FULL TIME: Celtic 3-2 Malmo
And that’s that. Berget - formerly of Celtic, albeit briefly - puts a very different complexion on this tie with the last kick of the match. The home side had put themselves in control of this tie, but while they have the lead going into next week’s second leg in Sweden, Malmo have two away goals. And the momentum. They’ll certainly be the happier of the two sides after that dramatic conclusion. Still, Celtic have the win, and therefore the advantage going into the second leg. That match promises to be a cracker. It’s a tough tie to call all right.
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GOAL! Celtic 3-2 Malmo (Berget 90+5)
The corner’s hoicked into the six-yard box. Carvalho rises highest to knock down towards the right-hand post, where - who else? - Berget is on hand to lash home!
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90 min +4: Yotun breaks down the left and whips a dangerous ball into the middle. Van Dijk is forced to slice the ball out for a corner on the left. From which ...
90 min +3: Djurdic drops a shoulder to make a little space down the right, but his low ball into the box is hacked clear.
90 min +2: Yotun swings the free kick into the mixer from a deep position on the right. Gordon comes out to claim, and is clattered - accidentally, as he’s come through a thicket of players. Brilliant keeping that takes the pressure off Celtic, and runs down the clock to boot.
90 min +1: Ciftci is booked for bowling Rodic over on the right touchline. That was beyond pointless, a witless shove in the back.
90 min: So that’s the 90 up, but there have been enough stoppages in this half for an extra five minutes to be added to the game.
87 min: Bitton is down taking a bit of a breather. A knock to his leg, but nothing too serious by the looks of it. Celtic seem more than happy to run down the clock. They’d have taken this result at the start of the evening. Of course, 2-0 would have been better than 3-1, the away goal and all that, but they were looking extremely shaky in the wake of Berget’s goal. A comfortable 3-1 victory certainly didn’t look on the cards at that point.
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84 min: Djurdic strongarms himself a little space down the inside-right channel, but can only lash a useless shot miles wide right of the goal. It’s not happened for him tonight, and that was the effort of a desperate, frustrated man.
82 min: The stretcher’s only just made it to Lustig, who is slumped on the far side of the pitch, away from the dugouts. The guys carrying it around the field of play could only have looked more insouciant if one of them had a fag on! A proper amble. A medical meander.
81 min: Rakip is replaced by Sana.
80 min: Poor Lustig is in tears. Ambrose comes on in his stead. “Has Rod Stewart showed up at Celtic Park tonight with a Britt Ekland lookalike, perchance, just for old times sake?” wonders Justin Kavanagh. “Malmo, the seventies, and all that?” Sadly not. Billy Connolly hasn’t arrived wearing banana boots, either.
78 min: Lustig is on the floor, having stopped abruptly while tearing down the right wing. He’s holding his hamstring. It doesn’t look like he’ll be able to continue.
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75 min: Rakip and Brown are both booked for acting like they’re six years of age, after some common-or-garden tussling down the right wing. From the resulting free kick - Rakip had obstructed Brown to kick it all off - Van Dijk heads weakly wide of the left-hand post.
73 min: Celtic’s two-goal hero Leigh Griffiths, 25 tomorrow, is replaced by Ciftci.
72 min: Malmo make a change, replacing Eikrem with Felipe Carvalho.
70 min: Forrest goes on a ramble down the right and earns Celtic another corner. Johansen curls it into the six-yard box. Arnason heads clear. Possession’s recycled by Celtic and Forrest tears down the right wing again. He’s crowded out this time, but has been a busy nightmare for Malmo this evening.
68 min: Forrest looks to burn Tinnerholm down the left wing. The full back shoulder charges the winger towards the stand. He goes in the book, quite rightly so. It’s not been a good few minutes for Tinnerholm, who was at fault for the goal. He looks rather deflated.
67 min: The wily Griffiths further disrupts Malmo’s flow by sitting down and feeling his boot for a little while.
65 min: Well that goal came against the run of play. Malmo have had the wind taken out of their sails. The passes, which had started sticking, aren’t quite finding their range any more.
63 min: It’s tipping down in Glasgow. Armstrong, who has a tight hamstring, is replaced by Mackay-Steven.
GOAL! Celtic 3-1 Malmo (Griffiths 61)
Bitton and Forrest combine well down the right. Malmo can’t get the ball off them. Eventually Forrest bursts inside. The ball balloons into the air. Tinnerholm, level with the left-hand post, heads it straight back up again. Griffiths is the first to the dropping ball, and loops a slow-motion header into the top-right corner, Wiland scampering back to no effect. How Celtic needed that!
