Story of the Matchmins1 Clayton scores after cross from right eludes Baldé 5 Porto corner - Douglas holds it. 8 Pêna free header just wide - given offside. 12 Mjallby fails to cut out ball from right. Lennon clears Pêna header off line. 18 Capucho hits the bar from the right after diagonal ball from Deco. 35 Thomson makes a good run forward and passes to Petrov who shoots high and wide with his left from 20yds. 38 Celtic corner. Larsson header wide of post. 45 Mario Silva scores from 25 yds after the ball breaks following a corner. Ball takes a slight deflection. 55 Lubo comes on for Thomson. 57 Larsson half chance. Missed. 60 Porto triangular passing cuts through Celtic defence and Clayton beats Douglas with a great shot from inside the box. 63 Moravcik has a go from 20yds. Over the bar. Graeme's GameThe omens hadn't been good all week what with Chris Sutton lying in his bed with tonsillitis and recent performances showing up the lack of quality depth in the squad. And so it panned out, we knew that we could drop from the heady heights of group leaders down to third place if we lost and Juve won, and, unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. As football lessons go this was a sore one. With Porto taking the lead inside the first minute it looked like being an even longer night than usual and how the score remained the same for most of the first half owed more to poor finishing and good luck on our part than anything else. Painful as it is to say, Celtic were, quite frankly, torn to shreds by a side who were sharper, quicker and more skillful in every area. Our glaring lack of pace was found out time and time again as the Portugese midfield and forwards raided the goalmouth at will. With three up front the onus was heavily on the Celtic wing-backs to help out, Agathe did a pretty good job but Thommo on the left has little or no defensive acumen and so it was down this side where most of the damage was done with the outstanding Capucho doing pretty much as he pleased. Neil Lennon, one of the few players who was having a decent game, ended up in the back four in a desperate attempt to slow down the venomous home side and it looked like we just might get to the interval only a goal down when Porto scored again with a 25-yard shot that may have taken a slight deflection. It was,we all sensed, a hammer blow and although we'd come back from a similar deficit in Turin, this seemed like a different proposition altogether. An aggressive beginning to the second half raised some hope but when Porto went three up after an hour we all knew the game was up and hoped only to avoid humiliation. The introduction of Lubo for Thompson and Sylla for Petrov smacked of desperation and the shape had gone completely from the team with Agathe now on the left and Lambert replacing Lennon in the back four. Young Maloney came on for Hartson, who could not be faulted for effort but rather a terrible lack of service, but the only consolation at this stage was that we hadn't lost any more goals.And so the final whistle, should any of us really be surprised? Porto showed enough in the second half in Glasgow to indicate that this would be one tough night, and so it was, but hey the adventure's not over yet. Surely we now have to win in Norway and then it'll all come down to Juve at Paradise, but lessons must be learned. Players with the ability of Capucho must be tightly reigned, even man-marked and alternative systems must be made available so all the players know what to do if a situation like the three on three arises. Bluntly the squad isn't good enough just yet to step up to this level, it's all very well being able to beat your average Joe in the SPL but this is not the same ball game. Defensively we are very slow and were found out time and again. In midfield we rely too heavily on Lambert and Lennon and with them playing so deep this adds to the pressures on the defence. Our wing backs seem unsure of when they should be attacking and when they should be defending. One isn't a defender at all and he shouldn't be criticised for not doing a job that he isn't capable of in the first place. Sutton was definitely missed but I don't think the score would have been any different if he'd played. So it's onto Trondheim and another nerve-racking ninety minutes in store; they're no mugs remember but only a win will do. Fancy our chances? Of course, it's Celtic we're talking about !! Man of the match: Neil Lennon. CELTIC (3-5-2): Douglas; Valgaeren, Mjallby, Balde; Thompson (Moravcik 55), Petrov (Sylla 67), Lambert, Lennon, Agathe; Hartson (Maloney 82), Larsson. PORTO (4-3-3): Ovchinnikov; Silva, Andrade, Carvalho, Ibarra; Clayton (Junior 75), Paredes, Costinha (Frederik 81); Capucho (Costa 85), Deco, Pena. |