Champions League: Barcelona Strike Late to Deny Celtic
Picture: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Barcelona 2-1 Celtic
By Chris O’Keefe
Celtic were denied a point in the Camp Nou by a goal from
Jordi Alba in the final minute of their Champions League group game against
Barcelona.
Barcelona dominated possession and had far more chances than
their Scottish opposition and nearly took the lead within two minutes when an
Alexis Sanchez effort flew inches wide of the left-hand post and, at the point,
travelling fans would have been forgiven for thinking a long night was in
prospect.
Indeed the goal that put the Neil Lennon’s in side front after
18 minutes was very much against the run of play when a fantastically delivered
free kick from Charlie Mulgrew caused confusion in the host’s box and Georgios Samaras’
header took a wicked deflection off Javier Mascherano to leave keeper Victor
Valdes helpless.
Moments before, Barcelona should have taken the lead
themselves after Pedro’s point blank effort was kept out by Fraser Forster and
the home team would have been good value for that lead having taken almost 80
per cent of possession up until that point.
Their dominance of the ball continued throughout the first
half as Lionel Messi went close with two free kicks. That stranglehold finally
bore fruit before half time when an exchange of passing between Messi, Xavi and
Andres Iniesta led to Iniesta sliding the ball into the right-hand corner.
The Catalan side continued to try and force the game into
the second half although Celtic kept them honest and continued to resist.
Lionel Messi was struggling to make an impact in open play for the first 65
minutes but as the Hoops tired, both he and his teammates start to engineer
clear chances. His effort on 75 minutes produced what may have been Fraser Forster’s best save of his career thus far.
However, the onslaught continued and David Villa nearly
grabbed the winner but saw his 90th minute effort rebound off the
post and the away team were closing in on an unlikely point.
It took a superb cross from Adriano and Alba sneaking in at
the far point to deny Celtic a point their resolve might have deserved despite
the statistical imbalance.
They now head into the return encounter at Celtic Park on
November 7 retaining second place after Spartak Moscow defeated Benfica 2-1.
Above all, they gave their fans reasons to be proud and optimistic about their chances
of reaching the knockout stages in the spring.
posted by C O'K @ 9:25 pm
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