What a game of football! That was 120 minutes of exhilarating action from two teams who wanted to win. Celtic had by far the better of the exchange, but credit to Newco, who for the majority of the second half and with 10 men, took the game to the champions. The headline facts show Newco survived until extra time despite their disadvantage, brought about by the most reckless challenge you will see all season, but Celtic were far better all over the field.
Johnny Kenny led the line. His strength and link-up play was set the tone for Celtic to dominate the first half. Scoring with a header direct from a corner kick is not easy (stats prove as much). His defender was touch-tight, Johnny was four yards beyond the near post, yet rose and directed the ball high into the net. Let’s remember, he turned 22 this summer; his career is all in front of him.
The only surprise when Auston Trusty was named Man of the Match was that the award did not go to Liam Scales. Scales won everything in the air and executed a lunging tackle inside the box which is one for the ages. Trusty’s award doubtlessly came as a result of him breaking the lines with the ball – something Celtic have badly missed out of defence in recent seasons. The player had previously been discouraged from doing this, but was freed by his young Irish manager.
We all knew that one goal was probably not going to be enough for large parts of the second half before Newco’s penalty (a tad harsh, I thought). It took this incident to shake Celtic into action, as they ended the regulation 90 minutes by peppering the Newco goal. James Forrest’s introduction to the action had much to do with this.
Extra-time stared as the 90 minutes ended, with Celtic surging forward. Jack Butland came to the rescue of Newco throughout the game, but three minutes into the added period, he was deceived by Callum McGregor’s thunderous strike from 25 yards. The shot was still rising when it hit the net.
By this stage Newco were on the ropes and had no reply. You and I will talk tomorrow about Callum Osmand. The 19-year-old, making his second professional appearance (of the week and of his career), was an absolute handful. Like Kenny earlier in the game, he was able to win and control forward passes, and test his defender. The third goal came from an excellent Kieran Tierney delivery, with Callum timing his run and turning the ball into the net.
Thelo Aasgaard’s red card was for one of the highest and out of control challenges you are likely to see in the game. Anthony Ralston’s shorts were ripped at the groin and his upper thigh bore visible abrasions. Auston Trusty and Newco’s Derek Cornelius were both given the benefit of the doubt by referee Nick Walsh. Newco have shouted lots about the former, without reference to the latter. Losing is tough, I suppose.
As I walked down Aitkenhead Road after the game, I wondered what could have been, had we played Trusty last weekend, or either Kenny or Osmand in the Champions League qualifiers (both were unused subs for the first leg but did not even make the bench for the second). What could have been……
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Favorite part of the game, after young Callum scoring, was Maeda getting on top of the wee dob after he rattled Ralston.
Happy Monday all!
HH
Welcome back BRRB,
Also, great wee post match write up yesterday BSR!
Butland should have seen red for trying to head butt Trusty’s boot.
MOM Trusty and final goalscorer Ormande would not have been anywhere near the team picked by the point scoring previous Manager
Coulda , Woulda , Shoulda.
Add them up and you get either
a valuable lesson plus zilch
Or
just zilch …
… depending on what kind of entity you are
We’ve got a little bit of momentum.
Fix forward.
IMHO
Both Cornelius and Trusty knew fine well what they were doing …
… and did it anyway.
Both should have been red carded.
Asgard decision made easy by the Celtic players’ collective reaction.
A far cry from the ‘keep calm’ mantra.
Had they not? I wouldn’t have been surprised to see yellow.
You’ve got to get i to the ref’s head BEFORE they make their decision.
Once it is made, player protests are pointless.
BTW – watch him pretend he was hurt after he assaulted Ralston.
He’s either an inherently nasty piece of work
.. or that was coached behaviour.
Honda Civic flourishes with new engine!!
Put a good driver in a mediocre car and a mediocre driver in a good car…
The good driver wins every time.
Back to basics.
“ He’s either an inherently nasty piece of work
.. or that was coached behaviour.”
Those are not mutually exclusive.
With that mob, and their overall mentality, it could very well be both
Brilliant headline Paul67 , I’m sure the suits will be in touch with Honda for some additional sponsorship deals!!
HH
Broadsword calling Danny – Broadsword calling Danny boy
why is the german manager wearing a poppy ?
Looking forward with some anticipation to seeing WEERON’s pic. And! What a game our captain had yesterday all summed up with the look on his face after he scored his worldy, as the kids say!
Because the poppy is a universal symbol, not British.
