Fulham were well beaten by a ruthless Celtic side in Glasgow this evening as Martin O’Neill’s men picked up from where they left off after winning the domestic treble last season. The Londoners made themselves popular at Parkhead, unveiling a banner than read ‘Congratulations on your magnificent treble – good luck in Europe,’ the brainchild of former Celt John Collins, who received a rapturous reception on his return to an old stomping ground. Jean Tigana presented O’Neill with a cut-glass trophy to commemorate their superb season, but the hosts were in no mood to reward their visitors’ generosity.
Red-hot Swedish centre forward Henrik Larsson played as if he was willing to prove that he could make it down south, scoring twice as Celtic eased to a routine victory – which was given a more resounding look when substitute Shaun Moloney added a third with four minutes to play. Tigana’s side stayed true to their possession-based approach, although the Frenchman rued defensive mistakes that cost them the chance of making this testing fixture more competitive – with Rufus Brevett responsible for two of the Celtic goals.
Celtic, due to start their season this weekend, looked much the sharper side and Larsson might have got off the as early as the second minute but he headed off target when left unmarked from Alan Thompson’s perfectly flighted free-kick. The home side enjoyed the majority of possession and forced a couple of corners in quick succession, although Fulham defended those diligently. Tigana’s side did create a decent chance on the counter attack when a lovely ball from Lee Clark put Kevin Betsy in the clear but the young forward snatched at his shot, which was easily smothered by Rab Douglas.
Celtic went in front in the nineteenth minute when Bobby Petta’s cross from the left saw Alain Goma and Zat Knight leave the job of marking Larsson to one another. The Swede made the most of this defensive indecision to saunter away from the pair of Fulham defenders and head home. Fulham struggled to make inroads after that and Tigana responded by making an early change, sending on Andrejs Stolcers for Betsy. Steve Finnan did superbly to nullify the potent threat of Petta for the remainder of the evening, with the Whites pushing higher up the pitch in the second half after a detailed half-time team-talk from Tigana that kept their hosts waiting.
Abdes Ouaddoh was introduced from the bench eight minutes into the second period, but the Moroccan international’s first major contribution was to be stripped off possession by the lethal Larsson having been played into trouble by a poor Brevett pass. The Swedish striker skipped around Maik Taylor to make it 2-0 just before the hour mark and Tigana’s side then had a mountain climb.
Fulham played in fits and starts after that. Sean Davis played a delightful ball through for Stolcers, who looked to have got the run on the Celtic defence, until he was crudely taken down just outside the penalty area. The ensuing free-kick came to nothing. The evening ended with another defensive calamity, when Brevett attempted to find Taylor with a back pass but the pair only presented a third goal to Sean Maloney to the delight of a passionate home support.
GLASGOW CELTIC (4-4-2): Douglas; Tebily, Mjällby, Valgaeren, Agathe; Lennon, Lambert, Petta, Thompson, Larsson, Sutton. Subs: Gould, Crainey, Boyd, Moravcik, Healy, Smith, Maloney, Johnson.
GOALS: Larsson (19, 59), Maloney (86).
FULHAM (4-4-2): Taylor; Finnan, Brevett, Knight (Ouaddoh 53), Goma; Davis, Collins, Betsy (Stolcers 32) Clark (Trollope 74),; Saha, Boa Morte (Hayles 62). Subs: Hahnemann, Hudson.
