Celtic 2-1 Shakhtar: Donati at the Death!

By: JT | November 28th, 2007

Massimo Donati snatched victory from the jaws of a draw tonite at Celtic Park, collecting an injury time winner to put Celtic on the brink of qualification for the Champions League knockout rounds for the second year running.

Donati, who has recently lost his place in the First XI to Paul Hartley, came on as a substitute early in the match after Lee Naylor went down with what appeared to be an Achilles or calf injury and Hartley replaced him at left back. His performance was unremarkable until the goal, but all anyone will remember is how he steered Aiden McGeady’s cross into the bottom right corner to send the Celtic faithful into delirium.

Both Hartley and keeper Artur Boruc passed fitness tests before the match. Knowing that Boruc was recovering from a toe infection, Shakhtar were determined to force Boruc to use his feet as much as possible, putting a man in his face whenever he had the ball.

Neither Boruc’s hands nor his feet could do anything about the horrendous mistake that gave Shakhtar the early lead. John Kennedy’s nervy attempt at a clearance failed terribly, gifting the ball to Brandao who calmly fired past a diving Boruc, who impressively managed to get a piece of the ball.

Celtic’s confidence was clearly dented, and Shakhtar started with the time wasting straight away. Every foul on a Shakhtar player resulted in theatrics and rolling around like a dog trying to get an itchy sweater off. I’m glad the ref was paying attention, adding five minutes to the first half.

Jiri Jarosik went from hero to potential goat in a matter of seconds before the halftime whistle. After the Shakhtar defense made a hash of a loose ball in the area, Jarosik blasted a beautiful cross body shot that the Ukrainian side’s keeper could only deflect into a different portion of the net to where it was already headed.

Almost immediately after the goal celebrations were complete, McGeady’s precise cross dropped to a diving Jarosik’s head with nothing but the back of the net staring the Czech in the face. It seemed easier to score than to miss, but thats exactly what Jarosik did.

The second half saw few chances of note, with Shakhtar’s coming off corners and Celtic’s coming from the combination of Jarosik and McGeady.

As time wound down, the raucous supporters pushed on the Celtic players who seemed to be growing more pensive with each passing minute. No real chances materialized until extra-time, when all the action was in the Shakhtar penalty area.

You knew any winner had to go through McGeady, and he provided a splendid low cross through the box to Donati, who sealed another perfect home European night for Celtic.

REMINDER
Due to AC Milan’s participation in the Intercontinental Cup, the final match day for Group D will be next Tuesday, December 4. The rest of the Champions League group stage will be completed the following week, December 11/12.