Nakamura lights up mundane victory

CELTIC 3

Vennegoor of Hesselink 37, McDonald 71, Nakamura 75

STIRLING 0

FOR his technique, vision and ability to see things others don't, Celtic manager Gordon Strachan declared Shunsuke Nakamura superior to all other players he had worked with on Friday. A group in which he dared even place the venerable Kenny Dalglish. As he does with the Japanese playmaker, Strachan was gilding the lily. But in an otherwise unremarkable fourth-round Scottish Cup victory over Stirling Albion, Nakamura provided a moment that served to lend weight to his manager's claim he can produce precious moments beyond mere football mortals. And reminded fans of the creative spark that Celtic have been missing in the 10-week injury lay-off the player ended yesterday.

Maybe it is easy to conjure up a glorious 20-yard curling finish when your team is 2-0 up against beaten, heavy-legged opponents destined to slip out of Scotland's second tier. Maybe, though, unless you possess a special talent, it is never particularly easy to wheel round, wrap your left foot round a ball and then send it into the top corner of a net as if it had been drawn there.

"That was good," Strachan said of the goal. "It was good to see him back even if you could see he was rusty. But we had to play him because there are a lot of games coming up; more important games." The Celtic manager declared the Stirling win a "job well done", while admitting "it was never going to be a classic; it could only be an upset".

Nakamura's strike brightened an afternoon that Stirling, in admirable fashion, made a dour struggle until Scot McDonald fired in a cut-back from Lee Naylor four minutes before the Japanese man's 71st-minute strike. Even discounting the presence of new £1.9m signing Andreas Hinkel and the return of Nakamura, Celtic might have been expected to have a freshness about them. Yesterday was their first outing in a fortnight, after games against Rangers and Motherwell were postponed following the death of Phil O'Donnell, to whom the fans paid tribute with a raucous minute's applause before kick-off. Instead, Celtic were along familiar lines and exhibited familiar faultlines.

Hinkel appeared aggressive, purposeful and engaged, as should have been the case with a 17-times capped Germany internationalist on his debut for a new club. "I was impressed, the coaches were impressed and his team-mates were impressed," Strachan said. "He gives us balance." The signing from Seville insisted he could give more, and knows he must when Celtic face Rangers a week on Wednesday. "I didn't play in the last few weeks and need more games to get my rhythm," the 25-year old said. "I need a little bit more power but enough time to get that before the Old Firm game."

The same need for more could said of others in home colours yesterday. Largely, they were inspirationally-challenged. Nakamura could be excused any real criticism on that front, even before he scored. Sidelined with strained knee ligaments since the win over Motherwell in October 27, early on he appeared to be working his way back into the competitive environment in softly- softly fashion and it wasn't until the 43rd minute that he succeeded in shimmying his way to the byeline and whipping over an inviting cross. Celtic fired in plenty of these in the course of the opening period, but Scott Christie in the Stirling goal proved an assured figure. He was, however, helped by the struggling Massimo Donati, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and McDonald. All pushed headers either side of the posts.

Celtic's Dutch striker wasn't the worst culprit and, for all that his languid style has earned him few admirers among the club's faithful of late, he comes in handy when the mission is to put away lesser opponents. He set Celtic on their way to doing that when he stooped to meet a cross flipped in from the left by Aiden McGeady and planted a header in the sweet spot, low to the right of Christie. In his role of provider, McGeady zoomed down the right and settled for an early cross instead of over-cooking the beating of men that blotted his display. Scott Brown besmirched his performance, meanwhile, by giving Stuart Devine some afters to earn himself a booking shortly before the break.

Stirling did an admirable job of stifling Celtic. When they found themselves requiring to retreat, the massed ranks of red shirts in and around their penalty box gave a manful impression they were sticking to a game plan. "They can walk out of here with their heads held high," Strachan said of the First Division side's efforts. Allan Moore certainly had his men organised, and willing to break on the very rare opportunities this option was open to them. Ross Harris was unfortunate with a neat chip in the 40th minute and only seconds after they went 2-0 down, Artur Boruc was required to produce a superb reflex stop to deny Laurie Ellis. "We came here and gave a good account of ourselves," Moore said. "I was worried going into to it that we might be hammered but 3-0 flattered Celtic. If we had scored when Boruc made the save it would have been the icing on the cake." Of a stodgy recipe, it must be said.