It was a Champions League qualifier that had it all. Credit to LASK, from the opening moments of game it was clear why they are Austrian champions. Both the visitors two strikers peeled off Cameron Carter-Vickers early on, one would have scored a contender for goal of the game had he not been offside, the other missing the target with the best chance of the night. At that stage, it looked ominous.
My expectations that LASK would defend deep were misplaced, they came to win the game. For the majority of the night, they pressed Celtic high, but it was not a fully committed press, so when Celtic were composed under pressure, they were able to pass through. A feature of the night was how this was achieved – one or two-touch passing between Mika Baur, Callum McGregor and especially Benjamin Nygren.
Nygren is a talent that defies the measly transfer fee paid for him. His goal, the opener, was a controlled shot on the half-volley into the corner of the net. Precision over power, giving the keeper no chance. Celtic Park enjoyed a moment of relief, as until then, both teams looked equally likely to score.
Lots will be written about Camilo Duran’s two goals, but his general play was almost as noteworthy. Inevitable comparisons will be made with Daizen Maeda, however, Camilo has outstanding touch and skill, qualities which limited our former Japanese star.
Like Nygren’s effort, both of Duran’s were controlled strikes high into the goal. The player knew the inch of netting he was aiming for. Early days, so let’s not get carried away.
Viljami Sinisalo made one excellent save and several very good takes, holding the ball on each occasion, while the game was still open. It felt like a big night for the ‘keeper. His distribution and starting positions were excellent too.
I had the pleasure of telling the story of the game to my son (who was working) afterwards. He wasn’t having my ‘This is not over’ line. 3-0 is a very defensible lead, but in case you did not see LASK, they are a proper outfit. This is not over.
189 Comments- Pages:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- »
If there is a mountain to climb , we must aim for the sun .
Wear the colours , on sunny goodge st ,
Be mellow yellow our little tin soldier and try and catch the wind
You sunshine superman…
🍀💚🍀
HH
We scored three exceptional goals last night, well one exceptional goal and two other exceptional finishes.
I don’t have the confirmed stats, but Bet365 have us down for 0.87 xG versus LASK at 1.75.
That rather reflects my sense of the pattern of the game. We didn’t create a chance for Hogh the whole game, while they had a number of chances close to the goal.
Our goals were all low probability finishes, wonderful strikes as they were.
This follows Dundee Utd having a higher xG than us in a 4-0 thumping of them at the weekemd.
Point is, we can’t expect to continue to win matches when we’re unable to prevent the opposition from getting in about our goal area.
A splendid, cheesy grin of a result last night, but heck, we need to figure out how to shape a midfield such that it can defend our box.
Over to MON, Shaun and the coaching staff to figure that out.
Wow, just wow.
Last must asking how they will stop us scoring over there – we score, we’re through.
On a sad note,fan who took ill at the game passed away.May he RIEP.
It aint over till Milli Vanilli sings…..
Bhoyjoebelfast on 20th August 2026 12:06 pm
On a sad note,fan who took ill at the game passed away.
That’s the guy I mentioned earlier. I’m so sorry to hear that…
Brilliant stuff. Shows what can be achieved when you focus on bringing in quality. Just a bit galling when you think about the European progress we have missed out on by suffering all that bad luck every time we tried to strengthen from a position of strength…..
Just a mention for Colby D. I thought he was outstanding last night. If it were not for Camilo he would have been my man of the match. A player continuing to improve. Credit to the coaching team.
WBC @12:11
Yes very sad,
Like many others, I worry about the lack of “muscle” in our midfield, a player who provides the defence with serious cover and has the composure to take the ball under pressure. But let’s say we find such a player or are already talking to one. Who drops out? Certainly won’t be Calmac. Nygren? the newly signed Baur? I appreciate we need better midfield and defensive players on the bench, especially if we are playing in Europe, but anyone coming to us for 5-10 million will be expecting to play regularly.
It’s good that we learn to play and overcome ‘proper teams’. Our goal is to consistently be one of these proper teams in Europe right !
The game was during the wee small hrs in Oz, and highlights are thin on the ground.
Anyone found any reruns of the game or goals – precious little on Youtube.
———-
Meanwhile, the Daily Rager breathlessly asks if new bun full-back Nedelkjovic could be the new Tav… ?
Guess it depends on how many ways there are to say ‘really disappointed…’ in Serbian.
WeeBobby
From last blog
I believe,sadly the person passed away.
May they rest in peace
HH
DeniaBhoy
You’re right to point that out.
However, I feel that MON will use more rotation of the squad and, maybe, change the formation, depending on the opposition.
We definitely need more muscle.
RIP Celtic fan
Quad 😂
Going to a football match and not coming home. Very sad, RIP sir.
Sad indeed for the fan who passed away . His family and friends will remember the game for all the wrong reasons . RIP
TBB –
😉
Celtic Mac on 20th August 2026 12:08 pm
It aint over till Milli Vanilli sings…..
Or, at least somebody does……
The tie isn’t over yet, we will need to score over there.
The team was excellent last night, and it was long overdue seeing us take shots from outside the box rather than always trying to walk the ball into the net.
