Spartak Moscow 2 Celtic 3: Baggage handled as journey continues apace

Senior Sports Writer

Wednesday 3 October 2012

IT has taken 11 long years and 18 failed attempts, but Celtic's Champions League away-day hex has finally been broken, along with the hearts of the Spartak Moscow players who lost to Neil Lennon's side in the Luzhniki Stadium.

Kris Commons greets Georgios Samaras after the Greek scores Celtic's winner. Picture: SNS

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Ronnie Cully

The symmetry is perfect, given that Celtic's first attempt to win on the road in the group stage was in Turin in 2001, and ended in heartache as they lost a five-goal thriller with a contentious late penalty decision swinging the tie in favour of Juventus.

Lennon was one of the Celtic players left devastated by that result, and he can take tremendous pride in what he has achieved as the first manager to lead the club to an away win. His purple patch of form continued in Moscow when an inspired substitution turned the tide in the tie. With just over half an hour remaining and Spartak leading 2-1, Juan Insaurralde was sent off after tripping Gary Hooper as he bore in on goal, a decision only given after the assistant behind the goal intervened to inform the referee, Tony Chapron, he had been wrong to interpret the challenge as legal. It opened the door for Celtic.Lennon sent on James Forrest for Victor Wanyama. Within 60 seconds, and with his first touch of the ball, the 21-year-old had sent in a close-range shot which goalkeeper Sergei Peskayov could only push on to Dmitiri Kombarov, who inadvertently bundled the ball over the line.Buoyed by the change in fortune, the stage was set for Georgios Samaras to score a dramatic winner in the final minute of normal time. The Greek has scored in all three qualifying-round victories Celtic have recorded on the road in Europe in the last three years, and he rose majestically to head in an Emilio Izaguirre cross to give his side the win they have craved for so long.Marching from Moscow with all three points gives Celtic a tremendous chance to continue in Europe beyond Christmas. No wonder the scenes of celebration were so heart-felt. Lennon's mentors, Martin O'Neill and Gordon Strachan, had done so much with the club on the European stage, but neither had managed to get this away-day monkey off the club's back.Spartak's 3-2 defeat in Camp Nou in their opening Group G fixture confirmed that Unai Emery's lavishly assembled side had to be afforded respect, but Lennon believes that he has built a squad which carries genuine attacking threat, and that was evident in last night's line-up, even allowing for Forrest being relegated to the bench as the European specialist Samaras returned. The manager's adventure was rewarded when Hooper pounced after 12 minutes. The goal was a union of skill, pace and determination. Wanyama won back possession with a strong challenge after mis-controlling the ball in the centre circle, passed swiftly to the overlapping Mikael Lustig, who crossed accurately to the near post. Hooper's perfectly timed run in front of his marker allowed him to send a shot across Pesyakov and into the net.It was a deserved lead for Celtic, who had frequently picked the pocket of Spartak in the middle of the park and created several turnovers. Hooper thought he had scored the all-important second when, from another break, Samaras found him with a cross to the back post. The striker headed firmly into the net, but the assistant referee had raised his flag to indicate he had moved a fraction too early and was offside.On such fine margins are games won and lost, and it was almost inevitable, therefore, that when Spartak did equalise, four minutes before the break, they would benefit from an offside decision. Kim Kallstrom's diagonal pass over the top of Izaguirre was collected by Ari and, while the Celtic defence appealed for the flag, the Brazilian was busy sending a first-time cross into Emmanuel Emenike in the centre to score.It was a massive blow to the visitors who, although they had been pinned back for lengthy periods, had looked compact and organised. However, with Scott Brown in inspirational form as he battled to gain control of the midfield area, refusing to yield an inch, hope remained that Celtic could once again force themselves ahead.The first-half bookings for Charlie Mulgrew and Wanyama did mean that some caution had to be shown, but, before Lennon's interval talk had had a chance to sink in, Celtic found themselves behind. Ari's deflected shot from outside the box appeared to carry little threat. Forster's uneasy dive changed that, and the goalkeeper could only push the ball a few yards to his right. With Demy De Zeeuw quickest to react, it was played back across the six-yard box where Emenike again enjoyed space and time to score.It appeared it was going to be another case of the one that got away for Celtic on the road, but then came the red card, the changes and that most dramatic conclusion. Now, Lennon and his players can head to Barcelona later this month with one unwanted piece of luggage finally shed from the load they will carry.

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Spartak Moscow 2 Celtic 3: Baggage handled as journey continues apace

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