Celtic booked their place in February’s Europa League play-offs after beating Utrecht 4-2 at Parkhead.
The Scottish Premiership champions got the job done early as Martin O’Neill’s side took a 3-0 lead after just 19 minutes thanks to Benjamin Nygren’s strike, which was a Nick Bjergeber own goal and an Arne Engels penalty. It was the club’s first-ever three-goal lead in a major European match.
The opener came with a well-worked goal following a short corner kick as Kieran Tierney reached the bar and pulled the ball back for Nygren to score from close range. It was Sweden’s 14th goal of the campaign.
The hosts soon doubled their lead after a mistake went behind Utrecht. Former Celtic goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas’ underhit pass was intercepted by Nygren, whose low ball into the box was turned into his own goal by the hapless Nick Viergever as the visitors’ skipper stretched to intercept.
Things then got worse for the Eredivisie side when Dani de Wit was harshly adjudged to have handled Auston Trusty’s close-range header from a corner and Engels had done the rest from the spot.
However, Celtic lost their way before the end of the first half. Perhaps they thought the game was over when De Wit swept home from the edge of the box. And Adrian Blake also started to fray home nerves when he scored from distance after a quick counter-attack just past the hour mark.
But it wasn’t long before the hosts, who sit 21st in the standings, soon restored their two-goal cushion when Trusty rose highest in the six-yard box to nod home Engels’ inviting ball from a corner to confirm their place in the play-offs on 19 and 26 February.
The opponent will be confirmed by Friday’s drawing. stuttgart Or Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros.
Parkhead’s key numbers
- Celtic have now won five of their last six home games in European competition (including qualifying) against Dutch (L1) sides, scoring two or more goals in each win.
- FC Utrecht have not won in their last 19 major European matches (D6 L13) since their 4-0 UEFA Cup win over Djurgården in September 2004. It is the longest match played by a Dutch team in a major European competition and the longest match overall in UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League history.
- Thanks to Benjamin Nygren’s sixth-minute strike, Nick Viergever’s 10th-minute own goal and Arne Engels’ 19th-minute penalty, Celtic took a 3-0 lead in the UEFA Europa League and the 10th fastest in a major European game.
- Benjamin Nygren has scored 20 goals (14, 6 assists) in all competitions for Celtic this season – the most by any player in the Scottish Premiership.
- With his goal tonight, Celtic’s Aaron Trusty became the first American defender to score multiple goals in the same major European campaign.
McGregor: Even under pressure, we got results.
Celtic captain Callum McGregor told TNT Sports:
“We knew our goal tonight was to win the game, there was pressure to get through and overall it was a decent campaign.
“There were two games against us but when the pressure was on we delivered a result and it was a very good performance.
“The mentality of Martin’s first and second group (this season) was amazing.
“The players were hungry to get out of the hole we were in and you could see that again. Even when it was 3-2 there was a calmness and confidence in what we were going to do, but for the first 25 or 30 minutes it was really good.”
“We trust the club to get the players the manager and staff want, but the players here are working so hard and we are all in this together.
“In every transfer window, we want to strengthen the club and the team and make sure the players welcome that too.”
