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Sunday Papers; 26/10/08
Topic Started: Oct 25 2008, 10:34 PM (125 Views)
Jinty
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Sunday Herald


Reality check

Wednesday’s result, while no disgrace, is a harsh reminder to both halves of the Old Firm of their true standing among the elite of European football, writes Michael Grant

OLD TRAFFORD was a trial and Manchester United's sumptuous football amounted to a beautifully-constructed prosecution case to dismantle Celtic's defence. Judgment day approaches. If results go against them Celtic are only 90 minutes from being eliminated from the Champions League. If they lose their next match at home to United, and Villarreal take even a point at Aalborg, the best the Scottish champions can hope for is a drop into the Uefa Cup.

It stretches credibility to imagine they can do better than that. At the halfway stage in the group phase they are the only one of 32 clubs not to have scored a goal, and when the champions of Europe come calling to Glasgow a week on Wednesday Celtic again will be handicapped by the absence of injured strikers Georgios Samaras and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

Of course Celtic's home record is formidable and nearly 60,000 supporters will generate another electric atmosphere. But if anyone can handle that, United can.

Although they lost to Shunsuke Nakamura's remarkable free-kick at Parkhead two years ago, United outplayed Celtic on the night. This time they arrive knowing a win will elevate them to the 10-point mark which Sir Alex Ferguson regards as the total which effectively amounts to qualification. He would then be able to rest players and preserve energy through the two meaningless remaining group games.

Given the length and demands of United's season, that is a perk Ferguson is eager to earn when he returns to his home city.

What a team he will bring with him. Celtic are too large and proud a club to be reduced to open-mouthed awe by an opponent but it was easy to understand why manager Gordon Strachan was still speaking of United's performance with the appreciation of a connoisseur several days after the ordeal was over.

It is worth pausing to note the magnitude of what Celtic were exposed to on Tuesday. Bluntly, there is a feeling among their players that Manchester United were the greatest team they will have to confront in their entire careers.

"They are the best team we will probably ever face," said Paul Hartley. "They are awesome and a very powerful team too, probably the most powerful team in the competition. The pace and the strength they have makes it very difficult for other teams to play against them."

As if doubting the evidence of his own eyes, Strachan turned to some of his senior players for confirmation of United's status. "I was speaking to Gary Caldwell and Mick' Stephen McManus and I said tell me the truth, you played against Italy and France; Naka Shunsuke Nakamura you played against Brazil. Tell me, where do Man United rank?' They all said by far better than them, by far better than any international side, a million miles better'.

"Man United: you see the size of them, the strength, the pace. If you give the ball away, you're killed. That's the secret, regardless of what your tactics are. It's like tennis, you get punished for unforced errors. Deadly. And when we actually manage to take the ball up the park Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani have to come back to their 18-yard box and they can't get at you then. But if you lose the ball in the middle of the park they counter-attack you straight away and you're left going what happened there?' "It's down to passing. If you can get up the park you have a better chance of organising yourself. But when you keep giving it away in the middle of the park you're knackered."

Strachan wasn't talking about those long, raking Hollywood balls which flatter to deceive, but the deceptively straightforward 10 to 15-yard passes in the centre of midfield which tend to go unnoticed until one is misplaced. Teams like United, Barcelona or the Spanish national side are excellent at zipping balls around to each other, receiving and returning them even when players are under pressure from markers.

Lesser sides - Celtic, Rangers, Scotland - cannot emulate them because of the frequency of unforced errors which surrender possession and lead to surging counter-attacks and goals. It is the fundamental flaw which prevents Scotland's two leading clubs from having any realistic ambition beyond the last eight of the Champions League and which is likely to exclude the national side from the World Cup finals in 2010.

Enough has been said about the enormous financial discrepancy between the SPL and the English Premier League since United ridiculed the idea of Tuesday being a meaningful "Battle of Britain". Scotland were reduced to the role of permanent losers in that one several years ago when the value of English broadcasting rights exploded. The SPL television deal is worth £125m, the proposed value of the next English one is £3.25bn. Even in back-of-a-fag-packet arithmetic that amounts to United receiving £26 for every £1 Celtic get, and that's just for starters.

