Celtic held by Arbroath in Scottish Cup
Inverness, Ross clash ends in 3-3 draw
GLASGOW, Dec 1, (AFP): Second division part-timers Arbroath scored a late goal to shock Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic as the parttimers earned a famous Scottish Cup fourth round replay with a 1-1 draw at Parkhead.
With one eye on Wednesday’s crucial Champions League fixture against Spartak Moscow, Celtic boss Neil Lennon made sweeping changes to his side with only two players from the midweek win over Hearts starting.
However, his makeshift side, which still contained six internationals, struggled to create any meaningful chances before a ridiculous own goal handed them a 36th minute lead when Arbroath defender Stewart Malcolm’s attempted clearance diverted off the backside of Alex Keddie and past Scott Morrison.
The Hoops upped the tempo in the second half and Morrison made superb
“To win, it’s simple,” Benitez said. “In the first half we just had to score more goals. We have to improve.
“We know that football has two halves, the game has two halves. In the first half we had two or three chances — we just need to score more goals.”
West Ham were transformed after manager Sam Allardyce introduced Diame and Matt Taylor at half-time and ultimately deserved victory for a vastly improved performance in the second period. “We started okay but when they scored we just lost our confidence. I think we lost our momentum,” said the West Ham coach.
“I just needed to make some changes, bring in some fresh legs. It was all about playing in the opposition’s half, playing off Carlton Cole. I felt he was itching for a real good game.” Benitez made four changes to the side that started the 0-0 draw against Fulham, underlining the manager’s pre-match assertion that the demands of the season are already beginning to tell on Chelsea’s senior players.
Swansea 2, Arsenal 0 Swansea piled on the misery for saves to deny Miku and Lassad Nouioui before Arbroath shocked the home support with an 87th minute equaliser as a Steven Doris free-kick took a wicked deflection on its way into the net.
It continues Celtic’s dismal run at home, where they are without a win in three matches, and will cause the manager concern ahead of Wednesday’s match against Spartak when they will attempt to book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Lennon said his side had more than enough chances to easily win the game. “That’s football. We missed far too many chances for my liking at home but we’re still in the competition so we move on,” the Celtic boss said.
“I learned some things about some players and I’m disappointed with some performances but we had all the play and all the chances.” Arsenal as Michu scored twice in the closing minutes to clinch a shock 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Paul Sheerin, who was part of the Inverness Caledonian Thistle side that grabbed a famous Scottish Cup win at Celtic Park in 2000, was full of praise for his part-time players.
“To come as a part-time club, who train four hours a week, to the Scottish champions and get a result is up there with the best from a personal point of view,” the Arbroath manager said.
“We were dominated and my keeper was outstanding but I asked them to stay disciplined for as long as possible and I knew there would be a chance somewhere along the line and to get a result in any manner is incredible.”
Ibrahim Rabiu was handed his first start and tried his luck in the seventh minute with a shot from just outside the box that just dipped over the bar.
Dylan McGeouch dragged a shot wide before captain Scott Brown drilled a shot straight at Morrison.
Spanish forward Michu, a £2 million signing from Rayo Vallecano this past July, underlined his growing reputation as the bargain buy of the season with a
Arbroath were coping well with whatever Celtic were throwing at them but fell behind in the 36th minute through a comical own goal.
Arbroath defender Malcolm tried to clear the ball from the by-line but blasted his attempt off the backside of Keddie, which diverted it into the bottom left-hand corner of Morrison’s net.
The keeper had been helpless for the opener but came to Arbroath’s rescue a minute later when he made a point-blank save to deny Brown.
Elsewhere, Inverness Caledonian Thistle scored a goal deep into injury time to secure a replay as the highland derby against Ross County ended in a 3-3 draw and Aberdeen scored a late equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw with Motherwell.
Hibernian host holders Hearts in the Edinburgh derby. pair of clinical finishes on the counter attack, prompting Arsenal’s fans to unleash a torrent of abuse at manager Arsene Wenger and his players at fulltime.
Arsenal have now won just one of their last six Premier League matches and this defeat dropped the Gunners to 10th place in the table.
The north London club are now five points off the top four and to add insult to injury in-form Swansea climbed above them into seventh spot.
There was an early scare for Arsenal when they struggled to deal with Jonathan de Guzman’s free-kick into the box and the ball fell to Swansea captain Ashley Williams in front of goal but a defender was in the way of the shot that followed.
Arsenal replied with a wayward effort from Carl Jenkinson but were soon back under pressure and needed goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to make a double save to deny Angel Rangel.
The full-back arrived at the back post to cap a superb passing movement that had seen almost every outfield player involved and Arsenal chasing shadows.