SALZ SHAKER
Red Bull gives Celts hangover as early buzz fizzles into failure
TOO much Red Bull gives you severe heartburn.
Mix it with a lethal triple shot of desperate defending and you’ll get the type of hangover Brendan Rodgers is nursing this morning.
The Celtic manager’s head hurt as his side were hauled back from a winning position to have their wings snapped by Salzburg. At one stage they were flying. Odsonne Edouard’s second-minute strike gave the Hoops flight and put them in a position to soar to the top of Group B.
But by the time this match was done the Parkhead side had been slammed back to earth.
Grounded by more frailty and weakness in their backline.
Three avoidable goals lost in the second period and a red card dished out to James Forrest brought more hurt on the continent for Rodgers.
It was a painful collapse on a night that had initially promised so much more.
No one felt it was going to be simple for Celtic. The frightening statistics built up by their Austrian hosts told their own story.
Champions for five successive years, losing semi-finalists in this competition last term, unbeaten in 13 home European games and 16 matches overall this term.
Salzburg’s last loss on their own patch came in November 2016 so this was always going to be a massive challenge for Rodgers and his players.
When you factored in the setback of losing Scott Brown – the skipper joining Tom Rogic, Kris Ajer and Filip Benkovic on the injury list – it had the look of a long night.
Yet, having forged their way in front through Edouard and fought to keep their lead until the halfway mark, genuine hopes were raised that a massive result could be obtained.
By full-time, it was just a massive disappointment with Celtic plunged severely into their place after that audacious opening was exposed as a false dawn.
It may have taken just 47 seconds for Salzburg ace Diadie Samassekou to have a shot but just a matter of seconds later the Hoops had stormed into the lead with their first foray into opposition territory.
Callum McGregor’s hooked pass forward should have been meat and drink for defender Andre Ramalho.
Tagged as a no-nonsense Brazilian, he should have been in control of the situation as he ran back towards his goal. But Edouard muscled him off the ball and escaped into the box.
Faced with a one-on-one or a square pass to partner Leigh Griffiths, the hitman chose the first option and steered a low finish past keeper Alexander Walke.
It was the first goal in eight games for Celtic’s record signing and it
provided joy for Rod Stewart and the rest of the travelling fans. Sadly, though, it was also like waving a rag to a Red Bull.
Salzburg were stung. They set about the Hoops and were rewarded fully by the finale.
Rodgers did see his side withstand the surge until half-time although not without a few scares.
Takumi Minamino headed over and Munas Dabbur drove narrowly wide before a brilliant covering tackle by Mikael Lustig kept the Austrian side at bay as Hannes Wolf prepared to pull the trigger.
Rodgers, despite going with two strikers, made it clear Celtic would try to be compact.
With the experienced Youssouf Mulumbu drafted into Brown’s position and plugging the gaps, they initially hung in there.
As Minamino started to pull the strings and get involved more, there was a nagging feeling the leveller could come before the break.
But after Kieran Tierney, who took the armband in the absence of Brown, was robbed in his own territory and watched Xaver Schlager blast wide to waste the gift, it was the Hoops who came closest to doubling their lead.
Edouard started a break that culminated in Forrest having a shot pushed away by Walke.
The French raider pounced on the rebound to stab home but far-side assistant Mykola Balakin whipped up an offside flag. It could have made a
massive difference but it was the right call by the officials.
And frankly that incident would become a distant memory by the time the next 45 minutes had elapsed.
Celtic were under the cosh again straight from the restart and eventually crumbled.
Keeper Craig Gordon made a splendid stop to deny Dabbur almost immediately from kick-off and the Austrian champions got their salvage operation into full flow with a 55th-minute equaliser.
Minamino’s header was kept alive at the far post by Wolf. Lustig could have got tighter and so could Jack Hendry as Dabbur met the cutback to drill past the despairing Parkhead No.1 from close range.
It was hardly undeserved and neither was it particularly unsurprising when Salzburg nosed into the lead on the hour.
Skipper Andreas Ulmer’s devilish ball across the six-yard box was a peach but Celtic didn’t deal with it properly and Minamino held off the weak attentions of Hendry to dig out a finish.
Two poor goals lost in the space of five minutes. So painful and so typical at the same time.
Under the guidance of Ronny Deila, the Hoops had nabbed a 2-2 draw in this stadium four years ago yet a repeat never looked likely and more pain would follow despite McGregor shooting over the bar.
Forrest’s foul on the foraging Ulmer 18 minutes from time brought a red card from ref Serhiy Boiko and a penalty that Dabbur knocked easily past Gordon for a clinching third.
Sub Zlatko Junuzovic hit a post late on as Celts stumbled to the finish but enough pain had already been inflicted.