SOCCER Uefa Champions League/ Celtic 1 Manchester Utd 0: Manchester United will be incredulous over this loss, but they must waken to the reality of it.
When Shaun Maloney was deemed to have handled Cristiano Ronaldo's free-kick they had the chance to seize a draw, but Artur Boruc plunged to his right to deny Louis Saha's last-minute penalty and clinch an unlikely victory.
The Scottish champions are now level on points with United. Against all the odds against opponents of such marked technical superiority, Celtic have gone through to the knockout phase of the Champions League.
And they top the table because they have the better head-to-head record, thanks to a pair of away goals at Old Trafford, even if they finish level with United.
In the 80th minute last night Nemanja Vidic made an unwise challenge from behind on Jiri Jarosik. Shunsuke Nakamura is at his most lethal from 30 yards and, just as he had at Old Trafford, he steered the ball high past Edwin van der Sar's left hand.
United have now lost two consecutive matches in this competition, but the side will still advance to the last 16 so long as they are not overcome at home by Benfica next month - but far more was anticipated from last night's fixture.
After all the speculation that certain United players would be rested ahead of Sunday's encounter with Chelsea, Alex Ferguson chose instead to send out a first-choice XI designed to make Celtic feel second-rate.
There was an intent as well to strike at a crowd that can make this workplace so noisy that it is a wonder the health and safety executive does not require footballers to don ear protectors.
The visitors did succeed in turning down the volume in extended first-half periods. The home side, for their part, were not inspiring many roars. It was calm enough for the United fans to be heard chanting: "Are you Rangers in disguise?"
Celtic boss Gordon Strachan's wish to achieve security here saw him partner Neil Lennon in central midfield with the equally restrained Evander Sno. Prior to the interval the sole issue was Celtic's capacity to retain their discipline even as they were being outplayed.
They did stick to their task and it was intriguing that chances for Ferguson's team were quite scarce. The menace peaked in that phase when Bobo Balde, in for the injured Gary Caldwell after making two appearances in the previous seven months, lost the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo in the 36th minute. The Guinea defender recovered to make a challenge that United believed should have brought a penalty.
There had to be pensiveness for both clubs with the realisation that Benfica, cheerfully crushing Copenhagen before half-time, were bent on climbing into contention.
Strachan had planned this match in phases. The half-time introduction of Jiri Jarosik and Shaun Maloney for Sno and Maciej Zurwaski added a slightly more enterprising tenor to the side. It was beyond the manager, nonetheless, to address the fact that United were superior in technique and movement.
However, with an hour gone, Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc had barely been more harassed than his opposite number Edwin Van der Sar. Celtic, though, were short of a natural partnership in attack - much as Thomas Gravesen sought to support Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
The lack of impact did at least reflect on the well-rehearsed nature of Celtic's defence, where left back Lee Naylor impressed by staunching the visitors' flow on his wing. On the right Paul Telfer had some success too.
That, of course, is not the kind of expertise on which Celtic's European heritage has been built. However, the match entered the last 15 minutes with the teams on level terms.
Strachan's side were in contention and Ferguson would have brooded on United's difficulty in turning domination into victory.
That surely gave way to horror and disbelief when Nakamura showed the lethal artistry that transformed the night.
CELTIC: Boruc, Telfer, Balde, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura (Miller 85), Gravesen, Lennon, Sno (Jarosik 46), Vennegoor of Hesselink, Zurawski (Maloney 46). Subs not used: Marshall, Wilson, McGeady, O'Dea. Booked: McManus, Gravesen, Lennon.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Heinze (Evra 87), Ronaldo, Carrick (O'Shea 87), Scholes, Giggs, Saha, Rooney. Subs not used: Kuszczak, Brown, Richardson, Fletcher, Silvestre. Booked: Scholes.
Referee: M Gonzalez (Spain).
