CELTIC 5 SLOVAN BRATISLAVA 1
RELENTLESS Celtic delivered a five-goal five-star performance as they won their first-ever opening Champions League encounter at Parkhead this evening.
The Hoops made certain there was no stumble at the initial hurdle as they decimated their Slovakian opponents in ruthless fashion.
Liam Scales headed in the breakthrough goal in the first-half and the second period became a procession as Kyogo Furuhashi, Arne Engels (pen), Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah joined in the party.
It was a comprehensive outing for Brendan Rodgers’ men with the only blip a consolation goal for Slovan by Kevin Wimmer on the hour mark to pull it back to 3-1.
PARADISE…£11million new Bhoy Arne Engels celebrates his penalty-kick strike for Celtic’s third goal against Slovan Bratislava. Daizen Maeda is about to congratulate the Belgian.
The Celtic support celebrated a superb launch into the new-look Euro elite set-up and the barrier-breaking goal arrived in the 17th minute after a period of sustained pressure.
Something had to give and, thankfully, it did after Engels swung in an inviting left-wing corner-kick.
His ball was met with perfection by Scales’ forehead and his six-yard effort thumped into the roof of the net off the hands of startled Dominik Takac.
The Hoops had to be content with a solitary goal advantage at the interval, but it could so easily have been three.
Within a minute of Scales’ breakthrough counter, Kyogo saw a close-range effort blocked by the keeper and the Japanese striker was wasteful with another attempt in the 34th minute when he skied the ball over the bar from 12 yards.
The pacy frontman will admit he should have done so much better with both efforts.
NUMBER ONE…Liam Scales thunders in a header from an Arne Engels corner-kick.
NUMBER TWO…Kyogo Furuhashi turns in Nicolas Kuhn’s perfect delivery.
NUMBER THREE…Arne Engels slots his penalty-kick past keeper Dominik Takac.
NUMBER FOUR…Daizen Maeda makes no mistake with a right-foot effort.
NUMBER FIVE…Adam Idah completes the rout.
In fact, the hosts, urged on once again by the vociferous home support, could have gone ahead inside four minutes when Alistair Johnston picked out Maeda, racing in from the left.
A goal looked a certainly, but the winger lacked composure at the crucial moment and blazed an angled shot well off target.
The Hoops dominated in the opening 45 minutes and the only moment of concern for Kasper Schmeichel came in the seventh minute when David Skerlec’s drive was diverted over the bar after a last-ditch challenge by Scales.
Engels was producing an eye-catching performance as he patrolled the middle of the park and the Belgian appeared to be singled out for special treatment from the visitors who clattered him twice in the opening minutes.
Former Rangers winger Vladmir Weiss, the Slovan skipper, was booked for slyly kicking the £11million Celt with the ball elsewhere.
Boss Rodgers watched from his usual beat on the touchline as his team dictated play, but the finishing did not match the outfield play and the Slovaks survived on several occasions.
Two minutes into the second-half, Kuhn took off on a serpentine-weaving run on the right as he eased past two challenges before hitting the bye-line and firing over a low cross.
Kyogo, from four yards, couldn’t miss as he turned the ball into the net off his thigh.
Eight minutes later, Dutch match official Danny Makkellie had no hesitation in awarding a penalty-kick after Johnston had been floored following a high challenge.
Engels, as he had done against Hearts at the weekend, strode forward confidently to stage an action replay of that goal with a low drive to the keeper’s left as Takac took off for his right.
Five minutes later, a crazy miscue from Greg Taylor swept across his own penalty area and was fed back to Kevin Wimmer who curled an exquisite lob beyond the helpless Schmeichel.
However, 10 minutes afterwards, Kyogo and Hatate combined to set up their countryman Maeda and he sent a first-time shot unerringly low past the overworked Takac for No.4.
A minute later, James Forrest entered the action as he replaced Kuhn and that substitution was quickly followed by a three-man change with Johnston, Hatate and Kyogo making way for Anthony Ralston, Paulo Bernardo and Adam Idah.
In the 84th minute, Auston Trusty made his Hoops debut as he replaced Cameron Carter-Vickers and two minutes later the home choir were in full voice again as their favourites struck a fifth goal.
Forrest sent Idah racing through and the Republic of Ireland international striker tucked a first-time drive into the net for his first goal as a permanent Celtic player after his nine strikes on loan last term.
It was the perfect way to bring down the curtain on a night of celebration under the lights in the east end of Glasgow.
TEAM: Schmeichel; Johnston (sub: Ralston 77), Carter-Vickers (sub: Trusty 84), Scales, Taylor; Engels, McGregor, Hatate (sub: Bernardo 77); Kuhn (sub: Forrest 71), Kyogo (sub: Idah 77), Maeda.
