CELTIC had to wait until the hour mark before they finally cornered Sturm Graz in their hard-fought Europa League encounter at Parkhead last night.
The Hoops were toiling a goal adrift at the interval after the Austrians had taken a 15th-minute lead through a spectacular 30-yard strike from Tomi Horvat that thundered high into the right-hand corner of Kasper Schmeichel’s net with the keeper’s full-length leap in vain.
Brendan Rodgers watched as his team made and missed chances in a worrying sequence that had fans fretting that they might be out to witness the champions’ seventh blank of a stuttering season.
CORNERED NUMBER ONE…Arne Engels accepts a pass from Benjamin Nygren before playing his part in Liam Scales’ equalising goal.
CORNERED NUMBER TWO…Benjamin Nygren is high and mighty as he heads in the winner from Arne Engels’ left-wing set-play. Images courtesy Celtic TV.
However, the game was turned on its head during a frantic four minutes after the turnaround.
In the 60th minute, Benjamin Nygren forced an instinctive save from the Sturm Graz keeper to earn a corner-kick on the right. The Swede worked a quick one with Arne Engels who passed inside to Colby Donovan who shifted it across to Liam Scales.
The Republic of Ireland international defender finished with a cool sidefooted effort low into the net for the equaliser.
Shortly afterwards Engels delivered a sublime corner-kick – this time from the left- and Nygren supplied the finishing touch with a close-range header to seal the comeback victory.
It’s all worth a second look – courtesy of those good folk at Celtic TV Unique Angle.
Please enjoy!
