Search icon

Sport

13th Sep 2016

Kolo Toure’s completely deliberate piece of improvised defending lights up the Nou Camp

Of course he knew what he was doing...

Simon Lloyd

Celtic were up against it in the opening minutes in the Nou Camp.

Already a goal down in Barcelona thanks to Lionel Messi’s strike after three minutes, the Scottish Champions were facing up the prospect of a long, long night in Catalonia.

Neymar had been restored to Barca’s starting lineup for the first time this season, joining Messi and “beautiful man” Luis Suarez in an attack that was threatening to run riot.

Thankfully for all those that hold Celtic dear to their hearts, Kolo Toure was on hand to thwart Barca’s attempts to almost instantly double their lead.

Once again, Messi was involved, threading a pass to Jordi Alba into the Celtic area. As he nudged the ball across the six yard box, it seemed a certainty that Luis Suarez would be presented with a tap in.

Kolo, however, had other ideas. Sprinting back towards his own goal, the Ivorian thrashed a right leg at the ball, deliberately smashing it against his own post so that it rebounded to safety.

https://twitter.com/JuzaShannon/status/775770043892264960

A quite magnificent piece of improvised defending from the 35-year-old… even if the offside flag had already gone up against Alba.

Unfortunately, Toure was powerless to stop Messi from eventually getting his second before half-time, after Celtic spurned the chance to draw level from the penalty spot.

Read more from SportsJOE