hartley stunner earns moscow draw

Gregor Kyle
A stunning first half header from Paul Hartley was enough to give Celtic a well-earned draw in what was a frantic start to the Champions League campaign in Moscow.

The midfielder powered home the opener in a close-fought opening leg against Russian league leaders Spartak Moscow, with Roman Pavluchenko grabbing the equaliser for the home side just minutes before half-time.

This was a close-fought and always tense encounter, with this young Celtic side acquitting themselves well in a game in were genuinely tested and also had to cope with a number of peripheral factors.

The synthetic pitch was the major talking-point in the lead up to kick-off and rightly so as it played a considerable part in this match, with the ball sticking and holding-up unnaturally throughout the 90 minutes.

Surface issues aside, Celtic also had to adjust to the heat and an equally intense atmosphere inside the Luzhniki Stadium and in the opening stages of the game Spartak immediately tried to press the home advantage with a series of early forays.

One such push forward should have been rewarded with a goal in as early as the 10th minute when Welliton escaped the clutches of John Kennedy, raced into the box and found Roman Pavluchenko with his neat cross and the striker clearly in an onside position.

But luckily for Celtic, the linesman raised his flag, much to the anger of the home fans and minutes later they would again be on their feet, appealing for a penalty after a solid challenge from Stephen McManus.

During this opening period it was clear that the Celtic players were struggling to adjust to the ‘field-turf’, slipping and skidding as they attempted to control the ball. But the Spartak players were also having trouble keeping their feet, with several of their men going to ground dramatically at the first hint of a challenge.

The home side also looked completely unprepared as Celtic launched their first genuine counter-attack in the 21st minute, with Shunsuke Nakamura guiding a pass from the halfway line into the path of Scott McDonald on the right.

The little Australian took the ball in his stride and then, from about five yards from the byline, he lifted a perfectly measured cross to the back post which was aimed at the incoming sprint of Paul Hartley.

The midfielder showed tremendous strength and determination to get in front the covering full-back, Roman Shishkin and meet the cross with a bullet header which he powered past Stipe Pletikosa.

It was the perfect time for Hartley to score his first goal for Celtic and with the crowd momentarily stunned Spartak looked riled, misplacing their passes, struggling to keep possession and being hurried into a series of speculative efforts.

But as half-time approached Spartak’s confidence began to return and as they pushed Celtic back, they grabbed an equaliser through striker, Roman Pavluchenko.

Similar to Celtic’s opener it was a ball to the back post, this time lofted high from the edge of the penalty box, that caused the problems and as it dropped, the Spartak number ten squeezed in front of Scott Brown and powered a header at goal.

Diving to his left, Mark Brown succeeded in getting a hand to the ball, but not enough to stop it creeping over the line via the woodwork.

Buoyed by the equaliser Spartak emerged revitalised after the interval and play raced back and forth, with the Russian league leaders, who are five points clear at the top of the table with just ten games remaining in their season, enjoying the better of the early exchanges.

One such chance saw Mark Brown scrambling to collect the ball on his goal-line after a Pavluchenko header ricocheted off a covering defender at a corner, but for all their possession in the final third of the field, they were held at bay by a hard-working defence and midfield.

A series of crosses into the box did however cause Celtic some concern and the otherwise impressive Pavluchenko squandered a glorious chance to give Spartak the lead. But having squeezed in between the defence, he could only head the ball over the bar from seven yards out.

The Celtic players would have to show considerable bravery and industry during this spell and in an attempt to shore up the midfield and defence, Gordon Strachan introduced Evander Sno for Donati and then brought on Gary Caldwell in place of Scott McDonald.

As the game entered the final ten minutes, the Celtic manager was then forced to make his third and final substitution with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink injured in a collision with Stipe Pletikosa and replaced by Aiden McGeady.

As the Irish internationalist took the field, Mark Brown was then forced into a marvellous save to deny Welliton at point blank range, although in a scything counter-attack, his namesake in midfield came close to grabbing what may have proved to be a priceless winner.

Having been put through by a pass from McGeady, the midfielder looked a cert to score from six yards out, but he just failed to take control of the ball and allowed Pletikosa the chance to recover.

It was a fitting end to a game that had been packed with drama, with the result handing Celtic the intiative for the return leg in Glasgow.

UEFA Champions League - Third Qualifying Round First Leg
Wednesday, August 15 2007
Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
SPARTAK MOSCOW… 1
(Pavluchenko 42)
CELTIC… 1
(Hartley 21)
WEBSITE MAN OF THE MATCH: Paul Hartley
SPARTAK (3-4-3) Pletikosa; Shishkin, Stranzel, Soava; Bystrov (Kalinichenko 75), Kovac, Mozart, Torbinskiy; Pavluchenko, Titov, Welliton.
Subs: Khomich, Boyarintcev, Dedura, Dzuba, Sabitov, Rebko.
CELTIC (4-4-2) M Brown; Wilson, Kennedy, McManus, Naylor; Nakamura, S Brown, Donati (Sno 75), Hartley; McDonald (Caldwell 79), Vennegoor of Hesselink (McGeady 81).
Subs: McGovern, Killen, McGeady, Zurawski, Pressley.