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58 min: Armstrong plays a clever reverse pass down the left to release Griffiths into the box. Griffiths decides to give it the full blooter from a tight angle. The ball’s deflected out for a corner. That could have gone anywhere. The set piece comes to nothing, but at least Celtic are up the right end of the park again. They should use the time upfield to clear their heads.
57 min: Rodic romps down the right wing and nearly busts past Izaguirre, who isn’t having a particularly good match tonight. Van Dijk comes across to mop up just before things get tricky for the home side.
55 min: The away goal has put a completely different complexion on this tie. Malmo have a spring in their step now. And the passes are sticking. Djurdic takes a pass down the inside-right channel, turns, and from the edge of the area belts an absolute beauty towards the top left. Gordon, at full stretch, punches away wonderfully. But Celtic are rocking all of a sudden. Parkhead is rocking too, but now it’s the away support making the racket.
GOAL! Celtic 2-1 Malmo (Berget 52)
Berget, with something to prove, proves it. It’s a Celtic corner, but Malmo stream upfield from it. Eikrem is in some space down the inside-right channel. He scoops a cross to the far post, where Berget is in acres of space. He meets the ball and strokes a gorgeous rising shot across Gordon and into the right-hand portion of the net. A lovely finish. Jo Inge Berget. It was always going to happen, wasn’t it.
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50 min: The free kick comes to nothing.
48 min: Johansen steals the ball off Rakip in the middle. Forrest is sent skittering down the right at speed. He cuts inside and is checked fairly cynically by Yotun. Brown bursts into the box before the referee can blow for a free kick, so play moves on. Brown can’t get a shot away, nor can he find a man. Eventually Johansen is taken down on the right-hand touchline. At which point Brown and Yotun get involved in a gloriously childish staring match. Nobody’s blinking. Straight out of Big Train. Eventually Lustig steps in to separate them. Lustig and Yotun take turns to lightly stroke each other on the chops. The referee reminds them how old they are - grown men! - and we move on.
And we’re off again! Malmo get the second half underway. No changes, it’s as you were. Nobody can get the ball under control in the first minute of the half. Izaguirre slides in recklessly on Djurdic. That was probably worth a booking, but he gets away with it. He’ll need to watch himself, because a yellow card will see him miss the second leg of this tie.
Half-time advertisement: Perhaps the least aspirational car ad of all time. If Don Draper did Nordic noir.
HALF TIME: Celtic 2-0 Malmo
And that’s that for the first half. Celtic were brilliant in the opening exchanges, blowing Malmo away with a couple of goals. They could have had at least one more before the visitors slowly found their feet. An away goal would change the look of this tie, so there’s still a job of work to be done. No flipping!
43 min: Some nice rat-a-tat triangulation down the right by Malmo. Eikrem slips Rodic into space. Rodic’s deep cross is headed behind by Van Dijk for a corner. From which, a second corner. And from that, Rakip has a rap from 25 yards, but that’s wild and not bothering Gordon in the slightest.
40 min: Forrest, on the edge of the D, slips a ball to the left for Griffiths. The striker decides the angle’s too prohibitive to shoot, so crosses low. But there’s no juice on the pass, and it’s easily intercepted by Bengtsson. Forrest, rushing in for the return, sticks out a hopeful leg anyway, but only manages to concede a foul.
39 min: Celtic take a little of the sting from the game by stroking it around the back awhile. Malmo don’t press them too much, and that’s 180 seconds of our lives gone in a flash. Smart play by the hosts, though, as the game had been getting stretched.
36 min: Rodic, 30 yards out and a little bit to the left of centre, attempts a strange long-distance diagonal scoop into the top right. It doesn’t come down quickly enough, dropping over the bar for three rugby points, but wasn’t that far away. Celtic go straight up the other end and manage something even more spectacular, Armstrong cutting in from the left and belting a rising effort towards the top right. He’s got Wiland beaten all ends up, but it whistles an inch or so wide of the post. That was a superlative effort. He’s a player in form.
34 min: The former Celt Berget dances in from the left. He does the Steve Nicol Shuffle for a couple of seconds - a kind of slow, hypnotic shimmy - and aims for the bottom-left corner. The shot’s deflected, and easily gathered by Gordon. “Not wishing to rain on Celtic’s parade, but The Rangers are 1-0 up at Ayr in the Petrofac Training Cup South Section,” reports Simon McMahon.
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31 min: But the away side are slowly getting into this, spending some time now in the Celtic half. They earn a free kick down the right. Rodic whips it into the box, deep. Lewicki rises at the far post and cushions an aimless header miles over the bar, the ball eventually floating down onto the top of the net.
29 min: Djurdic has a face on again, and no wonder this time. Brown dallies in the centre circle, and loses the ball to Eikrem. Celtic are light at the back - in fact only Van Dijk is there - and in a bit of trouble. A good pass would release Djurdic through the middle. But the ball is poor, and Van Dijk is able to intercept. Parkhead held its collective breath for a second there.
