Help us Lukasz Zaluska, you’re our only hope

By: Matt | January 19th, 2009

So remember after Artur Boruc let in a howler of a goal in the cup tie against Dundee? There was talk about whether or not Boruc should be dropped….yeah, about that…Marc Brown had to fill in for the Holy Goalie when pulled a groin muscle in warm ups before the match, except that would be a insult to fill ins. Brown and the rest of the laid an egg up north against Aberdeen, as the Sheep beat Celtic 4-2, the first time Aberdeen beat Celtic in over seven years at Pittodrie. Aberdeen started the goal fest early on, with Gary McDonald netting the opening goal in the 24th minute, but Scott Brown equalized the game a minute later. Brown’s goal continued his phoenix like performance this season in netting the goal, and it has to be said that after struggling last year, Brown is perhaps the player of year for Celtic, and if such an award exists, the Comeback Player of the Year. After struggling last year both on the field and with his sister battling cancer, Brown has bounced back wonderfully and has started to earn his biggest transfer fee in SPL history.

Unfortunately for Celtic, Brown’s resurgent play was not enough. Stuart Duff’s volley put Aberdeen back ahead in the 31st minute. Scott McDonald was able to bring the match level again with a header in the 73rd minute, only to have self proclaimed Celtic fan Zander Diamond ruin the party two minutes later. Off of a free kick, Diamond headed home a goal that seemed to have already been blown dead by referee Dougie McDonald for a foul, but the goal stood in the 75th minute. Then three minutes later Diamond scored again off of another free kick, getting his leg on a ball played into the box and past an outstretched Marc Brown. It was a disappointing performance by the backline, who seemed to forget how to mark men on free kicks. In recent matches, Celtic had struggled to create chances with the defense playing a solid game, but now it is reversed. The most worrying part is Celtic’s one time lead of seven points is now down to two after Rangers defeat of Falkirk this weekend, and as myself and Gordon Strachan predicted, the title race is far from over. Celtic have a home match against the talented Hibernian, the CIS Cup semi-final at Hampden against Dundee United, and an always tricky away match at Caley before the next match against Rangers at Celtic Park. It is unclear how much time Artur Boruc will miss, but with many more performances like Marc Brown and the rest of the defense put forth Sunday, Gordon Strachan just might be reaching for that red button pictured above if the Holy Goalie will be missing much time.