JUST THE SHAME OLD STORY
Celtic take the lead in San Siro... only for defence to collapse in familiar fashion
AS the camera cut to AC Milan’s injured talisman, the great man offered a shake of the head. After 14 minutes, Celtic were two goals up in the San Siro and Zlatan Ibrahimovic couldn’t believe it. In truth, nobody could.
By time up, the outcome was a more predictable affair. Neil Lennon’s team were two goals up in Lille and drew. they took the lead in Prague and lost 4-1.
Losing three games in a row for the first time in 13 years, events in Milan followed a familiar pattern. this Celtic team lose one goal and fold like a pack of top trumps in a mild breeze.
twelve months ago, Scotland’s champions secured a place in the last 32 of the europa League by beating Lazio for their first- ever win on Italian soil. early goals from tom Rogic and Odsonne edouard last night should have made this their second.
Yet the reasons Lennon finds himself under intense pressure are now clear. this is a team now painfully easy to beat. even when they fell 3-2 behind early in the second half to a stunning solo goal from Jens Petter hauge, they played some decent football. they created chances and carried a threat.
the problem is that, whatever the manager tries, Celtic have now won just two games in their last 11. And promises of jam tomorrow no longer satisfy a fanbase who crave a return to the days when their team took Milan to extra-time in t he knockout stages of t he Champions League. they’re a long way from that now.
By the end of this defeat, the europa League stats read five games played, 17 goals lost. With the worst defensive record of the 48 teams left in the competition, this team couldn’t keep elephants from a phone box.
Weak defending and mediocre goalkeeping make for a perfect storm. When Olivier Ntcham scored a memorable winner in Rome’s Olympic Stadium last year, Fraser Forster provided the foundation for victory with a string of outstanding saves.
the loss of the former england goalkeeper has been a contributing factor to their demise. In search of a replacement, Celtic went out and spent £5million on Vasilis Barkas, a goalie now betraying all the reflexes of a three-week-old corpse.
Were Celtic always expected to l ose this? Of course. the fortunes of the two clubs entering this game could hardly have been more stark. the Serie A leaders had lost just one in their last 33, making their best start to a league season ever. In contrast, the Glasgow team are in the throes of a ci vi l war with t heir own supporters.
In a pre-match interview, Lennon challenged his players to regain a bit of pride and respectability. After starting the game like a train, they threatened to answer the call before throwing all the good work down a manhole with more catastrophic defending and underwhelming goalkeeping. It’s becoming the story of the season.
Milan began the game in a stupor. Celtic could — should — have been three or four up.
they claimed the lead after seven minutes, Milan defending in a fashion more often witnessed in their opponents.
Keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s short pass prompted a horrendous piece of control from Rade Krunic. Rogic took control of the ball on the edge of the area, took one touch and simply passed it into the corner of the net. Unexpectedly, Celtic had the lead.
the visitors were playing with confidence and verve. Rogic curled a strike fizzing inches past the upright. Callum McGregor forced a superb save from Donnarumma when he should have scored.
Against a Milan side who had started in third gear, Celtic doubled their lead after 14 minutes. A lovely disguised reverse pass from Ryan Christie played in Odsonne edouard, who produced a delightful finish.
even with a two goal-lead, Celtic fans are now conditioned to expect the worst.
the first of two Milan goals in two minutes came when Christie gave away a rash free-kick on the edge of the area to earn a booking. hakan Calhanoglu’s set-piece was decent, but the efforts of Barkas to stop it were non- existent. the Greek’s positioning was iffy, his feet static as the ball nestled in the net for 2-1.
Within a minute, AC Milan were level. there was no surprise, no hint of shock — this is what Celtic do now.
hauge — a thorn in their side all night — had all the time in the world to ghost into the penalty area. his cutback fell to Ante Rebic. Four Celtic defenders had a chance to clear before Kris Ajer and McGregor got in each other’s way and Samu Castillejo swept a deflected shot in off the underside of the bar. From such a comfortable start, Celtic were suddenly rocking. Barkas almost put his team in trouble with a poor touch from a bouncing ball minutes l ater, adding fuel to the suspicion that Milan only had to hit the target to score another. It came as no surprise when hauge stroked the home team into the lead with a goal of ridiculous ease five minutes into the second half. the attacker started on the left and drifted past three or four players with unimpeded grace before stroking the ball low into the bottom corner. the Norwegian was outstanding. In an attacking sense, Celtic al most r al l i ed. Jeremie Frimpong cut inside and dragged a shot wide of the near post. With 17 minutes left, Christie sent a 25-yard free-kick heading for the top corner. Donnarumma somehow managed to throw his frame upwards and save superbly. It was the kind of match-winning stop Celtic needed from Barkas when the score was still 2-0.
For Celtic, the night ended in the same old story. In weak, timid, cowardly defending.
Brilliant as he was, hauge had carte blanche to cut in from the left eight minutes from time and beat hatem Abd elhamed with embarrassing ease. he then sent a deft pass through for Brahim Diaz to dink the ball past the hapless Barkas for 4-2.
Celtic now need to score five goals to have any chance of winning a game. In the court of public opinion, there is no case for the defence.