IT TOOK Tomas Cvancara 39 minutes to score his first goal for Celtic in the champions’ 2-0 triumph over Falkirk at Parkhead yesterday.
The towering Czech Republic international frontman struggled to hit the target at Borussia Mönchengladbach following his £9.2million move from Sparta Prague in the summer of 2023.
Cvancara, capped eight times by his country, had claimed 24 strikes in 49 appearances to catch the attention of the Bundesliga club.
However, his scoring rate dipped alarmingly with the German outfit where he managed just four goals in 58 outings.
TAKE A BOW…Tomas Cvancara is about to be congratulated by Kieran Tierney after claiming his first Celtic goal in the champions’ 2-0 win over Falkirk at Parkhead.
A loan spell at Turkish side Antalyaspor last year didn’t help much as Cvancara claimed a mere two strikes in 13 matches.
But the frontman, who made his Hoops debut the previous weekend and set up the second goal for Yang Hyun-jun in the 2-2 draw with Hearts at Tynecastle, proved to be deadly when he collected his first goal in Paradise to pave the way for the Hoops to go on and win with a second goal from Benjamin Nygren against lively opponents.
Kieran Tierney delivered a peach of a cross from the left and his beanpole colleague timed his leap to perfection as he glanced a header wide of the groping fingers of ex-Celt Scott Bain.
Cvancara was quick to share the applause with his new team-mates after the game.
The 25-year-old forward said: “It’s perfect to score, but I’m so happy that we got the three points and credit should go to all the lads in the dressing room.
“We’re happy to take three points and we will hunt them until the end.”
AIR WE GO…Man of the Match Julian Araujo in action.
Fighting talk from Cvancara and words backed up by Man of the Match Julian Araujo.
The Mexico international right-back, on loan from Bournemouth, told Celtic TV: “Falkirk are a good side, a side that came to play football and it took us a bit of time to break them down.
“We stuck to the plan and this man, Tomas Cvancara, took the chance.
“We got the goals and, hopefully, we can keep going.”
The new Bhoys are likely to be in the thick of the action when Celtic take on Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Wednesday.
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