The Champions League reduces Celtic and Rangers to the role of also-rans, as impoverished and helpless against the elite as the likes of Hamilton or St Mirren are when they come to Parkhead or Ibrox. It is not a role which sits easily with either Old Firm club given that for decades they have been spoon fed a diet of domestic supremacy.

The Champions League demands that they take their medicine now and again, appreciate the highs when they come, and recognise that they are not about to truly gatecrash the elite in those years when they reach the last 16. Similarly, last Tuesday's 3-0 defeat did not amount to the end of the world. Qualification is beyond them, but Celtic might break their awful away hoodoo and win in Aalborg and then drop into the more forgiving Uefa Cup after Christmas, where a run is possible.

"We were a penalty decision away from being in the top eight two years ago with Nakamura in Milan," said Strachan, referring to the last-16 ties against AC Milan in 2007 which were goalless after 180 minutes.

"Naka was pushed in the back in the box when he was preparing to shoot. We all thought it was a penalty, but it wasn't. If we'd scored that we were through to the last eight which is truly phenomenal. Your life has ups and downs: you can nearly get there, you don't get there.

"This season we missed a penalty against Aalborg. Avram Grant at Chelsea in the Champions League final: John Terry slips on his backside taking a penalty, United become champions and Grant gets the sack. That's how close you are in this big-time football."

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Sunday Herald


Double visionaries CELTIC 4 - 2 HIBS

By Michael Grant at Celtic Park

CELTIC COLLECTED only the statutory three points from a match they had to win twice. They seemed to have Hibs finished off at 2-0, were pulled back to 2-2, then finally made it over the line with another couple. It meant they have won six consecutive leagues games since losing the Old Firm derby at the end of August, and remain clear at the top of the table.

Their relentless ability to win SPL games immediately after demanding Champions League fixtures was maintained.

Manager Gordon Strachan took that as an opportunity to praise a squad bruised by criticism of their midweek defeat at Manchester United. "They have been doing it for three years now," he said, delighted by their stamina and drive. "Winning championships, qualifying for things, winning cups and producing football that's decent to watch."

Hibs did their bit to entertain too, but Celtic prevailed. They endured the absence of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras to score through four different players including teenager Cillian Sheridan. A run of injuries have been debilitating for Sheridan since he joined Celtic 18 months ago and this was his first 90 minutes at any level in four months. Given the injury list, he did not harm his prospects of staying in the manager's thoughts for the return against United a week on Wednesday. "I like the fact that he's tall and he's the only tall striker we've got," said Strachan.

"He was raw when he came here and he still needs a lot of work, but he gave us what we needed today, some power and threat to go in behind and hold the ball up. He's an example to everyone who wants to join Celtic. We don't have the money now, so there will people getting games."

Celtic had been fearful of karma making them pay for limiting Derek Riordan to just 24 appearances in almost as many months. Riordan tried his damndest on his return as one of Hibs' front three, but he couldn't haunt Strachan. The weather was foul - wind and rain driving into the players' faces - but the match was enjoyable from start to finish.

Hibs were bright and bold in their attacks from the beginning and Celtic's superior amount of possession meant that they, too, quickly imposed themselves on the match. Strachan made four changes from the team beaten by United, with Glenn Loovens and Aiden McGeady among the substitutes and Lee Naylor and Mark Wilson rested entirely by a manager mindful of the hard shift they had put in at Old Trafford.

They had to survive determined attempts from Riordan, including a free-kick and a snap shot at which Artur Boruc had to throw himself to push away for a corner. Riordan was always worth watching, at least until Celtic swamped Hibs in the second half.

Celtic looked to have done their work within a bountiful three-minute spell of the first half in which they scored twice. Shunsuke Nakamura took a poor corner but John Rankin swung a leg at the cross, missed, and watched as it flashed across the box and was turned in by Stephen McManus's close-range shot.

McManus was an unusual goalscorer and the same could be said of Celtic's second, put away by Sheridan. Just 19, tall, and slim, Sheridan generally made his presence felt and finished with aplomb when McManus's through ball reached him after a McDonald dummy. The Hibs goalkeeper, Yves Ma-Kalambay, raced out to meet him and Sheridan had the presence of mind to give him the slip and tuck a tidy angled shot into the net.

