SOCCER/Celtic 2 AC Milan 1:A tetchy encounter, which gave Celtic their first three points of the Group D campaign and maintained a remarkable home record in Europe, ended in inauspicious circumstances last night and may lead to serious repercussions for the hosts.
Scott McDonald had just scored the winning goal in the dying seconds when a supporter ran from the stands and appeared to slap Dida, Milan's goalkeeper, who had to leave the field on a stretcher.
The slap looked to be extremely light - and Dida actually first ran after the fan before then dramatically losing the use of his legs and collapsing to the ground - but the very fact the supporter was allowed to run across the Milan penalty area will be subject of a serious investigation from Uefa.
McDonald's winner, arriving after a Kaka penalty had levelled the scores at 1-1, was almost lost in the madness.
Gordon Strachan has made a habit of throwing tactical googlies towards opposing teams in the Champions League, and last night was no exception.
Jiri Jarosik, who had not played for Celtic's first team since April, was restored to the midfield with Scott Brown deployed as the unlikely support man to Scott McDonald, the lone striker.Jarosik's unforeseen inclusion demonstrated Strachan's fear that his players would be swamped by the Milan midfield.
The home side opened brightly, however, and arguably displayed more attacking verve than they did during either of these clubs' meetings in the last 16 of the Champions League seven months ago when it took a piece of individual brilliance from Kaka in extra-time of the second leg to separate the teams.
Last night the Brazilian offered Milan's only effort of note in the opening period with a 25-yard shot which skidded safely into the hands of Artur Boruc.
Celtic enjoyed marginal territorial dominance during a scrappy first period, but much of their intricate build-up play was ruined by a poor final ball. Paul Hartley was the most culpable, wasting two set-pieces within the first half-hour, with matters otherwise brightened up amid dreadful playing conditions by a verbal spat involving Massimo Donati, Celtic's former Milan player and, perhaps predictably, the visitors' Rino Gattuso.
If the unusually tame nature of the first 45 minutes could be explained by Milan playing cautiously then both managers clearly decided during the interval that victory was here for the taking.
Filippo Inzaghi fired over Boruc's crossbar after a marauding run from the full back Massimo Oddo while Celtic's attempts at a response proved fruitless as McDonald cut an increasingly isolated figure. Not so Inzaghi, who was a last-ditch Lee Naylor tackle away from opening the scoring on the hour mark.
A set-piece represented Celtic's best chance of a goal, a matter proved after 62 minutes as Hartley's corner was flicked on by Donati into the path of Stephen McManus. The home captain, who found the net in similarly timely circumstances for Scotland against Lithuania last month, nudged the ball past Dida from two yards although the despairing Milan substitute Yoann Gourcuff seemed to get the final touch as it crossed the line.
Milan's shock at being behind soon turned to relief, the German referee Markus Merk awarding a soft 68th-minute penalty to the visitors as Naylor was harshly adjudged to have manhandled Massimo Ambrosini at a Gourcuff cross.
Kaka dispatched the spot-kick with typical authority as the vast majority of a capacity crowd aired their disgust.
Shunsuke Nakamura and Chris Killen stepped from the Celtic bench in Strachan's final effort to secure a win and it was good work by Nakamura that saw McDonald claim the winner, stroking home the rebound after Dida had saved Gary Caldwell's long-range effort.
CELTIC: Boruc, Perrier Doumbe (Kennedy 79), Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, McGeady (Nakamura 85), Hartley, Donati, Jarosik (Killen 84), Scott Brown, McDonald. Subs not used: Mark Brown, Riordan, Sno, O'Dea. Booked: Scott Brown, Donati, McDonald.
AC MILAN: Dida (Kalac 90), Oddo, Nesta, Bonera, Jankulovski, Ambrosini, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf (Gourcuff 55), Kaka, Inzaghi (Gilardino 76). Subs not used: Emerson, Simic, Favalli, Brocchi. Booked: Ambrosini, Nesta.
Referee: M Merk (Germany).
