Tuesday 22 March 2011

St. Johnstone 1 Brechin 0

A game of little quality, that failed to live up to the heights of the initial tie, was comfortably won by St. Johnstone and takes them into the semi-final where they will face the winner of Motherwell versus Dundee United.  Brechin rarely threatened and, predictably, looked a very tired side.

Derek McInnes recalled Alan Maybury to the side, dropping Graham Gartland, and started with Chris Millar in the centre of midfield ahead of Jamie Adams.  One change for Brechin saw Gary Fusco brought in at the expense of Jamie Redman.

Jim Weir lined-up his side in an orthodox 4-4-2 with Rory McAllister and David McKenna in attack, although the pair were devoid of support from their midfield who sat behind the ball for most of the match.  St. Johnstone also took to the field in a 4-4-2 although their midfield was very fluid throughout the first half, even if their passing was not.  Liam Craig started on the left but would often drift inside and Chris Millar, the main creative spark for the home side, was free to roam all over the pitch.

First half

Brechin defended well for the most part, however, their only tactic going forward was to hit long balls towards McAllister, with McKenna running in-behind in the hope he could pick up any flick-ons.  They were forced into an early change when right-back Paul McLean hobbled off in the eleventh minute to be replaced by David White.

Even though St. Johnstone attempted to pass the ball around they were also prone to aimless punts up-field.  They created a number of chances early on, one of which forced Craig Nelson into a smart save and another which Craig should have finished after a low cross from Murray Davidson.

When they kept the ball on the ground, most of St Johnstone’s play was focused down the left through Craig, who looked to hit the strikers with early crosses.  Other than this, St. Johnstone had a frustrating tendency to pile players up towards the edge of the Brechin box and hit the ball long and high towards them.

There was a period in the first half where Millar would drop almost in line with his centre-backs in order to receive the ball but his willingness to create from deep was ignored as St. Johnstone continued to hit the ball long.

Peter Enckleman was forced into an excellent save from a low Fusco strike with just over half an hour played and McAllister wasted a decent opportunity after a shocking error from Steven Anderson, but that was as about as good as it got for the visitors.

Brechin were made to rue those missed opportunities when Colin Samuel opened the scoring after thirty-six minutes.  The ball broke to Davidson midway inside the opposing half and he sent a nicely weighted ball over the top of the Brechin defence.  Samuel outmuscled Gerry McLaughlin and saw his first effort rebound off the centre-half.  The ball then dropped to Samuel again and he fired across Nelson and inside the far post.  It was a decent finish from the Trinidad and Tobago striker, however, the goalkeeper’s attempt at a save was less than impressive.

Second half

The restart saw Brechin immediately show intent to search for an equaliser and they spent a short spell in the St. Johnstone half.  Nevertheless, they failed to create any chances and soon began to display signs of tiring.  Craig Molloy and Neil Janczyk were at the heart of some nice, if short-lived, passing moves but again found themselves overrun by St. Johnstone’s more energetic midfield.

The midfield four of St. Johnstone was now a lot more rigid than it had been in the first half and they now looked to get the ball towards Danny Invincible more often than not, whether to feet so he could run at Brechin left-back Andrew Cook or else via long diagonal balls.  The Australian managed to get the better of Cook on a few occasions but the resultant chances were wasted by his teammates.  None more so than a terrible effort from McDonald which flew high over the bar but which, in fairness, bobbled slightly before he unleashed his strike.

The match petered out to a close with Brechin struggling to get McAllister and McKenna in possession in dangerous areas and St. Johnstone rarely threatening to add to their lead.  The Perth side will now face Motherwell or Dundee United in the semi-final at Hampden and will have to tp their game significantly to have any chance of reaching their first ever Scottish Cup final.

Monday 21 March 2011

League Cup Final: Celtic 1 Rangers 2 AET


Rangers edged a hectic cup final to take the first silverware of the season.  The key to their victory was preventing Celtic from playing to their usual standard which, contrary to what many predicted, came from a good balance of attacking and defending along with some excellent pressing.

Kyle Bartley was ruled out because of an injury picked up against PSV on Thursday and Ricky Foster was cup-tied so Walter Smith brought in Steven Naismith and Nikica Jelavic and lined his side up 4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1, depending on whether in possession or not.  The switch from a five to a four-man defence was necessary due to the injury to Bartley, however, it could be argued that the more enterprising approach would have transpired regardless.

Celtic replaced Glenn Loovens with Thomas Rogne and Mark Wilson returned from suspension, as did Scott Brown, and they started ahead of Efrain Juarez and Ki Sung-Yeung.  Throughout the match they switched between their lopsided 4-4-2 and 4-2-2-2 but too many underperformances from too many players meant they failed to hit the same heights as they have done in recent months.


Rangers' more attacking approach

The opening stages were open and played at an incredible pace.  It is unclear whether Rangers’ more enterprising strategy was influenced by their second half performance on Thursday or because this was a cup final but either way they stopped Celtic’s key dangermen from playing to their usual level.

