Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 Celtic: That Sucked
By: JT | September 18th, 2007
A technically superior Shakhtar Donetsk side dismantled a poor Celtic 2-0 at the Olympiyskiy Stadium this afternoon. The Celts were down the two goals within the first eight minutes of the match, and I wish I could tell you that they were even steven with Shaktar after that, but that would be complete bull shit. The defense made way too many mistakes, and to be fair, the margin could easily have been 5 or 6-0 if not for a dubious offside call and the great saves of Artur Boruc.
I’m not going to go into too much detail, because reliving that nightmare just isn’t worth it. I will say this though, Shakhtar are a handful. They have bags of flair, superb technique, and are a disciplined side. They could very well challenge for a spot in the knockout rounds if they can perform anywhere close to the level they did today when they’re on the road. On this performance, I doubt anyone wants a piece of these guys. The scary thing is that they are still pretty new to each other, and will only get better as the season progresses.
Two things really stood out to me as failings on Celtic’s part, and they must be fixed. First, their passing was atrocious. The weight of the passes was just horrific, and allowed Shaktar to constantly take possession when Celtic were trying to build up momentum. I find the 50/50 ball possession stat to be bogus. There’s no way that’s remotely close to correct.
Second, Celtic just gave Shakhtar too much space on the ball. Maybe when they realized how talented some of Shakhtar’s players were they backed off a bit in order to avoid getting run passed, but there were times when Celtic defenders were so far off of players with the ball that they were out of the television picture. Piss poor.
Its Milan at home on October 3 next in the Champions League, and thats as close to a must win as a match can be if we want the dream of another trip knockout rounds to live on.
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Comments
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Rough start. Everyone knew Shakhtar would be tough, but I don’t know if anyone gave them credit for being that tough. I’m not sure that Milan is a must-win. Celtic is in a whole lot of trouble if that’s true, but I think it’s a must-draw. A point from that match would be enough, I think, to keep the hopes alive, and even with a loss, second place wouldn’t be impossible, but Milan (and maybe Shakhtar) on 6 points to Celtic’s 0 would be a difficult start to come back from.
Posted from
United States
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Oh dear oh dear oh dear…
Last night showed for me what has been coming for a few months. Mark Wilson, Lee Naylor and Gary Caldwell aint good enough.
If it wasnt for Boruc it would have finished 6 or 7 last night!
I agree with you that Milan is a MUST win or at least get a point.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Shakhtar will finish at the first position in group.
Posted from
United States -
Strange..Gary Caldwell was the only defender for me that got pass marks…rolled up his sleeves and dug in hile the others Del mentioned hid…
Anyway, knew this result was always on the cards match day 1 away from home the majority of home teams do win see the stas fr the games this week….
Big ask to beat Milan…they are no average European German Champions….but if we get zero then we must beat Benfica home and away to ensure third place…
Posted from
United Kingdom -
I thought Caldwell was garbage, McManus was there best player after Boruc.
And if you read what i said again, i am saying that all 3players ARE NOT good enough to play for a club like Celtic!
Posted from
United Kingdom
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