| Match Pictures | Matches: 1997 – 1998 | 1997-1998 Pictures |
Trivia
- Celtic had recalled Tosh McKinlay on 2/3/98 from his loan spell at Stoke.
- David Hay decided against pursuing for unfair dismissal through the Court of Sessions (possibly after the Macari verdict) but instead lodged his complaint with the Industrial Tribunal Office.
- Burley (knee) had not trained all week after the 1-0 win at Easter Road and along with Jackie McNamara (ankle), Darren Jackson (hamstring) and Regi Blinker (calf), looked likely to add to the casualty list. Burley declared himself for the game after a late fitness test. Tommy Johnson would be out for the rest of the season with knee ligament (possibly cruciate) damage.
- Following the game the draw was made for the semi final. This saw Celtic paired against either Rangers or Dundee.
- Erik Pedersen, the scorer of the own goal, had been doubtful for the game when he called in on match day to say that his pregnant wife was ill. He then called from the hospital to explain that he was now a proud father and would attempt to make the game. He arrived 45 minutes before kick off and was included in the side.
- Wim Jansen won his third manager of the month award for February.
- The newspapers attempted to implicate the club in a dispute between Rosenborg and Brattbakk's former agent over cash payments to the former agent on Brattbakk's transfer to Celtic.
- Plans to scrap Reserve team football were announced for the following season. Taking it's place in what would be the new Premier League would be an Under 21 League with tyhe ability to field over-age players. This was supported by most of the managers and coachs of all the teams.
Review
A tight game decided by an own goal. Tommy McLean sent to the stands. Yellows for Wieghorst and Burley meant that both would miss the semi final, however on checking the records it was found that Burley had not in fact been booked against Dunfermiline and he played in the semi final.
Teams
Dundee Utd:
Dykstra, Bowman, Malpas, Pressley (Skoldmark ,46 ), Perry, Pedersen, Olofsson, Zetterlund, Winters, Dolan (Easton, 82 ) ,McLaren (Omoyinmi, 72)
Scorers: Olofsson (18, 52)
Celtic:
Gould , Boyd , Mahe, Donnelly, Rieper , Stubbs , Larsson , Burley , Brattbakk, Lambert, Wieghorst
Subs not used: O'Donnell, Hannah , Annoni
Scorers: Brattbakk (11), Wieghorst (55), Pedersen (og, 90)
Bookings: Bowman, Malpas (Dundee Utd) Burley, Lambert, Wieghorst (Celtic)
Referee: K Clark (Paisley)
Attendance: 14,000
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Dundee Utd | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 0 | 3 |
| Fouls | 16 | 14 |
| Shots on Target | 5 | 5 |
| Corners | 9 | 6 |
| Offside | 1 | 1 |
Celtic ride luck to keep their treble hopes alive
The Scotsman 09/03/1998
Dundee United 2
Olofsson (18, 52)
Celtic 3
Brattbakk (10), Wieghorst (55) Pedersen (og 90)
THE ROAD and the miles from Dundee would seem much less tedious than usual to a Celtic support who could while away the journey home by dreaming of The Treble. That pleasant reverie, however, would be occasionally and jarringly interrupted by invasive thoughts of how different things might have been.
In a cup quarter-final that seemed to encapsulate all the marvellous fluctuations and bizarre incidents of knock-out competition, Celtic emerged as a team whose luck has changed along with its personnel.
Without summoning the fluent movement that has made them the country's best team this season and favourites for the two remaining "majors", they produced the good fortune that seems universally to accompany trophy winners.
It may be argued that they created their own luck with an astute break in the 90th minute that led to the winner. But any detached observer would conclude an own goal, from the wretched Erik Pedersen, that late in the game should be ascribed to some benevolent deity.
Pedersen was at the heart of an extraordinary sequence of events through the day. He had started at 9am by calling his boss, Tommy McLean, to say that he was doubtful as his pregnant wife, Beate, appeared to be ill.
By noon, he told McLean there was no chance of making it as he would have to take his wife to hospital. At 12.35pm, he called back to say she had given birth to a son and that he would be at Tannadice as soon as possible. He made it 45 minutes before kick-off.
McLean, who seems certain to be disciplined by the SFA after being sent to the stand by the referee, Kenny Clark, for touchline misbehaviour, said: "We decided Pedersen's situation would play a part in his game. If anything, we thought he would be on a high. So we didn't have any qualms about putting him in the team. But the game just showed that we don't seem to have any luck in this particular fixture."
Wim Jansen, the Celtic coach, saw his side achieve victory, but not without a cost. Half of his midfield, Craig Burley and Morten Wieghorst, will miss the semi-final because of suspension after both were booked for the second time in the competition.
Jansen seemed more concerned with celebrating victory than fretting over the loss of two key men for the next hurdle. He said: "It was a real cup-tie, and we proved again the merit of never giving up till the end.
"We were happy also to have that little bit of luck every team needs. Of course, Burley and Wieghorst missing the semi-final is a loss, but we have a squad to use here."