28 min: Djurdic, 30 yards out, goes for goal. A full-on shank. He’s looking frustrated.
27 min: Celtic break that lull as Bitton encourages Lustig to romp down the right by pushing an insistent pass down the wing. Lustig gets there ahead of Yotun, and skelps a fine low cross through the six-yard box. But he was the only Celt who had responded to Bitton, and there’s nobody there to convert.
26 min: A relative lull, with both teams indulging in some aimless midfield faffing.
23 min: And so, having said that, Malmo get something going. It doesn’t look like much at first, as Djurdic tussles with Van Dijk on the edge of the Celtic area, to the left of the D. But his pressure causes the defender to hack clear in a very uncertain fashion, and the ball breaks to Rodic, who from a central position, 25 yards out, wheechs a daisycutter towards the bottom right. It’s heading in, and it’s brilliantly turned round the post by Gordon, at full stretch. The corner comes to nothing, but a warning to Celtic there. An away goal would curdle the mood a little.
21 min: A good couple of minutes for Scott Brown. The Celtic captain miscontrols in the middle of the park, but tenaciously wins the ball back, then releases Armstrong down the left. Armstrong’s low cross causes a little bother before Malmo hack clear. Then Djurdic goes romping down the left. For a second it looks like he’ll be breaking clear into the box, but Brown hunts him down and steals possession. Malmo can’t get anything going at all.
19 min: Rodic arrived here with good notices, and he shows what he can do for the first time. He zips past Izaguirre on the right, reaches the byline, and pulls a dangerous ball back into the centre. He’s got two team-mates waiting near the penalty spot, ready to pull the trigger, but the telescopic leg of Boyata intervenes at the last millisecond to poke the ball clear. Magnificent play all round.
17 min: Griffiths is confidence personified. There’s not much on, but he busies in from the right wing and, upon reaching the corner of the box, whistles a low fizzer towards the bottom-right corner. That was only inches wide, rippling the side netting. Wiland would probably have got there to save had it been on target, but it wasn’t certain. That was one of those lovely, picturesque efforts where the player strikes the ball with both feet off the ground. Cream! Ping!
15 min: Forrest takes down a high ball on the right touchline. Yotun comes sliding in and cleans him out. Late and clumsy. Yotun should go in the book for that, but the referee clearly decides to take pity on the visitor. He and his pals are in an awful muddle right now.
13 min: Malmo are a rabble. Griffiths has the ball in a central position 25 yards out. He slips a pass down the inside-right channel for Johansen, who is in space in the area. He’s in a similar position to Griffiths for the first goal, but his poke towards the bottom left is denied by the outstretched leg of Wiland. The ball’s hacked out for another corner, which the keeper punches clear. Celtic were so close to a three-goal lead there.
GOAL! Celtic 2-0 Malmo (Bitton 10)
Johansen loops the corner into the six-yard box. Bitton rises highest, and heads down. Not particularly powerfully, but powerfully enough for the ball to bounce past the flapping keeper and a couple of spinning defenders on the line. So simple! Malmo’s defence was a shambles there, but full marks to the ever-excellent Bitton for taking advantage!
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9 min: Bitton slides a pass down the left wing for the busy Armstrong, who drops a shoulder and tears past Tinnerholm. He whips a fine high cross through the six-yard box, and it’s eyebrowed out by Bengtsson for a corner on the right. From which ...
7 min: Malmo are a little shell-shocked. They can’t string anything together. Luckily their offside trap is working OK at the moment. Boyata sprays a long ball down the right and releases Griffiths into the area, but Malmo’s back line had pushed up effectively. Up goes the flag.
5 min: Celtic aren’t messing around here. Forrest again bombs down the right, and so nearly wins another corner. But how about that goal? A fifth of the season already for Griffiths, and the manager’s decision to pick him ahead of Nadir Ciftci is immediately vindicated. It’s fair to say Parkhead is bouncing, but then it was before anything had happened too. It’s bedlam in Paradise.
GOAL!!! Celtic 1-0 Malmo (Griffiths 3)
What a start by the Scottish champions! Armstrong cuts inside from the left with purpose. He reaches the left-hand edge of the D and plays a square pass inside for Johansen, who slide-rules a pass down the inside-right channel to find Griffiths. That’s majestic playmaking, and Griffiths’ finish isn’t bad either. He opens his body and sidefoots confidently past the outrushing Wiland and into the bottom left. Lovely goal!
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2 min: Johnansen hits the set piece long. Van Dijk causes a little bother at the far post. He can’t quite get an effort on target, though. Armstrong tries to get involved, but after a wee scramble he’s eventually flagged for offside. A brisk start by Celtic.