Celtic’s midfield began narrow with Brown and Kris Commons playing just ahead of Beram Kayal and Joe Ledley.   Usually the width is provided by Mark Wilson and Emilio Izaguirre but with Rangers playing with two advanced wide midfielders, the Celtic full-backs found themselves pinned back for much of the match.

When they did attempt to get forward, Rangers were quick to double up on them and they rarely found themselves in possession in areas where they could do damage.  Rangers’ defensive performance was based on their full-backs staying in position, rather than pushing on, and a fantastic first half performance from Maurice Edu who consistently broke up Celtic attacks and offered terrific protection to his defence.  He and Steven Davis both played relatively deep when in possession and the Northern Ireland international was able to start off a number of attacks.

As well as this, Rangers pressed higher than they have done in Old Firm matches this season and, even though he didn’t cause many problems with the ball, Naismith denied Kayal and Ledley the time on the ball they would have liked by playing in the area the two were operating in.

Rangers’ strategy while in possession was to play quick and direct passes, whether long towards Jelavic or else wide to Greg Wylde or Kyle Lafferty.

The opportunity for the opening goal came from a long punt up-field from Neil Alexander.  Joe Ledley failed to control Charlie Mulgrew’s defensive header and this allowed Davis to collect the ball and cut inside.  The Celtic defence dropped deeper and deeper as his run progressed and they allowed him slip the ball into the corner of the net.

Celtic responded quickly and were back on level terms within eight minutes.  All their attacks in the first half had come down the left-hand side, with Commons pulling wide more often than he has in recent matches and it was from this side that their equaliser came.  After taking a throw-in in an attacking area, Emilio Izaguirre received the ball back from Commons and created half a yard of space for himself before whipping in a cross that was flicked on by Georgios Samaras and headed into the net by Ledley.

Even though Rangers edged the first half, at least on the amount of chances created, Celtic’s passing was slicker when they did enjoy spells of possession and they arguably created the best chance when Brown headed wide unchallenged.

Second half – Celtic’s substitutes fail to inspire

Rangers switched to a 4-4-2 at the start of the second half with Lafferty joining Jelavic in attack and Naismith moving wide right.  They continued to get the ball wide but now had two tall strikers to aim for.  Even though Lafferty’s position was as a striker, he continued the crucial role that Naismith had effectively carried out in the first half, dropping deep and closing down Kayal and Ledley whenever they received the ball.

With sixty-five minutes played Celtic withdrew Brown for Ki, Commons moved over to the right and Ledley moved left.  Their midfield was now a bit flatter than it had been previously, however, the changes failed to give Celtic any advantage.  Ki can usually dictate, even when not afforded much space, but he failed to get on the ball a great deal.  Ledley and Commons were also both very quiet in the second half.

The final twenty-five minutes of the ninety were very stop-start and Rangers were forced to reshuffle their defence when Madjid Bougherra hobbled off injured.  Kyle Hutton replaced him with Edu moving to right-back and Steven Whittaker into central defence.  Despite their makeshift back four, Rangers continued to prevent Celtic from creating many opportunities.

Weiss introduction and Jelavic goal seals it in extra-time

Just before the ninety minutes expired, Vladimir Weiss took to the field in place of Lafferty and sat just off Jelavic as Rangers returned to the formation they started the match with.  The Slovakian’s pace was proving to be a handful for the tired legs of Celtic and he gave his side a valuable outlet during counter attacks as well as drawing a few fouls.  It is worth noting that Celtic turned to the tricky yet slow Paddy McCourt for some inspiration towards the end of the first period of extra time but he made little impact.



One of the more debateable fouls on Weiss led to the winning goal.  Weiss took the free kick quickly, sending Jelavic through as the Celtic defence reacted slowly, and the Croatian striker’s finish spun in off the post.

Not only did Weiss have a major influence on the match up to and for the winning goal, he was able to retain possession effectively afterwards which relieved the pressure on the Rangers’ defence.  The value of Weiss’s pace at such a time in the match was summed up when he outpaced the usually quick but tiring Izaguirre, which saw the Celtic full-back sent off for a professional foul. 

Conclusion 

Whether Celtic were unprepared for Rangers’ willingness to attack or whether they just were not good enough on the day to cope is unclear.  Either way Rangers edged a very competitive contest.  As was evidenced in their 2-0 defeat to Motherwell last month, the key to stopping Celtic is to prevent their full-backs from advancing.  Rangers fielded two attacking wide players throughout, who not only pinned them back by playing high up the pitch, but also tracked back and denied them possession in dangerous areas.

One other key factor to the Rangers victory was the emergence of Weiss from the bench.  He provided the assist for the goal but, more than this, he also had pace and directness when running with the ball that turned the game Rangers’ way when the game became stretched.

Celtic weren’t terrible but too many players underperformed.  Commons, Hooper, Kayal, Ledley and Brown were all quieter than usual whereas their Rangers counterparts won their individual battles and contributed to a deserved cup win.