NICOLAS KUHN has endured and enjoyed the Champions League rollercoaster against his fellow countrymen over the past five weeks.
The German winger suffered in Dortmund as Celtic were thumped 7-1 by a rampant Bundesliga side that seemed to score with every shot on goal, including two first-half penalty-kicks.
But Kuhn, who spent three years in the RB Leipzig academy, came back to haunt his former team with a blistering two-goal performance as the Hoops soared to a 3-1 triumph over the team that is currently sittingsecond top of their league.
The £3million recruit from Rapid Vienna in January had the perfect answer when the visitors posed a question at a rocking Parkhead and took the lead in the 23rd minute through Christophe Baumgartner.
NUMBER ONE…Nicolas Kuhn watches as his curling effort sweeps high towards the RB Leipzig net.
Kuhn curled in a breathtaking equaliser from the edge of the box 12 minutes later and fired the Hoops into the lead in first-half stoppage-time when he snapped up a low cross from Greg Taylor.
Reo Hatate made certain in the 72nd minute when he snapped up a rebound off keeper Peter Gulasci to thunder an effort into the roof of the net.
Deservedly, Kuhn won the UEFA Man of the Match award as he was acclaimed by Celtic fans at a sell-out 60,000 Parkhead as their heroes took their points tally to seven in the quest to make the money-spinning knock-out stages.
The exciting wide Bhoy proved he wasn’t one to over-exaggeration when he summed up a pulverising performance: “I think we did an amazing job.
NUMBER TWO…Nicolas Kuhn is pursued by Daizen Maeda after another superb finish.
“Against Atalanta, we defended well, but the final ball attacking-wise was missing, but on this occasion we did much better and got the three points.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game against a good opponent and it was even better to score against my former club.”
Kuhn came off the pitch a couple of minutes after Hatate’s strike as he was replaced by Yang Hyun-jun. Needless to say, he departed proceedings to a standing ovation.
The flamboyant flanker, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “It was unbelievable, it took me a while to realise, but that’s why we play.
“We had a bad game away in Dortmund, but we learned our lesson and in the last two games we did much better.”
FIREWORKS FROM ROCKET MAN KUHN