Coins are tossed, hands are slapped - nobody shakes these days - and photos are taken. And we’re off! A simply stunning atmosphere here. A huge roar as Griffiths and Johansen get the ball rolling. Is there a stadium anywhere in Europe that does this competition any better than Parkhead? And there’s more to cheer about early doors, as Forrest makes good down the right to win a corner. A chance for Celtic to load the box and put some pressure on Malmo immediately.
The teams are out! It’s a belting atmosphere at Parkhead. Celtic sport their world-famous green-and-white hoops ...
... while Malmo could wear their first-choice powder blue shirts, but have opted for a two-tone dark blue affair which brings no club other than Internazionale to mind. That’ll give the home team a lovely Pavlovian rush. We’ll be off in a minute!
Malmo’s team is pretty much as expected. The free-scoring Djurdic, on loan from Augsburg, leads the line, hoping to add to his tally of four goals in his six games at the club. Vladimir Rodic will be a danger on the right, while on the other side Jo Inge Berget returns to Parkhead, where he briefly shone last year. Celtic boss Ronny Deila had a couple of big decisions to make. He prefers Leigh Griffiths - four goals already this season - up front to Nadir Ciftci, while out on the right James Forrest gets the nod ahead of Gary Mackay-Steven. The new boy Scott Allan doesn’t even make the bench. So much for the rumours of being thrown in at the deep end, then.
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Dramatis personæ
Celtic: Gordon, Lustig, Boyata, Van Dijk, Izaguirre, Brown, Bitton, Forrest, Johansen, Armstrong, Griffiths.
Subs: Bailly, Ambrose, Ciftci, Commons, Mackay-Steven, Rogic, Mulgrew.
Malmo: Wiland, Tinnerholm, Arnason, Bengtsson, Yotun, Rodic, Lewicki, Rakip, Berget, Eikrem, Djurdic.
Subs: Andersson, Konate, Molins, Mehmeti, Sana, Carvalho, Vindheim.
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
Hallå!
They might not be the biggest club in the world, but Malmö Fotbollförening will always be guaranteed their chapter in the rich history of the Champions League and European Cup. The Swedes famously reached the final in 1979, a feat that was beyond some of the biggest clubs in European football that year: Liverpool, Juventus, Real Madrid, Köln, Dynamo Kyiv, Rangers, Porto. Bob Houghton’s team - a mix of professionals and part-timers which included a travel agent, a fireman and a student - were beaten in the big game by Nottingham Forest. But who knows? Maybe if Sweden’s 1974 World Cup stars Bo Larsson and Staffan Tapper had remained fit - the legendary Larsson didn’t play, while Tapper lasted only 34 minutes - Malmö would have become champions of Europe.
Sweden is still waiting for its first European Cup win. Sometime soon, maybe. But this year, Malmö will settle for getting into the groups for the second season in a row. They made it there for the first time last season, only to be dealt with fairly abruptly by fellow losing 1970s finalists Juventus and Atletico Madrid. In their way this season, yet another unsuccessful finalist from that gloriously unpredictable decade: Celtic, who went into the 1970 final assuming the hard work had been done in the semis by beating Leeds United, only to be rudely shocked by Feyenoord. Times change, and the 1967 champions would settle for a place in the groups this season too, after missing out last year. This is a huge clash.
And a tough tie to call. The champions of Scotland have kept a clean sheet in three of their four Champions League qualifiers this season, and have started their league campaign strongly, as expected, whipping four goals past the Scottish Cup holders Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the weekend. Reigning Swedish champions Malmo meanwhile are nearing the business end of their domestic season, and while they’re in fifth place right now with ten games to play, they still have a chance of retaining their title. They’ve also shown they have the stomach for battle in Europe, overturning a 2-0 first-leg deficit against Salzburg in the last round, making it through with a storming 3-0 win at Swedbank Stadion. Strikers Nikola Djurdic and Markus Rosenberg and winger Vladimir Rodic have been in the goals of late, though Rosenberg, their captain, is suspended tonight. Nevertheless, they’ll set Celtic a test, not least because Jo Inge Berget, briefly on loan at Parkhead last year, is returning with the notion of proving a point.
Ronny Deila can select a fresh Nadir Ciftci, who is currently in the middle of a six-game domestic ban for biting an opponent, and a revived Kris Commons, who has shaken off a dead leg. The new signing Scott Allan is also in the squad, and may make his debut. The stakes are high. Celtic Park will, accordingly, be jumping. It’s the Champions League qualifier. It’s make or break. It’s on!
Kick off: 7.45pm in Glasgow, 8.45pm in Malmö.
