Hoops held at home - 7M sport

Hoops held at home

Posted Sunday, January 17, 2010 by PA

Celtic were left with a nine-point deficit on Clydesdale Bank Premier League leaders Rangers after a much-changed side was held to a 1-1 draw by bottom club Falkirk.

Carl Finnigan gave the visitors a 19th-minute lead after a slip by Darren O'Dea and Celtic struggled before Georgios Samaras levelled with an individual goal five minutes before the break.

The home side failed to impose themselves until the final quarter but, other than an excellent free-kick from debutant Ki Sung Yeung, they could not trouble Falkirk goalkeeper Robert Olejnik.

Samaras headed wide from a Marc-Antoine Fortune cross inside 30 seconds but Celtic were soon on the backfoot and Andreas Hinkel cleared Pedro Pele's header off the line following a Ryan Flynn corner.

Marc-Antoine Fortune headed Ki's deep free-kick just beyond the far post but Celtic soon fell behind. Finnigan knocked the ball past O'Dea after an Enoch Showunmi head-on but the Irishman seemed in control until the striker brushed him off and sent Artur Boruc the wrong way from 16 yards.

Boruc rescued Celtic in the 28th minute, parrying Flynn's measured shot from 18 yards after Finnigan had laid off a Marc Twaddle cross.

The hosts were struggling to break down a hard-working Falkirk side but Samaras worked some room away from Pele on the left channel and fired inside the far post to level the match after 40 minutes.

Lee Naylor curled a 20-yard free-kick just over and Zheng Zhi headed Andreas Hinkel's cross wide from close range after the restart but the visitors were enjoying an equal share of possession and Vitor Lima twice came close from long range.

Ki almost made himself an instant Celtic hero in the 66th minute with a brilliant free-kick, however Olejnik flew to his left to push the 30-yard effort away from his top corner.

Paddy McCourt fired a 20-yard shot just wide in the 89th minute with a slight deflection and Falkirk held on for their second draw against Celtic this season.

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