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GAME DETAILS
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1st Team Friendly
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Attendance: 15,000
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DT92 Members at this game: (you can click here to load your profile picture) |
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Gwladys Hale
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Pre-Season Ffiendly Match.
Official Opening Of The Stadium.
Cardiff City Stadium,
Leckwith Road,
Cardiff,
South Glamorgan,
CF11 8AZ.
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gashead eric
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FRIENDLY RESULT: CITY 0-0 CELTIC
Sun 26 Jul 2009
Snapshot: Cardiff earned an entertaining and encouraging draw in the official opening of their lavish new home. The Bluebirds made it four pre-season clashes without conceding in front of over fifteen thousand inside the CSS and the attacking flair and ingenuity on display provided more than enough hopeful optimism for the impending Championship campaign.
Chronological Report: Red Carpet? Check. Obligatory speeches? Check. Tribute to 'Big' John Hartson? Check. Male Voice Choir? Check. Time for some football.
As expected for a friendly played just two weeks before the start of the season the opening was an evenly contested affair with both teams looking to shift the ball wide at every possibility. The first chance fell to our Scottish visitors as some sloppy possession deep in our own territory gifted the ball to newly acquired Bhoy Marc-Antoine Fortune who drilled the ball across goal drawing a good save from David Marshall.
In fact Marshall had an extremely impressive opening twenty-minutes or so being called into action on several occasions and standing up solidly to each threat. No more so than in the eighth minute when Cardiff were overrun down the left allowing Lee Naylor to delightfully pick out Scott McDonald at the back post who headed goal-ward firmly with Marshall equal to the effort.
Cardiff's first sight at goal arrived after Joe Ledley was bundled over in midfield by Massimo Donati after a strong run from Jay Bothroyd. Peter Whittingham attempted to curl the ball towards the right hand corner only to clear the cross bar also with ease.
On fourteen minutes Glenn Loovens had a glorious chance to mark a perfect return to Cardiff as Shaun Maloney picked him out from a corner but, Marshal did well getting down to the Dutchman's header and kept the ball out. That was the highlight of a difficult forty-five minute for Glenn who found himself embroiled in an engaging battle with Jay Bothroyd throughout and continually emerged as second best.
A Glenn mix-up then nearly allowed Cardiff to sneak the lead. Loovens got caught in two minds trying to shield the ball from a harrying Bothroyd, Boruc was slow advancing off his line and looked to upend Jay when he did come after the big man got a toe to the ball first. The referee looked across to his assistant for support who bewilderingly awarded a corner.
Minutes later it was Gabor Gyepes who was nearly on the end of an unfortunate error after his attempted clearance struck the back of Kevin McNaughton's legs and settled at the grateful feet of Scott McDonald only for the Aussie to bend an audacious clip just wide of the far post.
Celtic were looking continually threatening and for the first time all game Fortune managed to get into a yard of space In behind the back four, he squared the ball inside for McDonald only for Gyepes to recover with a perfect sliding tackle.
Cardiff best chances of the first half arrived through some great link-up play between the two front men. Chopra easily turned Loovens in the air and played the ball out left to Jay who set himself up for a pile-driver only for the legs of Andreas Hinkel to absorb the blow. The ball rebounded to the feet of Ledley at the edge of the area who rather scuffed a left footed shot but still drew a save from a sprawling Boruc. From the corner Whittingham picked out Chopra at the back post who in turn picked out Boruc with a firm shot across goal.
Cardiff City Substitution: Tony Capaldi for Kevin McNaughton (32mins)
The final chance of a entertaining first half fell to Fortune whose run was expertly picked out by Maloney but his wild shot went flying into the Grange End.
HALF TIME: CARDIFF CITY 0 - 0 CELTIC
Celtic Substitutions: Lukasz Zaluska, Darren O'Dea, Giorgios Samaras and Chris Killen for Artur Boruc, Glenn Loovens, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Scott McDonald (45mins)
Cardiff City Substitution: Ross McCormack and Chris Burke for Michael Chopra and Paul Parry (45mins)
The second half was no less sedate if slightly less action-packed as the first. Cardiff carved open the first attempt as Bothroyd robbed N'Guemo on the edge of the area and drilled a shot at goal that N'Guemo did remarkably well to recover, react to and get an important foot in to deflect the effort over.
Cardiff were playing some great flowing football and a sweeping move around the hour mark should have drawn first blood for the home side. Jay sent the ball across from the left to the right via Whittingham only for Ross McCormack to horribly skew his effort high and wide.
Celtic Substitutions: Koki Mizuno and Paddy McCourt for Aiden McGeady and Shaun Maloney (61mins)
Cardiff City Substitution: Gavin Rae for Joe Ledley (68mins)
Chris Burke enjoyed an extremely encouraging second period full of vigour and verve and it was his ingenuity and directness that opened up the hoops midway through. He scythed his way through the Celtic midfield, played a lovely weighted ball in to the feet of the advancing Gavin Rae who got the ball out of his feet with his first touch only for N'Guemo to get back incredibly well and toe the ball away as Gav looked to pull the trigger.
Celtic Substitution: Willo Flood for Massimo Donati (72mins)
It was yet more good work from Burke that nearly heeded a rare headed goal moments later yet his cut back cross was mere inches too high for Peter who had taken up a good position in the box. Cardiff were looking lively and innovative going forward while Anthony Gerrard was positively rock-like at the back - either the mineral or the wrestler works as a simile, interpret as you wish.
Burke really should have been rewarded for his dazzling cameo and was only denied by a firm hand from Zaluska late on as the Scot let rip from twenty-five yards with the replacement Celtic 'keeper saving well low to his right.
Celtic Substitution: Paul Caddis and Simon Ferry for Gary Caldwell and Landry N'Guemo (83mins)
Cardiff City Substitution: Josh Magennis for Jay Bothroyd (90mins)
FULL TIME: CARDIFF CITY 0 - 0 CELTIC
Cardiff City: Marshall, McNaughton (Capaldi 34), Gerrard, Gyepes, Quinn, Parry (Burke 45), McPhail, Ledley (Rae 68), Whittingham, Chopra (McCormack 45), Bothroyd (Magennis 90). Subs not used: Enckelman, Blake, Matthews, Kennedy.
Celtic: Boruc (Zaluska 45), Hinkel, Caldwell (Caddis 83), Loovens (O'Dea 45), Naylor, Maloney (Mizuno 61), N'Guemo (Ferry 83), Donati (Flood 72), McGeady (McCourt 61), McDonald (Samaras 45), Fortune (Killen 45). Subs not used: Crosas.
Attendance: 15,071
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slyell
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Ground Opener
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tomgffc
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referee: M Whitby
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shoodoc
27 |
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pennywisepeter
17 |
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