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Celtic Thrashed In Slovakia
by Peter Oliver
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 Gordan
Strachan was left reeling this morning from what he described as
"his worst day in football" as he watched his Celtic side
slip to a humiliating 5-0 defeat to Artmedia Bratislava last night.
It was never going to be easy for the Bhoys, but they were expected
to win comfortably and it appears that it was their complacent attitude
that cost them in the end. It was a magnificent Juraj Halenar hat-trick
interspersed with goals from Blazej Vascak and Martin Mikulic that
secured a massive win for the Slovakian underdogs, and nothing short
of a miracle will put Celtic in the Champions League 3rd Qualifying
Round as they face total elimination from European football this
season.
The signs were not good in the first half, as even before the rout
began, Celtic's Chris Sutton was stretchered off with a broken cheekebone
he sustained following a clash with teammate Neil Lennon.
Vaskac got in behind the Celtic defence soon after, squared the
ball to Halenar for the opener, just before the break. The scorer
then became assister soon after the restart as he returned the favour
for Vaskac for Artmedia's second. It was then that Gordon Strachan
panicked, bringing on a third striker in place of one of his already
stretched defenders.
Halenar netted his second with a stunning right foot volley off
a corner before Artmedia sub, Mikulic made the Celtic defence look
like schoolboys with a deft turn and a crisp finish from the edge
of the box. Halenar then completed the rout late on, latching on
to a nice through pass before slotting past Bhoys 'keeper, David
Marshall.
While Celtic will be in the draw for the 3rd Round on Friday, it
looks very unlikely that they will be playing in it. A reflective
Gordon Strachan said this morning, "I have been a manager for
eight years and a player for 25 years and this is out and out the
worse football night I have ever had."
Questions will undoubtedly be asked of the new manager as Celtic
fans are left contemplating a European campaign over, before it
had even started.
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