Surprisingly Hibs were not finished. It was Steven Fletcher, not Riordan, who inspired them. Barry Robson was Celtic's left-back and Hibs exposed him twice. First Fletcher beat him to unleash a ferocious shot which deflected off Colin Nish's head to deceive Boruc and give Hibs a toehold in the game just before half-time. Both players claimed the goal. "If I had been playing and it hit off my head I'd have claimed it," said Mixu Paatelainen, their manager. "But I am a greedy bugger."

Five minutes after the interval they were level. Nish held off Robson and launched a ball across the Celtic goal where Fletcher roared in to knock into the net.

The equaliser had the curious effect of acting as a catalyst to the team which conceded it. Hibs barely created a chance in the 40 minutes after their second goal, whereas Andreas Hinkel and McDonald soon had efforts saved by Ma-Kalambay. Celtic were not to be denied in an impressive response to Hibs' recovery. The outcome may have been different if McDonald had received a straight red for a crude challenge on David van Zanten, but he was only booked and Paatelainen did not protest. "I don't like to see players sent off. It was a rash tackle, a striker's tackle."

Effectively they won it when Shaun Maloney's deep corner was headed in at the back post by Loovens, whose firm connection somehow squirted between the post and Lewis Stevenson. Loovens had been introduced when McManus was taken off with a slight hamstring strain.

There would be no reply this time. Hibs were spent and conceded the best goal of the game seven minutes from the end. Hinkel played the ball in from the right, McDonald executed a delicious lay-off and Brown rifled a low shot inside the post to embellish a commanding individual display.

Celtic's work was done. So much so that there was relaxed, warm applause when Paddy McCourt came on for his competitive debut two minutes from time.

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Celtic 4 - 2 Hibernian: Celtic shake off some Hibee-jeebies

By Andrew Smith at Celtic Park

Celtic 4
McManus 32; Sheridan 36; Loovens 76; Brown 82

Hibernian 2
Nish 41; Fletcher 50

EVENTS in the east end of Glasgow yesterday were supposed to follow one of two plotlines. The first scenario was that Celtic, who had lost only one of the 32 games they had played post-Champions League activity, would regain their poise following their belittling by Manchester United and do to Hibernian what was done to them in midweek. The second was that Derek Riordan would return to the club that condemned him to two "wasted years" and make them pay for the failure to recognise the worth of his striking talents.

No-one predicted the narrative that unfolded wherein the teams served up a hugely enjoyable goalfest without Riordan figuring among six scorers; the player who showed the prowess that attracted Celtic to buy him from the Easter Road side was Scott Brown and the visitors allowed Celtic a two-goals start then gave them an attack of the Hibee-jeebies by drawing level… only for the home team to prevail with two strikes in the last 15 minutes that ensured they retain a three-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League. In truth, Gordon Strachan's side betrayed the sort of shortcomings that the best of Europe will always ruthlessly exploit, and Hibs in turn the defensive frailties that will allow them to entertain in Glasgow but only rarely have anything to show for their efforts. All of which added up to a marvellous, undulating afternoon's entertainment.

Indeed, Mixu Paatelainen's men surrendered the initiative cheaply after Steven Fletcher had finished off a sweeping three-man move to make it 2-2 four minutes into the second period. Substitute Glen Loovens rose unchallenged to head in a corner from Shaun Maloney to regain Celtic the lead in 75 minutes. Thereafter, Hibs could not trouble their hosts and Brown's crashing pinpoint effort following a one-two with Scott McDonald at the edge of the area was the pick of the goals from the pick of the players.

In this season of the rotation policy for Strachan, it was inevitable some players would be omitted/rested/dropped following the club's Old Trafford dismantling. It was almost as inevitable that Aiden McGeady would be one of those consigned to the bench, and Shunsuke Nakamura would not. Neither was it any surprise Barry Robson and Andreas Hinkel took over from fragile full-backs Lee Naylor and Mark Wilson.

The Celtic manager likes to give the impression he has been fluid and fair with all the comings and goings in his side. As has been remarked upon, however, some players are more rotated than others. Nakamura has only been left out of the two league games that have followed draining trips back from international duty on the other side of the world. McGeady, on the other hand, has failed to win a place in the starting XI in almost half the club's SPL encounters this season. An acute contrast in the treatment of two players who have both performed in only fits and starts.

