Celtic defeated Utrecht 4-2 at Parkhead to qualify for February’s Europa League play-offs.
The Scottish Premiership champions got the job done early on, with Martin O’Neill’s side leading 3-0 after just 19 minutes thanks to a goal from Benjamin Nygren, an own goal from Nick Vierjevar and a penalty from Arne Engels, making it the club’s fastest-ever three-goal lead in a major European match.
The first goal came after a well-worked goal from a short corner, with Kieran Tierney reaching the byline and pulling the ball back for Nygren to score from close range. It was the Swede’s 14th goal of the season.
The hosts quickly doubled their lead after Utrecht made a series of mistakes at the back. Former Celtic goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas’ under-hit pass was intercepted by Nygren, and a low ball into the box was turned into his own net by an unlucky Nick Viajevar just as the visiting skipper strained to intercept.
Things got even worse for the Eredivisie side when Dani de Witt was given a harsh ruling for handling Auston Trusty’s close-range header from a corner kick and Engels played the rest of the game from the spot.
However, Celtic lost their way before half-time and, perhaps thinking the game was over, de Witt slotted home from the edge of the box. And home nerves began to stir just after the hour mark when Adrian Blake also scored from distance after a quick counter.
But that didn’t last long as the hosts, who finished 21st in the table, quickly regained their two-goal spot, with Trusty rising highest inside the six-yard box to nod home an inviting ball from Engels’ corner, sealing their place in the play-offs on February 19th and 26th.
Friday’s draw will confirm either Stuttgart or Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros.
Parkhead’s key figures
Celtic have now won five of their last six home games against Dutch (L1) teams in European competitions (including qualification), scoring at least two goals in each victory. FC Utrecht have not won their last 19 major European matches (D6 L13) since September 2004, when they beat Djurgården 4-0 in the UEFA Cup. This match is the longest ever for a Dutch team. It was the main action in Europe and the longest running total in UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League history. Thanks to a Benjamin Nygren goal in the 6th minute, a Nick Wilgevar own goal in the 10th minute and an Arne Engels penalty in the 19th minute, Celtic recorded the 10th fastest 3-0 lead in the UEFA Europa League and the fastest in a major European match. Benjamin Nygren has contributed 20 goals in all competitions. Celtic (14 goals, 6 assists) this season is the most of any player in the Scottish Premiership. With tonight’s goal, Celtic’s Aaron Trusty became the first American defender to score multiple goals in the same major season in Europe.
O’Neill: We deserved to win.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill told TNT Sports:
“It was really good. We played really strong for the first 10 to 20 minutes and had some great goals from our side.
“Then we got a little nervous for a while when it was 3-2, but Trusty got a great header and we won the game.
“I think we deserved the win. We pressed hard and were a little tired, but that’s not surprising, but overall it was a great effort.”
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“We’ve shown great resilience over the last few weeks. Consider this time last week we were down to 10 men in 60 minutes and then we were down again on Sunday.”
“They showed it. We didn’t make too many changes to the team tonight, but they’re gone again…We’re getting paid and hanging our hats on them.”
As for whether he has any hopes for his playoff opponents, he said: “No, I’m really happy to be out there. After a few games, there was a pretty good chance I’d be out there, but the players put in a great performance.”
McGregor: Delivered under pressure.
Celtic captain Callum McGregor told TNT Sport:
“We knew our goal tonight was to win the game, the pressure was on us to win, and overall we had a decent season.
“We had some tough moments in one or two games, but we achieved results under pressure and performed very well.
“The group mentality was great compared to Martin’s first and second (this season).
“The players were hungry to get out of the hole we were in, and you could see that again. Even at 3-2, we had a calmness and confidence in what we were going to do… But for the first 25 to 30 minutes, we were really good.”
“We trust the club that the manager and the staff will get the players they want, but the players here are always working hard and we are united.
“In any period, we want to strengthen our club and our team, so the players welcome that.”
Keene says reunion with O’Neill could be ‘written in the stars’
Ferencvaros manager Robbie Keane said after it was confirmed that his team could face the Hoops in the knockout stages: “I was playing for Celtic so there will be a lot of talk about it, but I don’t really care.”
“You always want to play against a very experienced manager. This season I played twice against Rafa (Benitez) and then against Sean (Dish) who has a lot of experience.
“There aren’t many players with more experience than Martin, because what he’s done in the game and what he’s done since coming back to Celtic was a club that was obviously very depressed and he gave a lot of energy to the club and of course to the players.
“That’s what Martin does. So maybe a matchup between myself and Martin is in the cards. I don’t know. But again, regardless of who we play in the two games, it’s going to be very difficult.”
