Match Report

Monday, 22nd December, 2008

by Hugh Keevins

Falkirk 0-3 Celtic: Japanese youngster Koki Mizuno marks full debut with goal

CELTIC preserved their four-point lead in the title race with a win that was Made in Japan.

Gordon Strachan's side were fighting hard to hold on to a lead that had been won for them by a Georgios Samaras header at the start of the second half.

Then, in the 90th minute Shunsuke Nakamura played in his fellow Japanese Koki Mizuno.

The lightning-quick kid, making his debut from the start in a league game, danced through the Falkirk defence to shoot past Robert Olejnik and celebrate so excitedly he was booked after disentangling himself from the delirious Celtic fans behind the goal.

The delirium was still at optimum level when Scott McDonald took advantage of the gaping holes that had appeared at the back for John Hughes side and raced through on his own in injury time to score from close range and give Celtic a victory by what would have seemed an improbable margin at one stage.

Strachan's recently-developed acquaintanceship with the House of Commons would have told him a narrow margin is as good as a landslide but the manager would have understood the vote of confidence his team had taken in the title race.

To achieve such an emphatic win in the middle of an on-going internal dispute spoke volumes for the mental strength of a side who proved the accuracy of the statement made by their captain, Stephen McManus, days earlier.

He said the club dont have a star system. If one player goes out another fills in for him. Yesterday it was Mizuno who eased Celtics minds with a pivotal moment.

Falkirk's ground isnt the kind of place where youd want to take your cares and woes.

The chill factor wasnt confined to the relationship between Strachan and Aiden McGeady as a pitch without any protection from the elements blew an ill wind in the direction of the Celtic manager before kick-off.

Team captain McManus was forced to miss the game his side could ill afford to lose, or even draw, because of injury and Darren O'Dea took his place.

Mizunos first league start for Celtic owed more to his clubs depleted resources than any pressing need to introduce the young Japanese to the side on merit.

Gary Caldwell, captain for the day, had to play in central midfield beside Scott Brown in a side that had a makeshift look about it.

Six automatic choices for Celtic, McManus, Shaun Maloney, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Paul Hartley, Barry Robson and McGeady were absent from a side that started with only two Scots in a cosmopolitan selection.

Limited resources on the park were only matched by the unlimited potential for disturbing consequences off it where Celtic were concerned.

Strachan's side needed to win and go to Ibrox on Saturday with the psychological comfort of knowing they would stay on top of the league table no matter what happened against Rangers.

Travelling to the home of their greatest rivals with the possibility of being knocked off the top wasnt an enticing prospect, which might have explained the spirited opening that could have seen the visitors take the lead early on.

Andreas Hinkel and McDonald combined well enough for the Aussie to test Olejnik and then the German to force a terrific double save by the keeper off the rebound.

By then, the travelling fans, Celtic's militant tendency when it suits them, had chanted their support for McGeady and left no doubt where their sympathies lay in the matter of the internal dispute.

Their mood would have darkened even further if Falkirk had taken the lead after half an hour.

Scott Arfield's ball found Steve Lovell a willing runner and his angled shot ran across the goalline after it had evaded Boruc, only to find O'Dea arriving at full stretch to prevent it going into the net.

One of Celtic's recent problems has been the lack of a cutting edge, exemplified by the fact none of their strikers has yet hit double figures by the halfway stage in the season.

Last seasons top scorer McDonald, underlined the malaise with a succession of first-half misses that might have brought his team breathing space. Hinkel's over-lapping on the right, and the space he was given by the Falkirk's defence, allowed him to create chances for the little Aussie, all of which were squandered by head or by foot and left the striker beating the turf in frustration at one point.

But the best chance of all for Celtic fell to Samaras as the first half closed with drama at both ends.

McDonald played in the Greek with a clever pass that left him one on one with Olejnik but the finish wasnt decisive enough and the keeper saved with his foot.

The ball was then delivered into the other half and Neil McCann had a glorious chance to break the deadlock but Boruc got down and blocked the ball with his body.

The game was poised on a knife edge and Celtic began the second half as if they realised the cost of failure, taking the lead within three minutes of the restart.

Samaras atoned for his earlier miss with a close-range header after McDonald had flicked the ball over his head from the edge of the penalty area and given his team-mate an unmissable gift in front of a hopelessly exposed keeper.

Taking the lead was a pass mark in the test of character Celtic had been set for the day. Holding on to their advantage had to be the real examination of their nerve.

Bizarrely, the clamour to get a second goal that would erase Celtic's worries almost cost them even more dearly in the casualty department.

O'Dea and his fellow central defender, Glenn Loovens, collided with each other in Falkirks penalty box and lay prostrate until they were slowly brought to their senses once again.

The last thing Strachan needed, apart from an equaliser, was any more injury problems to contend with.

His anxiety might have been eased if Samaras had finished off a clever cross from Mizuno instead of heading the ball over the bar. The young Japanese had shown up in flashes up until then, one of which was enough to get Lee Bullen a booking for hauling him back.

Falkirk's position at the foot of the table meant there were demands on them as well, but they lacked the guile to get round a defence that was dominated by the Dutchman, Loovens, in his clubs time of need.

The double substitution of Carl Finnegan and Mark Stewart for Arnau Riera and Graham Barrett with 15 minutes left almost brought the home side an instant dividend when Stewart hit Boruc's left-hand post from 25 yards with his first touch of the ball.

If luck deserted Falkirk on that occasion Celtic would have left the field knowing they'd worked too hard over the course of the 90 minutes to deserve being victims of a mugging, even if the honest among them would have had to admit they didnt expect to win by such an emphatic scoreline.

Man of the Match Glen Loovens(Celtic)