With a return to a two-man strikeforce, the most intriguing deviation from the Celtic team from Tuesday was the product of elevation rather than rotation. Cillian Sheridan didn't look any more out of place than anyone else in Celtic colours as a late substitute in Manchester. Owing to the injuries depriving Strachan of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Georgios Samaras and Chris Killen, the 19-year-old Irishman also happens to be the only fit forward available to his manager with physical presence. Which is not inconsiderable, with Sheridan a real lump of a lad.

There will always be a role for that sort in Strachan's set-up. In the Hibs team, meanwhile, was the player who there never appeared a place for. The hype surrounding Riordan's return to Celtic Park was as overblown as the claims he should have been given more opportunities during his two years at the club. If McGeady, a patently more gifted player than the Hibs forward once his team-mate, is struggling to nail down a position, it should be little wonder it didn't work out for Riordan.

The maverick and, yes, fantastic finisher needs a team to be configured to suit him in order to thrive. Paatelainen appears prepared to do that. Indulging Riordan by playing him alongside two other strikers in Steven Fletcher and Colin Nish leaves Hibs light in midfield, as was exposed in the derby draw last week. That, though, can be balanced out by the potency it brings to their attacking efforts. It certainly was as they gave Celtic a real examination.

Both teams' determination to play open football and pick passes at pace in the face of driving rain undermining such an approach was admirable. Celtic finding themselves two goals up inside 36 minutes was curious given that Hibs' movement seemed more measured and menacing in the early stages.

Artur Boruc had to develop a telescopic arm to dig out a sweetly-struck Riordan shot just inside his left post and Nish was in the clear only to stumble over the ball before Celtic contrived a scoring opportunity. And the one that gave them a 32nd minute lead was more about sclaffs than craft. For a complete mis-hit of a Nakamura corner resulted in the ball finding its way to Stephen McManus via a dreadful clearance from Lewis Stevenson, mishaps that allowed the Celtic captain to show neat skill by hooking the ball in from six yards.

Four minutes later, and it was Sheridan's turn to show a delicate touch for a big fella, and in the process fully justify his selection. McManus launched a ball from deep in his own half, McDonald dummied it and Sheridan showed good awareness and feet to run on, drag it round Yves Ma-Kalambay and tuck it into the empty net from an angle. Hibs' 41st minute response came through Fletcher cutting in from the right and producing an almighty hit that took a sufficiently pronounced deflection off Nish to wrong-foot Boruc.

The Leith club looked good for a point when Fletcher slammed in at the back post after the home side were prized wide open, but Celtic regrouped impressively. And, after Maloney had a reasonable penalty claim rejected and McDonald was incredibly fortunate to be only booked for a late and wild lunge on David van Zanten, they exhibited impressive resilience. "Champions League, yer having a laugh," mocked Hibs fans at 2-2 "SPL, yer having a laugh," retorted the home support at 4-2. Said it all, really.

MAN OF THE MATCH

The blossoming of Scott Brown continues apace with the midfielder producing the sort of thrusting, galvanising buzz-bomb midfield display that brought him renown at Easter Road. His goal, the second in two league games, only illustrated his burgeoning confidence, which showed when he had another shot on target, this time blocked, three minutes after he scored.

QUICK FACT

Hibs have won only one of their past 28 league games against Celtic in Glasgow.

TALKING POINT

Hibs defending, especially from set-pieces, would have been punished by any mid-ranking SPL side, never mind the four-in-a-row-chasing Scottish champions.
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Celtic just too far behind for luck to matter


EVERYTHING IS relative. On Wednesday morning one Manchester paper listed their man-by-man markings for the United team which had outclassed Celtic the previous night.

Only a couple managed to get beyond five out of 10. Yet still they lead Group E and Celtic are being written off – some even predicting that the third-place finish required to parachute into the UEFA Cup could be beyond Gordon Strachan's men. But on tiny margins can such things turn.

