FC MIDTJYLLAND 3 CELTIC 1
MARTIN O’NEIIL’S brief honeymoon period as the returning Celtic manager came crashing to a thumping conclusion in Midtjylland tonight.
The interim boss stared in disbelief as Celtic collapsed to a shocking defeat after gifting the Danes three goals in a horrendous eight-minute period in the first-half.
They never recovered on a night to forget for so many of the visitors who were virtual onlookers as the Danes dictated for almost the entire contest.
It got even worse near the end, after Reo Hatate had scored a consolation penalty-kick, when youngster Callum Osmand was stretchered off with what looked like a hamstring injury.
The sorry sight of the teenager’s exit brought down the curtain on a bleak evening for O’Neill and his players.
PRESSURE…Martin O’Neill on the touchline.
The Hoops were on the ropes for most of the encounter and Kasper Schmeichel had produced two brilliant saves before the roof caved in as his defence fell apart and were punished in the most ruthless fashion by their focused opponents.
Anthony Ralston was exposed twice in two quickfire minutes as he failed to cut out the danger that led to the hosts leaping into a 2-0 lead.
In the 33rd minute, the Scotland international right-back allowed Mikel Gogorza to drift past him on his way to the left byline before being allowed too much time to lift over a measured cross to the back post.
Martin Erlic wasn’t hindered as he rose to nod an effort past the stranded Schmeichel with his defenders flat-footed.
After being exploited on his right foot, Ralston was then exposed on his left as Gogorza raced in from the wing before once again being presented with space to look up and guide an angled drive wide of the sprawling Schmeichel at his left-hand post.
The Hoops were a shambles as the Danes stormed forward in an effort to pile on the agony and they got a third in the 41st minute when dangerman Franculino Dju latched onto the ball at the edge of the box after the defence had once more failed to deal with a long throw-in.
On this occasion, Sebastian Tounekti was slow to sense menace and his opponent got away from him to whip an effort past the static Schmeichel.
O’Neill sat on the touchline transfixed by what he was witnessing.
Schmeichel had made two excellent saves from Cho and Osario before the nosedive to a second Europa League defeat.
Weak defending cost them dearly on this occasion and too often Celtic players were second best in 50/50 tussles.
James Forrest and Johnny Kenny, who had produced next to nothing, were replaced at the interval by Daizen Maeda and the unfortunate Osmand.
In the 69th minute, Hatate came on for the disappointing Benjamin Nygren. It must have been a toss-up between the Swede and Arne Engels who had contributed so little on an embarrassing evening.
Paulo Bernardo did take over from the Belgian in the 74th minute at the same time Tounekti gave way for Michel-Ange Balikwisha.
Six minutes later, Hatate put a better complexion on the scoreline when he slotted away a penalty-kick after Osmand had been brought down.
Alas, it was way too late for Celtic on a dark night in Denmark.
TEAM: Schmeichel; Ralston, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; Nygren (sub; Hatate 69), McGregor, Engels (sub: Bernardo 74); Forrest (sub: Maeda 46), Kenny (sub: Osmand 46) and Tounekti (sub: Balikwisha 74).
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