoops while playing for approx 45 mins a player short, coupled with possession stats of 33/67, Celtic never looked in danger of losing this match despite trailing twice. The 'headless chicken' jibe at our captain seems slightly disingenuous when you consider that Brown hasnt lost an SPL match this season, but you do admit you have an issue with him as a person. Maybe your writing would improve if you choose in future to leave the personal baggage out? Just a thought. As for the Samaras chance/reaction save, did you mean the incident where the keeper stood still while the ball smashed off his chin? You could tell by the bemused smile on his face as he stood up that McGregor hadnt a clue what had happened, so to term it 'fantastic' would appear a tad generous to say the least. That kind of fawning reporting would make even a Sun hack blush!
|
Posted by Andrew on 02/08/2011
@Daniel - sorry for not being a sheep and loving everthing our captain does. If I believe he is a headless chicken I'm going to write it, there is no obligation to fawm over every Celtic player like a fan boy.
@hairlikespaghetti - My opinion that Brown is a headless chicken is nothing to do with my opinion of him as a person, it is an observation from watching him play. It's called an independent thought...you should try it.
My writing is fine thanks, you don't have to agree with everything I like, surely that is the whole point of having a freedom of speech.
|
Posted by Anonymous on 02/08/2011
To quote:-
'this was game number three, with three or possibly four to go'.
Back to math lessons for you.
Posted by Andrew on 02/08/2011
Not quite sure how good your maths is. Sunday was the third Old Firm game, before the game the seventh match wasn't guaranted. So it was three more to go if there was a winner, and four to go if it went to a replay....muppet
Posted by David on 02/08/2011
All the commenters (commentators?) are seemingly Celtic fans and have responded negatively to your article. What does this tell you?
Posted by Joe on 02/08/2011
Also, an indefensible offside decision that cost Sammy a breakaway.
For me, the verdict on Brown is pretty obvious. Great in a three man midfield because of his tackling, energy and commitment. Bad in a two man midfield because of his lack of vision.
I'm also not convinced Forster deserved to be sent off.
| |
Post your comment |
|
|
Andy Muirhead is the Editor of Scotzine.com and produces the Scottish Football show The Final Whistle for Pulse 98.4FM. He also works on a freelance basis and has contributed to the Daily Record, The Scotsman, the Daily Mail and hasfeatured on BBC Radio Scotland and Sports Tonight TV.
RSS feed