A rather funny tie this was, over the two games. All rather comfortable in the end, but which no doubt will be clouded over by what some may call luck (in the two goals in Glasgow), and now controversial in how Eduardo won our first goal through his penalty.
Yes, he fell pretty lightly. He may even have dived. But tell me any professional footballer out there who would not have done the same, and I'd say Celtic deserved to go through. Even if Eduardo were the most honest footballer on the face of the planet, what was he to have done...from a purely physical point of view? Jump over Artur Boruc? Geez.
Anyways then, let's put that goal down to "controversial". On the night though, for lack of some not-so-pretty finishing, we'd have had a couple more. Excellent performances from all concerned, particularly the 4 and first 3 in our 4-3-3. Stand outs for me were Vermalen and Gallas (who really after four games seem more than anything we've had in the last 2-3 years), and Eboue, Song and Denilson. Never thought I'd see the day when I'd write the last sentence about the three. Eboue was...well, ebullient. Have not seen a better game from him in a while, and he clearly enjoyed the freedom he had all over the pitch.
1-0 at half time may have been tough on Celtic - as the likes of Clyde whatsisname had said on ITV - and indeed, for the first 20 minutes or so, Celtic contributed much to the frantic passing and were pretty committed in their all-round running. But as the stats would show, over 90 minutes, they probably only had 1 shot on target: their fluke (okay, excellent) final goal.
Let's chalk off the two goals in the first leg, and Eduardo's penalty then. Who cares. We've still got two super super goals from Eboue and Arshavin. Those two alone should be enough to shut everyone up north of the border. Silky passing, backheels, yum yum yum. Great to see the Celtic fans having a good time after half time; if only the ITV commentators had bothered to do the same and just shut up.
As for the player ratings:
Almunia 7 – Only thing he had to do was (if at all) to pick the ball out of the net in the 91st minute. Poor guy.
Sagna 7.5 - The rest over the weekend seemed to do him some good. Never tired. Excellent runs, crosses, everything.
Gallas 8.5 – Wow. Defensively, a rock. Offensively, he made runs like he was 18. Seems to also be enjoying the same freedoms the rest of the time have in roaming the pitch.
Vermaelen 8 - Was first to everything, first to challenges, headers, tackles, the works.
Clichy 7.5 – Like Sagna, was bursting with energy.
Eboue 9 – Probably the best I've seen him in an Arse shirt. He was right, left, in the middle, made telling passes, had a few cheeky touches here and there. Remarkable. Oh yes, the goal was nicely taken too! Taken off for a rest. Maybe the boss has him in mind to start at Old Trafford.
Song 8 - Another dependable performance as holding midfielder. Nothing spectacular; just a good all round show.
Diaby 7 – His confidence from the weekend was clear. The way we're going, we're going to be embarassed for the riches we have in the latter half of the pitch.
Denilson 7.5 – Showed off some of his Brazilian moves. Super dependable showing again.
Bendtner 8 - Can never be faulted for not trying. His clever backheel to set up Eboue was a thing of beauty. But, may need to work on his timing - when to shoot, and when to pass.
Eduardo 7 - Not his best performance overall. Had a few dodgy misses, and what a pretty dive that was. Something Pires would've been proud of. Nice penalty though.
Need to mention Wilshere. Came on only for a couple of minutes, but immediately, his presence shone through and looked to promise goals every other time he touched the ball. Another sub, Arshavin, had a great game too. Came on, clever turn. Goal. As usual.
So it's on to the draw - in Monaco, at 1700 GMT Thursday. Whoever we get, bring them on. Seems like we could be placed with the likes of Real Madrid, Inter and Juve. Real would be interesting - if only to see our boys whip the billion pound galacticos. Inter and Juve? Been then, done them.
Next stop Old Trafford. Honestly, for the first time since Sylvain Wiltord went there and won us the league, I feel pretty confident. Can't wait.
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