CELTIC 1 YOUNG BOYS 0
CELTIC won through to the Champions League play-off stages after an encounter at Parkhead that left the 60,000 onlookers breathless following a night of high drama.
It took an own goal from Loris Benito in the 86th minute to make sure Brendan Rodgers’ men got the three points that unlocked the door to the lucrative next round.
However, this was a pulsating, pulverising performance that saw Daizen Maeda red-carded, Kyogo Furuhashi have three goals disallowed and there was also a missed penalty-kick from Arne Engels.
It was hectic right from the off and the hosts managed to achieve the triumph they craved with the goal near the end that was steered into his own net by the Swiss club’s defender.
Reo Hatate opened up the opportunity with an astute through ball into the tracks of substitute Adam Idah and his low shot was diverted away by the visitors’ heroic keeper Marvin Keller.
The ball ricocheted against the back-tracking Benito and rebounded into the inviting net.
It was bedlam in the stadium when the ball at last settled in the opposition net after a night of anxiety.
How the scoreline remained blank at half-time was one of life’s great mysteries.
Kyogo had the ball in the net THREE times in the first 35 minutes and all three were ruled out, two for marginal offsides and one for a foul.
On top of that bizarre sequence, Engels squandered a penalty-kick just six minutes from the interval when he saw his feeble effort saved by a grateful Keller.
It was mainly a procession of green-and-white pressure throughout the opening period, but, frustratingly, there were no rewards for their domination.
Kyogo thought he had claimed the barrier-breaking strike in the sixth minute when he raced onto a through pass from Engels before clipping a crisp drive past the exposed Keller.
Unfortunately, referee Rohit Saggy, of Norway, spotted the offside flag from his assistant and the goal was wiped out.
In the 31st minute Parkhead was silenced again, when the Japanese ace sped onto a pass from Callum McGregor to whip a low drive past the helpless Keller.
VAR intervened, though, to send the match official to his touchline monitor to review the incident when the Hoops captain challenged Cheikh Niassie to win possession.
He deemed it a foul and the Swiss escaped again.
Four minutes later, they were breathing another sigh of relief when, incredibly, another effort from Kyogo was ruled out.
On this occasion, Maeda, who provided the low cross for his compatriot to apply the finishing touch at the far post, was adjudged offside and VAR images showed he was a toenail out when he accepted Engels’ pass.
Then came the straightforward spot-kick decision after Greg Taylor was flattened by a flustered defender following a moment of anxiety in the Young Boys’ box.
Engels, with a hit record of six out of six from the spot, stepped up, but his weak effort was too close to Keller who flopped on the ball at his left.
It looked like it was going to be one of those nights for the hosts and Hatate was denied by a full-length sprawling save from the Swiss keeper in the 26th minute when his low left-foot 20-yard drive looked to be arrowing in low to the shotstopper’s right-hand post.
Keller was busy immediately after the break as he blocked a drive from Engels and then threw himself to his right to push away a rasping drive from McGregor.
In the 55th minute, he was rooted to the spot as Auston Trusty rose to a left-wing corner-kick from Engels, but the defender’s header clipped the bar and flew over.
Eight minutes later, it took a defiant double save from Schmeichel to prevent the visitors from snatching the lead.
Montiero beat Carter-Vickers on the bye-line to whip over a left-wing cross and Darian Males thumped a low drive that saw the Hoops keeper display lightning reactions to dive to his left to push the effort away.
It went straight back to the Swiss attacker who once again walloped a shot on target, but once more Schmeichel produced an excellent stop to divert his effort to safety.
In the 69th minute, Rodgers made his first changes as he sent on Alex Valle and Paulo Bernardo for Taylor and Engels.
Six minutes later, Idah joined the action as he replaced the luckless Kyogo.
In the 86th minute, Benito scored the only goal of an incident-laden confrontation, but that was not the end of the drama.
Maeda was banished in the 90th minute after VAR intervened following an incident with a Young Boys defender.
Five minutes of stoppage-time came to an end with Schmeichel diving to his left to hold a netbound effort on the line.
This was a rollercoaster at Parkhead, but, once the dust had settled, it was mission accomplished.
TEAM: Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylor (sub: Valle 69); Engels (sub: Bernardo 69), McGregor, Hatate; Kuhn (sub: Scales 90), Kyogo (sub: Idah 75) and Maeda.
