KIERAN TIERNEY played a pivotal role in getting the show on the road in Celtic’s 4-2 victory over FC Utrecht last night that sealed a place in the Europa League knock-out stages.
After dismal losses at the same venue to Sporting Braga and AS Roma earlier in the competition, it looked long odds on the Hoops making progress in the competition.
However, following a 3-1 win over Feyenoord in Rotterdam and a 2-2 draw with Bologna in Italy – with Martin O’Neill in interim charge on both occasions – the door to the last-16 suddenly swung open.
And Celtic took full advantage against a Dutch team that displayed praiseworthy battling qualities to come back into the contest after going 3-0 down inside the opening 20 minutes.
They brought it back to 3-2, but the anxiety among the support was eased when Auston Trusty thumped in a header for a fourth goal to smooth the way to three points.
The hosts should never have been placed in a precarious position – especially after Tierney had set up Benjamin Nygren for the opener following a sweet move from a right-wing corner-kick.
HOOP HOOP HOORAY…Benjamin Nygren and Kieran Tierney celebrate the Swede’s opening goal with Colby Donovan about to join in.
The Scotland World Cup left-back, speaking to Celtic TV, said: “We’ve created a lot of chances in games this season and not taken them, but this time it was different.
“We had said that if the corner was on to play quick and just get the tempo of the game up – and it worked. The first corner we did it, everyone was alive to it and knew it was happening, so it was good.
“Especially at Celtic Park with the fans behind you, you need to go at teams and we did that.
“The hard work that the boys have put in is amazing, especially up top because it’s a hard shift for them to press for 90 minutes, but they were brilliant.”
Tierney, who is now preparing for the visit of Falkirk to the east end of Glasgow on Sunday, added: “It’s just building momentum.
“Winning games is what’s expected here and that’s what we want to do. If we keep doing that, we can take it game by game, build it up and, hopefully, have a good end to the season.”
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