McLean tried hard to look on the bright side. "We paid the price of trying to win the game in the late stages, pushing upfield and getting caught on the break," he said after watching most of the game in the directors' box with his brother, Jim. "But we can take a lot from the match. There was some very positive application, and our front men, Robbie Winters and Kjell Olofsson, looked much brighter and sharper."
Celtic took an early lead through Harald Brattbakk and then United gained the lead with an own goal and a superb strike from Olofsson before Wieghorst squared the match.
But those were not the only momentous occurrences. No-one would have arrived at Tannadice expecting anything less than an eventful game, involving as it did two teams with a history of producing contests littered with goals and extraordinary incidents.
But not even the most imaginative fantasist could have been prepared for the sight of a manager being ordered to the stand by the referee for outrageous behaviour in the immediate aftermath of his own team's equaliser.
Kenny Clark dismissed the United manager before the ball had been re-spotted following his team's 18th-minute goal.
The problem with McLean seemed to begin seven minutes earlier, when Celtic opened the scoring. McLean was seen to be giving the standside linesman, Brian Cassidy, regular abuse for not arresting the scorer, Brattbakk, for offside.
As in the vast majority of such controversies, the linesman had been correct, Pedersen having played the Celtic striker onside. Still, when United scored their own bizarre goal to square things, the boss once again harangued the referee's assistant.
Clark, just one week after he had allowed Rangers' Walter Smith to erupt in public without censure, clearly seems to be more moved by the sight of colleagues in distress and banished McLean to the stand.
The moment was almost characteristic of an unusual match. Celtic managed to take the lead at a time when they had difficulty in establishing their normal rhythmic fluency and United had appeared the more threatening.
The hosts equalised just as improbably, just seconds after Celtic had threatened to double their advantage at the other end of the field.
Brattbakk's goal, his ninth in 14 matches, came from another sweet exchange with Henrik Larsson. The ball had been played long from the Celtic defence by Wieghorst, Brattbakk pushed it back to Larsson and went on the run.
The Swede held it until the precise moment before threading it between Maurice Malpas and Steven Pressley. Brattbakk skated between them, took the ball wide of Sieb Dykstra to his left and rolled it into an empty net with his right foot.
It had been a measure of United's menace in the minutes before that Malpas had bulleted a header from Andy McLaren's corner against the crossbar, but they seemed to be a long way from damaging their visitors in the seconds before they did.
Simon Donnelly, who had taken the place of the injured Jackie McNamara in the Celtic team, had been trying with Craig Burley and Paul Lambert to create an opening on the right, deep in United territory.
A little dilatoriness surrendered possession and the ball was played long and quickly to Robbie Winters on the left. The forward saw Olofsson behind Marc Rieper and delivered a perfect chip, taking out the defender and allowing the big Swede to volley towards goal. The ball dropped over Jonathan Gould, but hit the bar, bounced out, struck the keeper and was deflected back over the line.
Olofsson, a surprise selection after undergoing knee surgery just 13 days ago, may claim as loudly as a West Indian bowler, but it was an own goal. The goals and the McLean incident camouflaged the general ordinariness of the play. Celtic's midfield, normally the hub of their industry, seemed hesitant and indecisive, with Burley, Lambert and Wieghorst all slovenly in the pass and tackle.
United were certainly no smoother, perhaps not helped by the retiral of Pressley after 46 minutes. The defender had carried a leg injury into the game and was later taken to hospital for an X-ray.
United relied on the break with the long ball from defence in the hope that runners such as McLaren, Winters and Olofsson would bother Rieper, Alan Stubbs and Tom Boyd.
They did, too, when Winters nudged the ball forward to Olofsson – Boyd having completely missed his clearance – and the big Swede moved to the left before rifling the ball with his left foot wide of Gould from 15 yards.
That was a fine finish, matched by Celtic's equaliser four minutes later. On the left, Stephane Mahe supplied Brattbakk, who pushed the ball to Donnelly. The winger carried it inside before feeding Wieghorst into the box with an impeccable ball and the Dane left-footed it low past Dykstra from eight yards.
A replay seemed inevitable, but Celtic, who had been under a little pressure, were awarded a free-kick 30 yards from their own goal which Burley took quickly. Suddenly, Brattbakk was motoring through the middle and feeding Larsson on the left. The Swede's teasing cross eluded Dykstra and the charging Brattbakk and was run over the line by the back-tracking Pedersen.
It was the cruellest blow imaginable.
- Manager Interview
Wim Jansen, post match
"United must be tired of us by now. It was a real hard cup tie but we never gave up until the end and we got our reward.
"We had our chances and so did they but we took ours and that's why we won.
"Of course I feel sympathy for United. But the same thing happened to us when we lost a ver late goal to Hearts at Tynecastle. When things like that happen you do not feel great but they played well."
"If he (Burley) had said no I would have understood. The player knows better than I do if he is fit."
"If Jackie wants to play (in the semi-final) and says he is fit then it is easy, but he didn't feel better before the cup game There is no point in forcing a player to take part and risking further injury that would rule him out again. Hopefully he will be ready soon."