Four goals, five for Celtic, and still out

Celtic went into the second leg of their Cup Winners' Cup tie a goal behind, and they came out of it having scored five and lost. It is one of the strangest results in the club's European history, and to understand it you have to follow the scoreline minute by minute, because the qualification picture changed almost every time the ball went in.

A goal behind, then level, then behind again

Partizan scored first, through Vujačić after seven minutes, which left Celtic needing three. Dariusz Dziekanowski equalised on 25 minutes, and a minute into the second half he scored again. Celtic led 2–1 on the night.

It lasted five minutes. Đurđević made it 2–2. Dziekanowski scored his hat-trick on 56 minutes; Đurovski equalised again on 61. Every Celtic goal was being answered, and every Partizan goal counted double.

Two minutes from home

Then Celtic finally pulled clear. Alan Walker scored on 65 minutes, and with nine minutes left Dziekanowski got his fourth. It was 5–3 on the night and 6–5 on aggregate, with 49,298 inside Celtic Park.

With two minutes left, Joe Miller lost the ball near the corner flag. The cross came in, Pat Bonner got a touch to it, and Šćepović's header went past Paul Elliott on the line. It was 5–4, 6–6 on aggregate, and Partizan had four away goals. Celtic were out.

The questions afterwards

Billy McNeill was criticised for not making a single substitution while Celtic led 5–3 with minutes to go. There was an extra edge to Miller's part in the goal: he had submitted a transfer request the week before, and McNeill had picked him anyway.

Partizan went on to lose to Dinamo Bucharest in the quarter-finals.

Dziekanowski's night

Scoring four goals in a European tie should make a player a hero. Dziekanowski did everything a centre-forward can do in one game. His team conceded four.

Most great individual performances are remembered for what they won. This one is remembered for what it could not.