Great atmosphere at the game yesterday, seemed to me that the Hun 3 at the back was a failure and their 2 wing backs didn’t do much for me. Always felt we could cut through the Hun defence at will and with some more composure we would have won comfortably in90 minutes. Seb and Benji will benefit from this game and not wishing to pile pressure on young Ossie but we have potentially a star on our hands , his movement and ball control is first class.
HH
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full on 3rd November 2025 12:23 pm…
Totally agree. When was the last time we saw Celtic players react like that? Especially Maeda, he’s normally so quiet and retiring. They were then so determined to get one of ours sent off to try and even things up…mala suerte…
And Tav of course was ‘disappointed’ as usual…
The Battered Bunnet on 3rd November 2025 12:29 pm
The Stig’s identity has been revealed . It’s Martin O’Neill !
Great result yesterday.
Sarrachi was my MoTM, but all round it was a very good team performance
I still think there is more to come from Tounetke. He seems to be able to get the defender on the backfoot, but there is no end product, or he runs the ball out the park.
Ironically, i would be very happy if we reverted to a boring horseshoe format and got a 0:0 on Thursday.
WBC- The players should have demonstrated to Walsh about the Cornelius assault,I will post another one he got away with,we need to get more streetwise, it’s part of the game now
Horseshoes are for horses…
We have played two away games in Europe so far this season (though Kazakhstan is more Eurasia) and we lost one on penalties and drew in Belgrade. Both matches were winnable, if you score goals that is. Would like to think the game in Herning is winnable, but they are top of the Europa League as things stand, and if I remember rightly they knocked Ange’s Celtic team out of the CL not so long ago. And they are becoming old hands at this level. A victory would put us within two points of them and would give us three victories in a row in three different tournaments, which would be a terrific achievement at any time. Would need us to be a bit more of an attacking force than in Kairat or against Red Star. Optimistic as always looking forward.
Bada…the Cornelius tackle was full of nasty intent…definitely deserved red…
It would be interesting to see a poll among supporters, to keep Martin till the end of the season and possibly longer? I’m not sure another change right now would help the situation.
https://x.com/Zeshankenzo/status/1985255513349673004?t=uu2JbM8SrG3wnORZzuslqQ&s=08
Cornelius x 2
Just heard that Luke Littler has just passed his driving test.
He’s gonna need a bigger motor…..
Than a Honda Civic….
Any tech bhoys sort out why TONY fell in our box. I think he was fouled.
Mitdjyland are a good side and dead ball experts. That said they nearly came a cropper to Hibs who took them to the 220th minute in their qualifier. So it is not a tie we should fear.
Gutted we won’t have Osmond though. Weird decisions by our previous manager.
I think we’ll win on Thursday if we can replicate our first half performance from yesterday.
Blogger GM
The Dane’s have a real tough tie tonight.
Home to the top team in Denmark currently AGF. Kind like us playing Hearts at home 3 then a 2 day break prior to a big Europa game.
Nothing weird about the decision.You can only name so many.Kenny,Mazda,Iheanacho,3 strikers,more than enough.
Mazda,FFS.Japanese right enough.
Yep,saw that.Very strange timing.Even knocks can keep a player out of action for 2 or 3 days.Let’s hope so.
‘Best day of my life’
published at 17:10 GMT
17:10 GMT
FT: Celtic 3-1 Rangers
Goalscorer Callum Osmand tells Premier Sports: “There are no words, it’s one of those moments that don’t happen.
“The last few months, where I’ve not been in squads are the bits that create you as a player, prepare you for this moment.”
On Martin O’Neill, the striker added: “He said he thinks very highly of me, that the staff do, and that gives you the boost you need.
“Martin has just given me the belief and the trust. It only takes one person to believe in you and hopefully this is just the start for me.
“This is the craziest day for my life ever, this won’t be beaten, it’s the best day of my life.”
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/800/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/11/2/1f54df7d-1de9-49ef-9328-868bec472405.jpg.webp
I looked like Kenny hobbled off when subbed and was still limping at FT.
Hopefully he’s ok and/or Iheanacho is fit enough to play.
Big credit to Maloney for bringing Osmand into the squad, we are short on strikers but he’s obviously seen him in training and B Team games
Maccabi beaten 3-0 at home
Beat Sturm Graz 2-0 in Denmark.Notts Forest beaten 3-2 at home.
Very good results to get their 9 points.
Hard game.
Tobago Street on 3rd November 2025 12:49 pm
Because the poppy is a universal symbol, not British.
—————
no it isnt.
it is a british legion construct.
why would a german wear iy ?
Because, like the suit and tie and brown brogues, he was told to…