Glasgow: Kris Commons smashed home a controversial late penalty to earn Celtic a 2-1 victory over Spartak Moscow, booking his team a place in the Champions League's knockout stage for the first time since 2008. The Scottish champions started the match level on points with Benfica in Group G but leapfrogged the Portuguese side, which could only draw 0-0 at Barcelona in the final round of group matches.
"The players have been magnificent - it is a monumental achievement on their behalf," said Celtic manager Neil Lennon, whose team beat Barcelona at home earlier in the group stage. With its match standing at 0-0 after 81 minutes, Celtic were heading out of the competition, only for Giorgos Samaras to fall easily under the challenge of Kirill Kombarov. Lennon turned away as Commons ran up for the resulting penalty, which went in off the crossbar to spark mass celebrations at Celtic Park.
"I didn't watch the penalty because I've watched our last couple and we've missed them," Lennon said. Already-eliminated Spartak had canceled out Gary Hooper's well-taken 21st-minute opener when Ari clipped home a lovely finish six minutes before halftime. Samaras hit the post before Commons' goal. Spartak midfielder Kim Kallstrom was sent off late on for two bookable offenses, his second resulted in Commons being taken off on a stretcher.
Celtic's progression is just reward following that stunning win over Barca, having nearly beaten the Spanish giants in the Camp Nou. The tally of 10 points, three
11:37 AM, Dec 06, 2012
Moscow: Lionel Messi scored his ninth double of the campaign as Barcelona won 3-0 at Spartak Moscow on Tuesday to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League for the ninth straight season. With 56 Champions League goals, Messi is now level in second place in the all-time list with Ruud Van Nisterooy, trailing only Raul Gonzalez (71). Messi has 80 goals for club and country in 2012 " 68...
12:54 AM, Nov 21, 2012
Moscow: Lionel Messi moves so skilfully that there's no point trying to chase the Barcelona star down, Spartak Moscow wing-back Dmitri Kombarov said. Spartak host Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday with Barcelona able to qualify for the knockout stages with a win and the Russians needing all three points to stay in the competition. "He's such an omnipresent player. In ten seconds he can pop up on the...
05:41 PM, Nov 20, 2012
Barcelona: After handing coach Tito Vilanova a perfect league start, Barcelona will look to extend their form to the Champions League when they opens Group G against Spartak Moscow on Wednesday. The Spanish team leads the league after winning all four of its games and, despite losing the Spanish Super Cup to Real Madrid, has opened up an eight-point lead over its biggest domestic rival. Vilanova is no stranger to...
09:56 AM, Sep 19, 2012
Madrid: Andres Iniesta returned from Spain international duty with a muscle strain in his right leg and will be out for 10 and 15 days, his club Barcelona said on Wednesday. Iniesta will miss Saturday's La Liga match at Getafe and Wednesday's Champions League Group G opener at home to Spartak Moscow but could be back for the La Liga game against Granada a week on Saturday. His Spain and...
08:29 AM, Sep 13, 2012
Moscow: Spartak Moscow won its first Champions League match this season on Tuesday by beating Benfica 2-1 from a first-half own goal by Jardel. Rafael Carioca gave Spartak a 1-0 lead in the third minute after overlapping down the left and receiving a clever pass from Jurado before poking the ball into the net. Benfica equalized in the 33rd minute through an unmarked header from Lima at the near post... 