Donovan had his best game in a Celtic shirt 👏👏
GlassTwoThirdsFull on 20th August 2026 12:13 pm
Brilliant stuff. Shows what can be achieved when you focus on bringing in quality
—–
It does and v important we’ve done that. But the development of Donovan, Nygren (who was often anonymous in his first season), Yang and Sinisalo also shows what can be achieved when you coach and improve players. We will always need both. We can buy the Yamals and Vini Jrs, so we need to buy well but also develop well.
quadrophenian on 20th August 2026 12:21 pm
It’s good that we learn to play and overcome ‘proper teams’. Our goal is to consistently be one of these proper teams in Europe right !
The game was during the wee small hrs in Oz, and highlights are thin on the ground.
Anyone found any reruns of the game or goals – precious little on Youtube.
V little on Youtube. You can get extended highlights on BBC iPlayer – but have to put up with Pat Niven in the studio. It is in iPlayer under match of the day by the way
IPlayer not available here downunder, thanks Bashi
DeniaBhoy on 20th August 2026 12:16 pm
Like many others, I worry about the lack of “muscle” in our midfield, a player who provides the defence with serious cover and has the composure to take the ball under pressure. But let’s say we find such a player or are already talking to one. Who drops out? Certainly won’t be Calmac. Nygren? the newly signed Baur? I appreciate we need better midfield and defensive players on the bench, especially if we are playing in Europe, but anyone coming to us for 5-10 million will be expecting to play regularly.
____________________
I advise dropping Yang from front 3 and putting Scale in behind the 3 midfielders for away leg.
4-4-2
First, really sad to hear about the man who passed away. It was a long period of treatment with many emergency workers and I feared the worst. Requiescat in Pace, and commiserations to his family. The message board on the screens before the game remind us of what Celtic meant to so many who are now gone.
Normally after 3-0 I would be very optimistic. Not this time. Good passages of play and three wonder goals, but it was a tough watch and a minor miracle they did not score at least two. They ran and passed through us too easily. In the second half their wee pocket battleship Horvath ran with the ball from deep in his own half to our 18 yard line. Should have been a goal, and that was only one of many huge chances. We need to be really tight over there and not concede early. I am hopeful but not nearly as confident as a big win suggests. Hoping we score early…
Superannuated Fenian on 20th August 2026 12:13 pm
Just a mention for Colby D. I thought he was outstanding last night. If it were not for Camilo he would have been my man of the match. A player continuing to improve. Credit to the coaching team
____
Agreed. He’s not 20 until next month. If we want to develop our own players the fans need to be more patient and give them more encouragement. He has decent pace and is a good footballer. I’ve noticed that he has a tendency to make diagonal runs. One phase last night near the end, he was very central and advanced and won a couple of loose balls really well. A couple of years ago, young Mccardle looked very promising. Keep it up.
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full on 20th August 2026 11:28 am
Non football post
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70gp8252ejo
Following on from brief yap about debt earlier this week.
US debt has now topped $40 TRILLION.
That’s a four followed by thirteen zeros.
c. $12,000 per man, woman, child in the USA
————-
I think you will find that to be $120,000 per per man, woman, child in the USA
In the UK we all owe £40,000 per head as our share of public debt. £3tr divided by 70m people.
To whom is the money owed?
Or, are they just figures which float about?
From the few minutes he was on the field, I got the impression last night that Hassan, when fully fit, could be a game changer for us. He has such fast moving feet, quickly changing direction, it’s inevitable opponents are going to stick out a leg and bring him down. Inside the box he will win us penalties for sure.
Vale Bhoy @ 11:38am on earlier thread re Rod Stewart …
Lol … but likely true.
Hrvatski Jim – cheers. I stand corrected.
Vale Bhoy on the same subject …
“To whom is the money owed?”
Faceless legal entities (rich ones)
Crux of my “indentured servitude for the 21st century” punchline.
At least in 18th century America … you knew
a. the person that owned your ass
b. the future date that ownership ended
Watched it live on RTE 2. It can be watched anywhere in the world as far as I know if you sign up
Here is a link to RTE Player which was infinitely better than the BBC
https://www.rte.ie/player/series/champions-league-live/SI0000000299?epguid=IH10019738-26-0012
fantastic result last night with some excellent free flowing attacking moves , but the number of self inflicted scoring opportunities for the opposition in the last few games is a huge concern ,giving the ball away with slack play and poor passing in midfield and lack of pace from our back 4 dealing with a long ball over the top requires urgent attention or we will rue the day.
Opposition teams are not creating as many chances as the self inflicted ones we are creating for them.
vale bhoy on 20th August 2026 1:01 pm
To whom is the money owed?
____________________________________________________________________
Bigrailroadblues. I hear he’s happy to slip you a few quid when asked, or a few trillion it seems!
Indeed it is not over, even though we did brilliantly. Glad Sinisalo’s faultless handling is acknowledged here. Some of the bouncing shots on a slick surface were treacherous.
I fancy LASK to score 2 or 3 at home. I am confident we will score at least one to go through but it’s usually nerve shredding. Memories of Beer Sheeva…
Colby Donovan grew in stature the more the game went on last night.
How many will we score?
2 minimum for me as they will attack