Celtic overturn Benfica
Kenny Miller grabbed a brace on the way to a superb win
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Tuesday, 17, Oct 2006 11:12
Celtic recorded a famous 3-0 win over Benfica at Parkhead to give themselves a fighting chance of making it to the knockout stages of this year's Champions League.
In a performance that would have made the famous Lisbon Lions of 1967 proud, the Bhoys proved far too strong for the team that accounted for both Liverpool and Manchester United last season.
Roared on by a near-capacity home crowd, Celtic started the game at a furious tempo, determined to upset the passing rhythm of their continental visitors.
After just two minutes Shaun Maloney brought a great save Joaquim Quim who was at full stretch to claw away an acrobatic overhead kick.
But as the game settled down from that frenetic opening period it seemed that Benfica may begin to impose their quality on the game as Kostas Katsouranis and Armando Petit sent shots skimming wide.
Katsoranis passed up the best chance of the opening period as he sent a clear header wide of the target.
It was to be a chance the Portuguese side would rue as Kenny Miller poked home Shunsuke Nakamura's sliced shot on 56 minutes to open the scoring.
Miller, who endured a quiet start to his Celtic career, doubled the lead when he capped Maloney's adroit through ball with a cool finish ten minutes later.
Benfica briefly threatened to pull themselves back into the game, but Celtic held on and Stephen Pearson pounced on a rebound from Nakamura's drive to seal a memorable evening.