Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Forrest Thump
ROSENBORG .... 0 CELTIC ............... 1
CELTIC needed a hero and James Forrest stepped up as the biggame Troll Hunter in Trondheim.
The Hoops found it hard going against a Rosenborg side who refused to come out of their cave until the wideman put them back in their box with a screamer 20 minutes from time.
The Parkhead men are now 180 minutes from the promised land but blimey it was hard going.
The home fans had banners declaring “Come on the Trolls” and “Take Us Back”. The punters meant the Champions League with the latter but their team took it literally.
the Norse men sat back any more they would have needed recliners.
The Trolls tried to, well troll, Celtic with a rigid, deep defence while hoping to hit on the break. For 70 minutes – over and above the 90 in the east end of Glasgow – it worked pretty well.
But Brendan Rodgers’ (right) side found a way through with Forrest the one who fired them into the play-offs courtesy of a jaw-dropping finish.
Rodgers admitted these games make managers feel like they’re in a tumble dryer – and the gaffer’s head must have been spinning over his team selection.
Griffiths declared himself fit, although short of match action he was deemed too big a gamble to start.
Instead the hitman took a seat on the bench with Forrest given the chance to lead the line.
If Rodgers’ men were feeling any early nerves it certainly didn’t show.
The visitors were the ones moving the ball around, shifting from side to side and searching for any chinks of daylight to exploit. There wasn’t much, mind you, with the Norwegians packed tighter than a Scandinavian’s bumbag.
Kieran Tierney picked out Mikael Lustig at the back post but the exif Rosenborg man stuck his volley into the second tier of the stand. Still, it was a start – and moments later Celtic came close to surging ahead. Jonny Hayes whipped a superb ball on to the nut of Sviatchenko but the defender’s thumping header was smuggled off the line. The Hoops looked comfortable but were rocked when Sviatchenko went off crocked after just 25 minutes. With no Kristoffer Ajer on the bench due to a knock, it left Rodgers once again with only one recognised centre-half as Nir Bitton became the square peg squeezed into a round hole.
As if the tie wasn’t tense enough. Despite the upheaval it was Celtic who threatened again as Rosenborg keeper Andre Hansen brilliantly beat away Forrest’s point-blank drive after Tierney’s piercing cutback.
The home side were not exactly pulling up trees but Celtic were keeping calm – just about. Tierney was the key to unlocking the Norse backline. Despite constant knocking, though, they couldn’t quite find a way to get in before the break.
Rosenborg were brutally unambitious but just like the first leg they roared out after the interval, Yann-erik de Lanlay dragging a shot narrowly wide to crank the volume up a notch. Celtic were on their heels and looked a little wobbly.
The ball was getting the hot toddy treatment and Rodgers’ men were lucky not to get punished for gifting possession away in dangerous areas.
It was just as well the Norwegians weren’t much cop in the final third either and the Hoops could afford to keep letting them have a bash.
The strikerless formation was coming undone with nothing sticking up top. Forrest was being ushered up blind alleys while Scott Sinclair was barely getting a sniff.
As the clock ticked towards the hour the answer was clear – it was time for Griffiths. Right away he got to work, superbly taking the ball into feet, shuffling it out wide, spinning around and gathering again then almost picking out Sinclair in the six-yard box.
It was just what Celtic had been missing. The threat at the other end was still a real one, though, as Mike Jensen licked the outside of the post from the edge of the box.
It was getting unbearable to watch and both dugouts could have done with a couch for the coaches to hide behind.
The tie was finally starting to get stretched and someone was going to snap. Forrest was the man to do it with a strike sharper than a Stanley knife. With Griffiths up front the wideman was back in his more comfortable surroundings from where he produced the moment of breathtaking quality his side were craving.
Latching on to Sinclair’s ball, Forrest raced through and lashed his laces through the ball. It smashed in off the underside of the bar and sent the small band of Hoops fans tonto. He could have sealed it soon after but the job was done and the dream still on.