Last season a 93rd-minute goal was required against Shakhtar Donetsk. Without it Celtic wouldn't have just missed out on a place in the last 16, they would have ended up bottom of their group. It was a similar scenario a year earlier. Had it not been for Artur Boruc's penalty save against Manchester United the win they scraped at Parkhead would have eluded them and so too would a continued involvement in European football. Again fourth place would have been their lot. As it was, that same season they were denied a blatant penalty award against Milan, which prevented progression to the quarter-finals.

Just as beating Manchester United in Glasgow two years ago did not make Celtic world-beaters, neither does their inability to negate the threat of the likes of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov on Tuesday night render them embarrassing duds.

They are not the first team to have gone to Old Trafford and lost by three clear goals – and are unlikely to be the last.

So good are Manchester United that even the internationals lavished through the Celtic starting line-up had to bow to the unbeatable on the night.

"I was speaking to Gary Caldwell and Mick (Stephen McManus] and I said 'tell me the truth, you played against Italy and France, Naka you played against Brazil, tell me, where do Man United rank?'," explained Strachan. "They said 'by far better than them. By far better than any international sides. A million miles better.

"Man United, you see the size of them, the strength, the pace. Jesus Christ! Did you see Tevez's work-rate when he came on? They have that, these guys."

Ally to that the fact that they conceded just seven goals in the first 13 games of the season (three in the seven at Old Trafford) and none in the five games leading up to yesterday's match at Goodison and the task facing Celtic midweek was formidable.

Players worth £30m up against a collective costing significantly less than that.

"They are a world-class team and they are not the holders for no reason," said midfielder Paul Hartley, who admitted he is now struggling to see past them as ultimate champions come May. "They are the best team we will probably ever face and such a talented team. It was a very difficult game for us tonight and when they get the ball they seem to punish you. They have top-class players all over the park.

"Obviously, I didn't play against them two years ago but I watched the game and they look a far better team than they were two years ago and have such strength in depth now. They are awesome to watch and to play against.

"We know how good a home record we have got, so we do have a chance and hopefully when we come up against them then we can get a goal or two and get a bit of luck on the night but we know they are a world-class team. They are solid all over the pitch, from back to front. They are awesome and a very powerful team too, probably the most powerful in the competition, and the pace and the strength they have got makes it very difficult for other teams to play against them."

There is hope and Celtic have defied the odds in the past but the problem with perceptions and unreasonably high standards come because Celtic have been punching above their weight for several seasons. Scotland as a whole did last term, with Celtic's presence in the last 16 of the Champions League, Rangers UEFA Cup final appearance and the international side's heroics.

But talk of any kind of regression was dismissed by Strachan. His feet on the ground, he knows that in the past, the offside decisions may have gone in their favour, Lady Luck decked out in green and white, but this time there were too many obstacles – including errors in judgment from the officials.

But while the dream was and still is there to be dreamt, according to Strachan and his charges who are refusing to give up while there is still hope, they are realistic.

Going to Inverness without a trio of strikers is one thing, even travelling down the A77 to Kilmarnock this midweek in League Cup competition must be considered manageable but when facing superior opposition, the absences are more keenly felt.

On domestic duty, Celtic tend to be the beneficiaries. When Celtic met Kilmarnock on league duty earlier this term, the Celtic boss warned against complacency, convinced they would face a stern test. In the end the scoreline was more comfortable.

"That was only because our attitude was spot on, and because of that we had good players playing very well and doing their job and their attitude to that game was first class.

"We know we don't have the same weapons we had the last time we played them but they will know all about that because they had a few of theirs taken away from them last season. If I remember rightly I said back then that when teams lose some of the better players, especially when it's a smaller squad, it will always affect them.

"For people like Mark McGhee and John Hughes, it's imperative that you keep the nucleus of good players fit and then you will be all right. Mark has a few injuries this year which gives him a problem, whereas last year his team rarely changed and when Jim (Jefferies, Kilmarnock manager] is at his best it's because he is getting the same 13 available again."

That was Celtic's problem on Tuesday night. No Georgios Samaras, Chris Killen or Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink to ruffle up the Manchester United rearguard. Whether it would have made a difference is doubtful but as previous campaigns prove, the unimaginable can become the imaginable in the blink of an eye, one moment of genius or one refereeing decision.

Strachan and his men will remember that as they strive to salvage something from European football this term.

