Bhoys miss out on Rapid revenge

Two first-half strikes means honours even in Glasgow

By Jamie Casey   Last updated: 1st October 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Bhoys miss out on Rapid revenge

McDonald celebrates his equaliser

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Celtic are rooted to the bottom of their Europa League Group C after a 1-1 draw with Rapid Vienna at Parkhead.

The Bhoys fell behind to an early goal from in-form striker Nikica Jelavic who slotted past Artur Boruc in the Celtic goal after just three minutes.

Celtic were rattled early on but Scott McDonald capitalised on a misplaced pass from Andreas Dober and drilled home from a tight angle on 21 minutes.

The remainder of the first-half was fairly open as both sides missed chances to take a lead into the break, with Branko Boskovic and Stephen McManus missing close-range headers for Vienna and Celtic respectively.

The second-half was all Celtic with winger Aiden McGeady springing into life after a quiet first period and the home side looked a real threat down the right flank.

McDonald came closest to scoring a second as he rebounded a blocked effort from Shaun Maloney only to see his shot hooked clear off the line.

Tony Mowbray's side continued to press as the second-half wore on with Vienna looking sharp on the break but after a pulsating beginning to the restart a third goal eluded the game.

Celtic now lie bottom of Group C with just one point from their opening two games after Hamburg defeated Hapoel Tel-Aviv in the group's other game, with Vienna remaining at the top.

Build-up

The game had added spice after a historic European Cup Winners' Cup meeting between the sides in 1984 when, after overturning a first-leg deficit, Celtic were forced to replay a second leg.

Celtic were 3-0 up at home and in control in the original second-leg when Rapid player Rudi Weinhofer collapsed to the ground, claiming to have been hit by a missile thrown from the terraces.

After originally fining both clubs, Uefa ordered a third game to be played after an appeal by the Austrian club, with Vienna winning the third game 1-0 and progressing.

With both sets of fans in buoyant mood early on after the hype surrounding the build-up, Jelavic tested Boruc with a decent header in just the second minute of the game.

Jelavic then raced on to a pass from skipper Steffen Hofmann moments later and rifled an angled shot past the Celtic goalkeeper and into the far corner of the net.

Rapid's apparent desire to simply defend their lead was their downfall in the 20th minute when slack play allowed McDonald to level.

Dober's careless pass to fellow defender Ragnvald Soma 30 yards from his goal was intercepted by the alert McDonald who raced through to arrow his low drive past Helge Payer from just inside the box.

The visitors stepped up the pace and Hofmann, the lynchpin of Rapid, drove just over from 25 yards and at the other end, on the half-hour mark, Georgios Samaras slid a tantalising pass across the Rapid six-yard box but found no takers.

Five minutes from the break Boruc produced a fine finger-tip save from Hofmann's curling free-kick which was creeping in under the bar, then Celtic finished the half with skipper Stephen McManus heading a Danny Fox cross wide.

Second Period

The second half began at break-neck speed and three minutes in, after Payer had blocked Maloney's close-range shot, the rebound fell to McDonald whose goal-bound return was cleared off the line by the stretching Soma.

Seconds later, at the other end, as the Parkhead defence opened up, Dober had a powerful 30-yard drive saved by Boruc.

Payer then pulled off a fine save from Fox's curling shot before Gary Caldwell ended the brief spell of pressure by directing the ball wide of the target from barely six yards out.

Celtic were on top but a moment of slackness in the home defence on the hour mark allowed Branko Boskovic to sneak behind them.

However, the midfielder's poor effort from 16 yards trundled harmlessly to Boruc, seconds before Jelavic went down in the Celtic box under pressure from Caldwell, but referee Bruno Paixao waved play on.

Celtic boss Tony Mowbray sent Chris Killen, Barry Robson and Niall McGinn on for Maloney, Landry N'Guemo and Aiden McGeady respectively, with 10 minutes remaining but moments later it was Jelavic who headed just wide of the target from eight yards.

The Parkhead side piled forward in the closing stages looking for the winner but too often their passing was frantic rather than controlled and in the end they had to accept the point.

CelticTeam StatisticsRapid Vienna
1Goals1
11st Half Goals1
5Shots on Target5
7Shots off Target5
4Blocked Shots0
11Corners3
13Fouls16
4Offsides1
1Yellow Cards2
0Red Cards0
82.2Passing Success78.1
20Tackles21
75Tackles Success57.1
56Possession44
56.6Territorial Advantage43.4
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