Tuesday, August 26, 2014

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: SLOVENIA'S NK MARIBOR KNOCKS OUT CELTIC

Marcos Tavares scored the only goal of the game 15 minutes from time as NK Maribor knocked Celtic out of the Champions League 2-1 on aggregate.

Callum McGregor thumped a second-half shot against the crossbar for Celtic
Late goal from NK Maribor's Marcos Tavares knocks out Celtic

The striker hooked his shot from eight yards over Craig Gordon as the Celtic defence struggled to clear the ball from a cross from the left flank.

The home side were heavy favourites to progress, having come back from Slovenia with a 1-1 draw last week.
But they barely tested visiting goalkeeper Jasmin Handanovic in their biggest game of the season.
The defeat is a huge blow to Celtic, who will miss out on the £14m they earned in the competition last season as well as the glamour and excitement that accompanies Champions League nights.
Also, Celtic’s defeat means they will not be in the group stages of the competition for the first time in three years.

The Europa League is scant consolation for Ronny Deila, though after the good fortune that took them past Legia Warsaw by default, there can be little complaint.
The manager and board will come under criticism for a failure to negotiate the qualifying stages successfully, particularly after that earlier reprieve.
Celtic had had ample warning before the solitary goal was scored, but they failed to clear their box and when Ales Mertelj's shot was blocked, Tavares did brilliantly to scoop the ball over Gordon, who was left clawing at air.
Efe Ambrose, who had almost gifted Jean-Philippe Mendy a second, clattered a header just wide of the post from close range, but that was as close as Celtic came to an equaliser until the final moments when Virgil van Dijk looked on in disbelief as Handanovic superbly saved his stoppage-time shot from eight yards.
A Callum McGregor effort, which came back off the crossbar, marked Celtic's best period in the match, at the start of the second period, following Kris Commons' introduction for Beram Kayal.
But, having seen off a first-half storm, Celtic could not make their spell of dominance tell.
Although they seldom found any fluency in the opening 45 minutes, Celtic could easily have been in front early on when Jo Inge Berget's cross was diverted inches wide of his own goal by Marko Suler.
And, even in the midst of the heavy first-half pressure from Maribor, Van Dijk should have done better than head wide from an Anthony Stokes corner.
Both chances came against the run of play, with Agim Ibraimi and Zeljko Filipovic dictating for the visitors.
For all their possession the team in purple only occasionally threatened Gordon, with Mitja Viler forcing a nervous-looking save, which came back off Tavares and, fortunately for the keeper, bounced wide.
But Tavares and Maribor were to have the last word, as Deila and Celtic count the cost of failure.
And then there was real drama deep in stoppage-time when Van Dijk drifted off his marker to take a McGregor chip on the chest but his first-time volley was well saved by Jasmin Handanovic.

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