IT TOOK Celtic only 29 SECONDS to make history in Germany last night.
That’s how long it took for Yang Hyun-jun and Junior Adamu to combine before setting up Luke McCowan to strike a perfect left-foot shot low into the VfB Stuttgart.
The goal turned out to be Europa League play-off second leg encounter’s only counter and, alas, was not enough to prevent the Hoops from toppling out of the competition after losing 4-1 in Glasgow in the first game last week.
Remarkably, McCowan’s little piece of magic also got into the record books as the Parkhead club’s eighth first-minute goal in European club competition, the most by any team at this level.
HAND’S UP IF YOU’RE HAPPY…match winner Luke McCowan runs away in triumph after his lightning strike.
The energetic midfielder, playing in a much-changed Hoops side, also enjoyed his first strike in Europe, but the former Dundee skipper wasn’t too interested in records on this occasion.
He was more than a little disappointed Martin O’Neill’s men had not added to his quickfire effort.
McCowan, speaking to Celtic TV, admitted: “I think we lacked that final third pass.
“I know we’ve come away with a victory and you score so early in the match to give yourself a perfect chance to go on and attack the game – and I think we did
“But a couple of wee chances here, a couple of crosses, maybe a couple of corners could have been better from myself, things like that are really critical in these games
“But we knew if we got the first goal there was always going to be a chance and we did that.
“And the boys put in an unbelievable performance to keep it and get the win.”
Now the trick is to keep the momentum going into another must-win Premiership confrontation at Ibrox on Sunday.
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