Celtic 1 - 0 Manchester United
Tuesday 21st November 2006
Southend
After three games in the Champions League Man Utd were sitting pretty, with three wins and nine points, but then two away games got in the way. Copenhagen took the points two weeks ago, and last night it was Celtic who ran away with the spoils!
Not that a win for the hoops was deserved - they hardly pushed for the goal all game, and got lucky from a set-piece, with Vidic wrongly adjudged to have fouled a Celtic player on the edge of the box. Shunsuke Nakamura put home the subsequent free-kick (and there was little that Edwin van der Sar could do about it!) and Celtic had to hold on for a mere 8 minutes to confirm victory and qualification to the next stage.
Manchester United had put out a full-strenght side, with Heinze replacing Evra at left back, Rio and Vidic pairing up nicely in the middle and Gary Neville running rings round the right. Carrick and Scholes were complemented by Giggs and Ronaldo, with Rooney and Saha up front.
Rooney had the first meaningful chance on 3 minutes, when he was set free by Carrick but failed to convert the shot.
Cristiano Ronaldo was his usual jinking self down the left, and had a stinging shot pushed over the bar by Celtic keeper Boruc.
The first half was dominated by United, who had a number of half-chances and corners which they failed to put into the back of the net. This pattern changed with a switch in formation by Celtic, who took up the running in the second half.
Chances were still few and far between, but Louis Saha had a great chance to put United one up when Saha was gifted the ball by Rooney and had just the keeper to beat from 5 yards. Whilst waiting for the whistle to sound, Saha triedan impudent flick over the keeper, which was palmed away, and the offside call never came. It was a genuine goalscoring oppportunity!
Celtic grabbed their goal, but there was still time for drama when a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick slammed against the hands of a Celtic player in the box for a clear penalty.
A goal would put United through as top of their group. Saha stepped up, and played it straight at the keeper. A bad night all round.
Celtic: Boruc, Telfer, Balde, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura (Miller 85), Gravesen, Lennon, Sno (Jarosik 46), Vennegoor of Hesselink, Zurawski (Maloney 46).
Subs Not Used: Marshall, Wilson, McGeady, O'Dea.
Booked: McManus, Gravesen, Lennon.
Goals: Nakamura 81.
Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Heinze (Evra 87), Ronaldo, Carrick (O'Shea 87), Scholes, Giggs, Saha, Rooney.
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Brown, Richardson, Fletcher, Silvestre.
Booked: Scholes.
Att: 60,632.
Ref: Manuel Gonzalez (Spain)
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