| Opponent |
Bordeaux |
| Score |
1
(2) - 2 (3) |
| Date |
9/11/00 |
| Venue |
Celtic
Park |
A goal five minutes from the
end of extra time by Lilian Laslandes dumped Celtic out of the
Uefa Cup. It was the French international's second strike of a
memorable game that the home side thought was theirs when Lubo
Moravcik fired them into the lead early in the second half.
But Laslandes wiped out that deficit late in normal time and
struck again when the legs were at their weariest to make this
a week to forget for the Glasgow giants.
Rangers may still be in this competition but only because they
were knocked out of the Champions League two days earlier.
Celtic, like their bitter rivals across the city, had been so
close to glory - but were caught out on the break and paid the
price.
Before the game Celtic manager Martin O'Neill had claimed his
side would attack as they simply didn't know how to play for a
goalless draw. And so it proved with wingers Bobby Petta and
Didier Agathe attacking from the flanks from the off.
Petta was kicked over a couple of times as he tormented his
opponents on the left but it was Agathe on the other flank who
was to have more influence as the half wore on. He repeatedly
sent over crosses despite having more than one marker to
contend with as Celtic kept Bordeaux under almost constant
pressure.
But it was a good old-fashioned passing move from the heart of
midfield that first opened up the visitors' defence. Stilian
Petrov was involved in it, enjoying one-twos with Agathe and
then Henrik Larsson to set up Chris Sutton with what should
have been a routine tap-in. The flag was up anyway but somehow
the former Chelsea man sidefooted wide to record a worse miss
than the Dynamo Kiev striker at Manchester United last night.
Sutton had been an injury worry before kick-off but O'Neill
had in the end been forced to make two changes from the side
that won 1-0 at Kilmarnock on Sunday.
With Paul lambert a long-term injury casualty and Alan
Thompson ineligible, in came Agathe and Moravcik. Celtic
didn't look like a side disrupted but another enforced change
had to be made in the 40th minute when Jackie McNamara, who
had been hurt sliding in with Lassina Diabate, was unable to
continue and young Colin Healy replaced him.
Larsson was busy but his shooting in the first 45 minutes was
woeful and he received a telling off from referee Sergey
Schmolik for leaving his foot in on goalkeeper Ulrich Rame.
Bordeaux had threatened rarely before the break and Christophe
Dugarry, the man who had scored in the first leg, was booed
whenever he touched the ball. He did little with it during
that period although for all Celtic's domination over the
first 45 minutes they too had failed to produce anything that
tipped the tie decisively in their favour.
A goal had to come soon and it fell to Celtic just eight
minutes after the restart. Petta beat David Jemmali on the
left and when Alain Roche did nothing more than head the ball
a few yards upfield Moravcik belted it back to beat Rame low
to his right.
It was no surprise the home side had taken the lead as minutes
earlier Larsson had forced Rame into a breathtaking tip-over
from a 25-yard free-kick after Sutton had been bundled over.
It was advantage Celtic although the objective was still the
same for Bordeaux - they had to score to stay alive. Sutton
forced Rame into a save from distance and the goalkeeper
survived a few more nervous moments when the ball was in his
penalty area.
Bordeaux had to do something to stay in the game and
eventually they did equalise through Laslandes in the 78th
minute. Jemmali made headway down the right, Laurent Batlles
was first to the ball into the box and he turned to set up the
number nine for a stab past Jonathan Gould.
O'Neill had been spot on - it had never been a game that had
0-0 written on it. Neither side fashioned many opportunities
inn the first period of extra-time, although Joos Valgaeren
deserves plaudits for the way he tracked Dugarry back to snub
his run at the crucial moment and Gould was able to gather.
In the second period it was Rame who needed to make a save,
denying substitute Tommy Johnson after another replacement,
Eyal Berkovic, had set him up. It was the move of the match
and had been begun deep in defence by Valgaeren and involved
some excellent head tennis by Sutton and Petrov to get the
ball under control. But then Laslandes struck to put his side
into the lead with just five minutes remaining on the clock.
Johan Mjallby and Valgaeren had been rocks in defence and Tom
Boyd too had held firm but when red-booted substitute Bruno
Basto played the ball to Laslandes down the inside right
channel the opportunity for a shot was there.
It was a top-class effort, a searing curl over Gould and into
the vacant net over the goalkeeper's right-hand shoulder.
Bordeaux were home and, fittingly for a wine-producing region,
dry once Laslandes' shot hit the net. |