Ahead of Celtic’s UEFA Champions League group-stage encounter with AC Milan on October 3, 2007, new Bhoy Scott McDonald had scored six times in 10 games. By the end of the match, he’d made it seven in 11, in the most dramatic style.
After Stephen McManus fired the Hoops ahead on the 62nd minute, Brazilian superstar Kaka pulled the Italian giants (then also European champions) level from the spot on 68 minutes. A draw would have capped off a valiant and hard-fought performance from Gordon Strachan’s men, but there was more to come in second-half stoppage time.
Pressing the visitors deep inside their own half, Scott Brown knocked the ball back to Gary Caldwell who shot from range on the inside-right channel. Milan goalkeeper Dida spilled, and McDonald pounced to poke the loose ball home.
Paradise raised the roof like only it knows how, and a gleeful McDonald praised his team-mates to the Celtic View after the match.
“It's a career highlight for me to get the winning goal against the European champions,” the Australian striker admitted. “It's a fantastic feeling and something I'll hold for the rest of my life. Aiden had hit a shot earlier on, the keeper had spilled it and the ball had gone over my head and I knew there was a chance he'd do so again.
“Luckily enough, he did so after a great shot from Gary Caldwell and it fell very nicely for me. I kept my head, it was just instinct.”
It was, of course, AC Milan who had ended Celtic’s Champions League journey the previous season, when the Hoops took Carlo Ancelotti’s side to extra-time at the San Siro in the tournament’s knockout round of 16. Milan went on to win the competition, which made this 2-1 group-stage win at Paradise seem even sweeter.
McDonald added: “I don’t know if the result has actually sunk in yet. It was the biggest night of my career and it was a massive result in Celtic’s history. To beat the European champions here at Celtic Park is huge and it has brought our Champions League campaign to life.
“The atmosphere was incredible. The Celtic fans are like a 12th man on nights like that. All the boys had given everything in difficult conditions but they kept singing so we kept going. We had so much effort into the game and that’s exactly what the boys did. I must say it’s the hardest shift I’ve ever had to work but when you’re up front on your own you have to do that.
“We were missing some key players like big Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, and Shunsuke Nakamura was only on the bench, but that’s what makes the result so special. We showed what we’re capable of achieving as a team and, hopefully, we can build on it.”
That season, Celtic qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League for a second successive season. Come May 2008, they also clinched the league championship for a third consecutive year, with Scott McDonald named the club’s top scorer with 31 goals.
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