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A dramatic last minute goal from substitute Giorgios Samaras saw Celtic defeat Ru sian side Dinamo Moscow 2-0in the second leg of their Champions League Third Qualifying Round encounter.The victory puts Celtic into the new final qualifyingstage where they are guaranteed to face a tough two legged tie against either Arsenal, Lyon, Stuttgart, Panathinaikosor Atletico Madrid for a place in the 32 team group stage.Following a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Celtic Vlade Divac Jersey Park in the reverse fixture, history was against the Scottish club as they attempted to overturn a first leg European defeat for the first time. Added to the fact that Celtic had not won away in Europe for 23 matches meant that the odds looked very much against Tony Mowbrays side. However, Samaras controlled late finish dumped the Ru sians, who are half way through their domestic season, firmly out of the competition.Samaras - Key goal put Celtic through!The game started fairly evenly although Dinamo, buoyed by the return of Captain Dmitry Khokolov, had the first effort on goal with the dangerous Aleksandr Kerzhakov testing Artur Boruc with an instant curling shot that James Worthy Jersey was gathered fairly comfortably.However, despite knowledge of Celtics travel sickne s over the years, Dinamo approached the first half in a very negative manner allowing Celtic to put them under pre sure whilst they looked for an elusive counter attack.In a first half of very few chances, the all important goal to bring the tie level on aggregate came in the 44th minute. A fantastic deep looping cro s from Andreas Hinkel on the right found the unmarked Scott McDonald who simply Robert Horry Jersey nodded home past goalkeeper Gabulov to give Celtic the crucial breakthrough.Neverthele s, a moment of slackne s almost cost Celtic before the interval as the captain Khokhlovs low shot from a corner saw Hinkel clear off the near post as Boruc was beaten.The second half proved much more entertaining as the Parkhead men refused to sit on their lead whilst Dinamo were proving much more of a threat themselves.The home side caused amoment of panic in the Celticbox in the 52nd minute as Svezhov went down clutching his face claiming a penaltyafter contesting a cro sallowing Dmitry Kombarov to sneak in at the back post and narrowly drive a low shot wide of Borucs left hand post.It was Kombarov again in the thick of the action moments later as the midfielder swung in a corner which was met by the head of his twin brother Kirill Kombarov. However, Hinkel again was the saviour with another clearance off the line as Tony Mowbray looked on nervously. Neverthele s, as the tension mounted, it was Celtic who looked to stamp their authority on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Jersey proceedings as McDonald shot narrowly wide from distance in the 62nd minute.Hinkel - two goalline clearances kept Celtic in the tie!With the game drifting to extra time, Celtic had a fabulous chance to win it in the 89th minute as the driving influence of substitute Scott Brown allowed Shaun Maloney a pa sage into the penalty area but the strikers prod from close range was blocked by the goalkeepers leg.However in the 91st minute, against all expectations, an aimle s long ball forward found Samaras on the left of the penalty area. The Greek striker weaved his way through three defenders before perfectly finishing past the outstretched Gabulov in the bottom right hand corner for his first European goal for the club.The goal sparkedjoyous celebrations as the players and substitutes piled on top of the former Manchester City Jerry West Jersey striker as Celtic memorably ended their European away hoodoo with a vital bank balancing 2-1 aggregate victory. |
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发表于 2024-7-20 15:40:18