Boruc is Celtic hero
Hoops clinch 4-3 win after penalties
By Stephen Bramley. Last Updated: August 30, 2007 7:03am
Celtic celebrate win
Artur Boruc was the hero as Celtic beat Spartak Moscow 4-3 on penalties to reach the group stages of the Champions League.
The Celtic keeper saved Maxim Kalinichenko's spot kick to clinch his side a famous win after the game finished 1-1 after extra-time, 2-2 on aggregate.
It was an exhilarating night at Parkhead as both sides missed penalties and Spartak had Martin Stranzl sent-off in the 86th minute before Boruc stole the show.
Hoops striker Scott McDonald took advantage of a mistake by Roman Shishkin to prod the ball home after 28 minutes but Roman Pavluchenko, who had missed an earlier penalty, struck on the stroke of half-time to equalise.
Stranzl was sent off with six minutes to go before Celtic striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink hit the bar with a penalty in extra-time.
Compelling
Celtic Park could hardly have witnessed a more compelling match in all its years.
After both sides had gone close it burst into life in the 25th minute when the visitors were awarded a penalty after Boruc's save from Welliton's angled drive bounced off the arm of the prostrate Mark Wilson.
But to Celtic's relief Pavluchenko hammered his spot-kick against the post.
Three minutes later the visitors were punished for the miss when McDonald fired Celtic ahead after Shishkin mis-kicked a clearance straight to the feet of the Celtic striker.
Drama
There was more drama to come. In the final seconds Pavluchenko grabbed an
equaliser when he took a Mozart corner on his chest and volleyed low past
Boruc from close range.
There were amazing scenes at the half-time whistle when Boruc and Naylor had to be separated by Gary Caldwell as they squared up to each other.
The pair were still remonstrating with each other as they came off but peace
appeared to have broken out as the Hoops reappeared for the second half.
In the closing stages of an intriguing second period, Celtic's fitness took
over.
In the 79th minute McDonald should have scored when McGeady put him clean through but the former Motherwell striker's right-footed effort was weak and Pletikosa easily saved.
Shunsuke Nakamura missed another great chance moments later when he was clean through only for the Japan international to drive straight at the Spartak keeper.
In the 84th minute Spartak defender Stranzl was shown a straight red for
a 'last man' tackle on Vennegoor of Hesselink 30-yards from goal.
Excitement
In the 115th minute there was more excitement when Vennegoor of Hesselink
struck the bar with a penalty, after Radoslav Kovac had blocked a Scott Brown
shot, which resulted in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
Gary Caldwell, Vennegoor of Hesselink, substitutes Maciej Zurawski and Derek Riordan scored for Celtic with Shunsuke Nakamura hitting the crossbar.
Mozart netted as did Pavlyuchenko and Florin Soava with Titov's effort saved by Boruc.
Then Boruc saved Spartak's fifth penalty from substitute Kalinichenko to spark
off wild scenes of delight.
| Celtic | Team Statistics | Spartak Moscow |
| 1 | Goals | 1 |
| 1 | 1st Half Goals | 1 |
| 6 | Shots on Target | 6 |
| 14 | Shots off Target | 6 |
| 5 | Blocked Shots | 4 |
| 8 | Corners | 6 |
| 27 | Fouls | 20 |
| 5 | Offsides | 3 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 1 |
| 80.7 | Passing Success | 79.7 |
| 28 | Tackles | 25 |
| 75 | Tackles Success | 84 |
| 52 | Possession | 48 |
| 57.5 | Territorial Advantage | 42.5 |
Artur Boruc