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Strachan praises mental strength
By Andrew Smith

GORDON STRACHAN lavished praised on his Celtic team for the "truly phenomenal" stamina and drive he believed carried the contest in their 4-2 victory over Hibs yesterday. At 2-2, the encounter seemed to be going away from them with the visitors having mounted a two-goal comeback, but the Scottish champions finished the stronger despite their withering Champions League exertions at Old Trafford.

"Hibs had a rest while we played on Tuesday, but we came through a mental test at 2-2," he said. "It was a terrific game with goals, tackles and controversial decisions all in there. Sometimes we are lucky with the football we see and we are producing some decent stuff to watch."

On the day that Hamilton manager Billy Reid had been quoted criticising the Old Firm for not blooding youngsters – which perhaps provoked Strachan's comment that "they can talk at other clubs but we have to do it here" – the nature of Celtic's win served as a riposte, with teenage striker Cillian Sheridan, on his full debut, scoring his team's second.

Hibs manager Mixu Paatelainen, meanwhile, did not feel his team's contribution was well served by the final outcome. "I thought we deserved something," he said, though conceding they had been undone by negligence at the back. "One or two people didn't do their jobs as well as they should have but, at 2-2, the game was going our way."

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Loovens uses his head to see off Hibs

Patrick Glenn at Celtic Park

Celtic 4 McManus 32, Sheridan 36, Loovens 76, Brown, S 82
Hibernian 2 Nish 41, Fletcher 50

League titles are rarely won without overcoming the kind of difficulties Hibernian presented to Celtic in a relentlessly engrossing match. The champions' victory was in serious doubt until late goals from Glenn Loovens and Scott Brown spoiled the visitors' comeback - through Colin Nish and Steven Fletcher - having been two down to goals from Stephen McManus and Cillian Sheridan.

Those opening goals only temporarily dispelled the growing anxieties among a home support that had seen Artur Boruc, in the Celtic goal, troubled by accurate shooting long before their own heroes offered a genuine threat. Indeed, there was enough evidence to suggest Gordon Strachan's side had been rendered unusually vulnerable by their European exertions in midweek.

Celtic's extraordinary record in domestic matches immediately after Champions League assignments - only one defeat in 32 - hinted strongly at remarkable powers of recovery, but the circumstances in which they entered this game were appreciably less favourable than for many of those that had gone before.

Not only did they have to overcome the psychological bruising left by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday, but also the continued absence of their two most physical strikers, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras.

Strachan tried to compensate by including the tall and powerful teenager Sheridan in attack, beside the diminutive Scott McDonald, and the young Irishman's goal - doubling Celtic's advantage so soon after the opener - was a glittering reward that lost some of its lustre when Nish and Fletcher erased the deficit.

But the manner in which Sheridan converted his opportunity - side-stepping goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay on the left side of the area before rolling the ball into the unprotected net - hinted at a composure that will be invaluable in the development of his career.

McManus's strike had come, rather fortunately, from Shunsuke Nakamura's corner on the right. The Japan midfielder seemed to miscue the ball low into the area, but it evaded all attempts at interception before arriving at McManus and the big defender hooked it over the line from seven yards.

Nish's goal was the least Hibs deserved from a first half in which they matched the home team. Steven Fletcher came in from the right and hit a powerful drive that was deflected, by Nish, beyond Boruc and into the far corner.

Few, however, would have anticipated the equaliser so early in the second half, which Celtic started with Loovens in place of McManus. The Dutchman and his fellow defenders were skinned by Ian Murray's perfect pass to Nish, on the right, and his perfect cross to Fletcher, who drove the ball into an unprotected net from eight yards.

The predictable resurgence by Celtic was strengthened by the arrival of Aiden McGeady, in place of the largely ineffective Nakamura, but the first noteworthy incident was provided by referee Calum Murray, who appeared to be very generous to the visitors when he refused the home team's claim for a penalty after Lewis Stevenson appeared to take the feet from under Shaun Maloney.

But Loovens eventually restored the lead, rising to a cross from Maloney, on the left, and heading the ball low to the left of Ma-Kalambay. Brown confirmed the victory after a well executed one-two with McDonald and a low, left-foot drive to the right of Ma-Kalambay from the edge of the penalty area.
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