Donati Scores Late Winner

Keeps Celtic In Charge Of European Destiny

By Tony Quinn

Massimo Donati was Celtic's hero as his injury time strike secured a 2-1 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk last week. With the sides locked at 1-1, after the opener from Donetsk's Brazilian Brandao had been cancelled out by Jiri Jarosik, and the two minutes of added time almost up, the Italian pounced with a dramatic winner. A draw would have left Shakhtar level on points with the Bhoys but favorites to progress, due to their 2-0 victory at home giving them a better head-to-head record. However, Celtic are now on nine points, three ahead of the Ukrainian side, ahead of their final Group D game away to AC Milan. A shell-shocked Strachan praised his players' determination for battling to the vital victory. The Celtic manager said: "Just when you think you've seen it all, you think about every scenario but you can never predict what's going to happen in football. We had a central midfielder at left-back, a centre-half at right-back and a 34-year-old defender coming on who has not played for four or five months. But we won the game with big hearts and to give a team like Shakhtar almost no chances in the second half was fantastic."

Scott McDonald scored for Celtic in a 1-1 draw with Hearts on Saturday - enough to stop Rangers moving to within a point of the SPL lead. McDonald seemed to have earned the champions victory at Tynecastle when he slotted home in the 73rd minute. But Gary Caldwell was penalized for a push and substitute Andrius Velicka stroked home the penalty in stoppage time to earn Hearts a draw.

Aiden McGeady has welcomed the news that the Scottish champions will qualify automatically for the Champions League in future years. The Hoops this season went into the group stages after win over Spartak Moscow, who finished second in the Russian top flight. McGeady feels there was no advantage in finishing first for Celtic given the lottery of the draw for the third qualifying round. However, the champions will go straight into the lucrative group stages from the 2009-10 season after UEFA approved changes to the format of the competition. "We were champions last year and had to go through a qualifying round playing against Spartak Moscow and that was a very hard game," McGeady said. "If you win your league, you should automatically go into the Champions League."

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan speaking ahead of the Champions League clash with Milan and said that Kaka fully deserved to win the Ballon d'Or. The Brazilian superstar was officially awarded the prize at the weekend in Paris, with Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi coming second and third respectively. "The first three of the standings of the Golden Ball are all exceptional, but Kaka deserves it because he's a model for how he behaves on and off the pitch," stated Strachan.

Reports suggest Sunderland boss Roy Keane wants to sign Bobo Balde for £1million in the January transfer window. Balde, 32, has not played for Celtic this season and appears a long way from boss Gordon Strachan's first-team plans. Earlier reports suggested the club tried to move him on in the summer but were unsuccessful, leaving the defender to collect around £28,000-a-week while sitting on the sidelines. Earlier in the season Balde stressed he was still working hard to get back into the team and was not merely doing nothing and collecting his wages - rumored to be the largest amount paid to anyone at the club.

John Kennedy's latest injury may not be as bad as first feared - although he could still be out for up to three months. Kennedy, 24, had to leave the pitch on a stretcher during Celtic's UEFA Champions League victory over Shakhtar Donetsk after an awkward fall just before half-time. He underwent an MRI scan on his left knee last Thursday and, according to Celtic's website, initial results show he has sustained damage to his lateral meniscus and the posterior lateral complex of the knee. This means the injury might not be as severe as first thought and now further investigation will be carried out on his knee.