Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink late winner? I’ve heard that story…

Celtic’s final Portuguese test of the pre-season came against an actual Portuguese team, Porto. Of course there’s some other history between Porto and Celtic but why rehash the past. A highly contested game with lots of opportunities for both sides but remained scoreless to the 86th minute. Up until that point, Porto had a majority of the chances. Yet another solid performance from the various defenders that made up the back line and Artur Boruc’s return which saw a few Holy Goalie like saves kept Porto at bay. The 86th minute saw Celtic put together a string of passes starting in there own end and ending with Paul Hartley on the wing. Hartley beat his defender and floated in a great cross to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink who barely had to jump and beat the keeper for the only goal of the game. Out of all the games in Portugal, this was easily Celtic’s best game.

While Porto outshot and had a slight majority of the possession, the Celtic defense held strong and Artur Boruc was already in mid-season form. Out of the struggles of Portugal, the defense had performed well. A fluke goal against Middlesborough and Bobo Balde being partly responsible for the goal against Cardiff City are promising signs. Of course, with Artur Boruc in goal, I could be in the back line and there would be less goals. The offense once again wasn’t clicking on all cylinders, but it is hard to get a chemistry and gel early on when there are so many subs going on and off. Good shifts were put in by Scott Brown and Paul Hartley.

This game also saw Gordon Strachan implement the much discussed 4-5-1 formation for parts of the game. During this point of the game, Celtic really seemed to chase the ball and not have solid possession. Once Strachan put in two strikers, Celtic seemed to control the ball more and the Bhoys scored the goal. Also during the time when the 4-5-1 was played, Barry Robson played on the wing, but not only on the wing but in a position opposite of his strong foot. I hoping that this is just as a result of the various injuries picked up, but if that is the case then why would you play a formation that emphasizes midfielders and their play? The preseason is a time to test out new ideas so hopefully Strachan is seeing all of this and figuring it all out.

Big Jan’s big goal:

Category: Celtic, Friendlies, Match Reports

Tags: Barry Robson, Celtic, Formations, Friendlies, Gordon Strachan, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Match Reports, Paul Hartley, Porto, Robo Cop, Scott Brown

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