SPL - Celtic lose to Benfica

Eurosport - Thu, 03 Sep 12:31:00 2009

A young Celtic side battled back after conceding an early goal but were ultimately beaten 3-1 by a strong Benfica outfit as the teams met in the Canadian National Exhibition Cup in Toronto.

2009 Benfica-Celtic - 0

The Parkhead outfit were still trying to come to terms with playing on Astroturf when their Portuguese opponents took the lead after just three minutes. Benfica broke down the right with Nelson Oliviera getting past Andy Hinkel and hitting the post before Keirrison pounced on the loose ball and slotted home.

Despite the setback, Tony Mowbray's side responded with Danny Fox testing the Benfica keeper and Paddy McCourt relentlessly running at the defence.

Paul McGowan chased every ball up front and four seconds into injury time at the end of the first half, the 21-year-old got his reward. McCourt caused problems for Benfica allowing Mark Wilson to get in a shot which hit the post with Bellshill-born McGowan outmuscling his marker to slot home.

McCourt then hit the bar from almost 30 yards as Celtic attacked with purpose, but Benfica re-took the lead 13 minutes into the second half when Hinkel was caught in possession and Ruben Pinto fired the ball past Dominic Cervi.

Javier Saviola then hit the post before the same player wrapped up victory a quarter of an hour from time when he tapped home after Cervi failed to hold on to a shot.

PA Sport

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  1. hail hail

    From p_ppjjk, on Sun 6 Sep 2:26PM

  2. Dont worry about the better half. If Celtic sold shoes­ and pointless household gadgets,she'd never be off­ the Celtic pages but,they dont so we're cool..

    From sherbet_d, on Sun 6 Sep 9:58AM

  3. #276 heh heh; fox's paw there sherbs, sorry about­ that auld pal, lol, I hope missus sherbs doesn't­ start wondering if it's really laying railway­ tracks that you are negotiating on night shift!!!

    From lysdexic, on Sun 6 Sep 9:31AM

  4. Bhoys - Matty-bhoy's a singer. He's just­ recorded his version of Bruce Springsteen's DANCING­ IN THE DARK, coz he thinks one of the lines is­ "this bum's for hire.. even when we're­ banging doon the park".. LOL!!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Sat 5 Sep 8:10PM

  5. Lysie auld pal,you'll need to ask the Ginge about a­ rental agreement. I've got nothing to do with it!­ lol.

    From sherbet_d, on Sat 5 Sep 7:20PM

  6. #273 Oh I know, in fact I have incorporated his status­ in my replies to him, when I can be ar-sed­ acknowledging that he's there.. wouldn't mind a­ wee bit of that myself sherbs, you wouldn't­ consider renting him out for a wee change... I know­ it's a big ask, but my kudos could be doing with a­ boost at the local hop, and spandex, especially the­ Rangers blue stuff with the little red and white­ sparkles, gives me a perverse thrill.

    From lysdexic, on Sat 5 Sep 12:06PM

  7. #272 Aye, right about now they'll be pulling on­ their Scotland tops over their Engurland shirts to get­ ready for the game, so that they can slag off the­ Celtic players as unbiased Scottish fans.

    From lysdexic, on Sat 5 Sep 11:58AM

  8. BTW, Lysie - I think Matty-bhoy is putting on his make­ up and squeezing into his spandex trousers and Cubal­ hells for our date tonight!! LOL!! He's my bytch,­ y'know??

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Sat 5 Sep 11:57AM

  9. 269 - I think FTP / big Jock Knew / fenians / tarriers/­ and my all-time fave, ONE IN A ROW! will all be along­ very shortly!!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Sat 5 Sep 11:52AM

  10. #270 class!

    From lysdexic, on Sat 5 Sep 11:52AM

  11. 269 - They're all online at the Rangers Store,­ looking at the range of watches. I hear sales of the­ Kyle Lafferty watch are selling like hot cakes around­ the world's Sub Aqua clubs. Apparently it's the­ best divers watch available!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Sat 5 Sep 11:50AM

  12. They've gone very quiet ginger! I wonder what bile­ we'll be hit with just shortly, because non of them­ have the wit to think of anything original....­ fecked...heh heh.

    From lysdexic, on Sat 5 Sep 11:46AM

  13. #266 Yes ginger I remember that one, but it wasn't­ a complete failure if you recall, it was certified­ lager proof to a depth of twelve pints.

    From lysdexic, on Sat 5 Sep 11:44AM

  14. Oh, and another thing wi' the bazza watch.. It­ needed a lot of lubricating, especially in the­ proximity of pubs and hotel bars!!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Sat 5 Sep 11:41AM

  15. 264 - I'm sure the Swiss will be able to work­ around that, since they're brilliant with­ timepieces. They tried to make a Barry Ferguson watch­ when he was there - but there was problems with the­ movement. It could only go from side to side, and the­ watch kept running backwards!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Sat 5 Sep 11:40AM

  16. oh... and one other wee fault; the flashing­ 'ready' changes inexplicably to 'nearly­ ready' at three minutes to eight too.

    From lysdexic, on Sat 5 Sep 11:37AM

  17. #263 That's half past five you're thinking of­ ginger! and thirteen minutes past seven reads 1883; but­ theres a wee glitch in it, when it gets to three­ minutes to eight the digits read 7-1, that's why I­ don't think it will take off over here.

    From lysdexic, on Sat 5 Sep 11:32AM

  18. 257 - I think the digital LCD watch displays 16:90 when­ it reaches 4pm!!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Sat 5 Sep 11:15AM

  19. 240 - Aye.. yer BACK DOOR!! Hahaha!!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Sat 5 Sep 11:11AM

  20. 236 - Not as lucky as you though!!.. You get to bathe­ in Richard Gough's Bath Cream! LOL!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Sat 5 Sep 11:10AM
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