 |
| Leigh Griffiths |
LEIGH GRIFFITHS snaffled two early birthday presents.
But it was the gifts dished out to Jo Inge Berget that could yet wreck Celtic’s Champions League dreams.
On a pulsating night at Parkhead, the Hoops thrilled the crowd going forward with Griffiths – 25 today – on target twice.
Nir Bitton also scored for the Bhoys, but it was a show of incredible naivete and a lack of Euro savvy from Celtic which means this tie is still balanced on a knife edge despite the Bhoys heading to Malmo next week with a 3-2 advantage.
At 2-0 ahead they conceded to Berget and with the final kick of the ball and the Hoops happy at 3-1, the bearded Norwegian struck again as Celtic failed to deal with a corner.
The Hoops look well capable of scoring in Sweden next week with two-goal Griffiths justifying the decision of Ronny Deila to play him ahead of Nadir Cifcti.
But the kamikaze attacking sanctioned by boss Ronny Deila? The slack defending with full-backs roaring on and centre-backs 30 yards apart? Suicidal.
Griffiths didn’t take long to make an impact – with a little over two minutes played the striker found the net.
Stuart Armstrong cut in from the left and slipped the pass to Stefan Johansen. Without taking a touch or even looking towards goal the instinctive pass was played through for Griffiths to slot home from 12 yards.
Then Bitton added a second with just 10 minutes on the clock. This time it was Johansen’s corner whipped into the six-yard box which caused the panic, and Bitton was able to climb highest and score from six yards with a towering header.
At this stage Malmo were heading for a tanking. All over the park they were second best with James Forrest – along with Griffiths making a start for a change in Europe – particularly in the mood.
Celtic should have been 3-0 ahead in the 12th minute – this time Emilio Izaguirre linking with Griffiths to set up Johansen for a shot that was scuffed into the grateful body of keeper Johan Wiland.
Celtic had a grip on the game, but in a twist which shows they are still relative novices on the Euro stage they took too many risks and invited Malmo into the game.
Slowly the Swedes got their breath back and started to cause a few problems.
Craig Gordon made a fine diving save to prevent Vladimir Rodic netting with a low drive in 23 minutes.
And with Dedryck Boyata guilty of poor distribution and Izaguirre bombing on, the half ended with the Swedish champions on the front foot and posing some danger from their left flank.
The second half started the way the first ended – with Malmo sharp and Celtic sloppy.
The fact it was Berget who gave the Swedes a lifeline in the 52nd minute was the ultimate insult.
The Norwegian was hopeless during a five-month loan spell last season from Cardiff City, yet his touch and shot whipped past Gordon from a tight angle after Celtic had surrendered possession from their own corner was as sweet a strike as you will see.
Celtic now had to tighten up or risk major damage.
They had the lively Griffiths to thank for putting them 3-1 ahead in 62 minutes.
Lustig’s cross was partially cleared, but only into the air and Griffiths sent a looping header over Wiland and in off the post.
Deila made a strange change at this point – sending on Gary Mackay-Steven for Armstrong. At 3-1 ahead it was an extremely cavalier decision to pitch on another winger with the Swedes finding pockets of space all over the central areas.
Injury then forced off Lustig with Efe Ambrose on and adding to the nerves among the Celtic support.
Then came the hammer blow of a second Swedish goal five minutes into time added on.
A bread and butter corner caught Bitton and Virgil Van Dijk on their heels and as the ball fell inside the six-yard box Berget struck.
Post a Comment Blogger Facebook Disqus