DIZZY HEIGHTS ARE SCALED
Rodgers and Celtic reach the promised land... but only after an almighty wobble
THERE were times here when Brendan Rodgers found himself back in the tumble dryer. Head spinning, stomach churning as Celtic were propelled back into Be’er Sheva territory. Whacking balls into the night sky, clinging to Champions League football by their fingertips.
It was too much for the champions of Kazakhstan in the end. A deflected strike from the excellent Olivier Ntcham and an opportunist finish from Leigh Griffiths in the 90th minute eased Celtic into tomorrow’s group-stage draw on a comfortable 8-4 aggregate victory.
But let no one be deceived by the final scoreline. With 20 minutes to play, the Astana Arena threatened to become a sweaty, exhausting torture chamber for Rodgers and his side.
The gamble of playing Nir Bitton and Kristoffer Ajer in central defence — more by circumstance than design — threatened to backfire horribly as the pair were exposed three times in the second half to grant Astana hope.
Make no mistake, inspired by the fleet-footed figure of two-goal Patrick Twumasi, Astana had the scent of blood in their nostrils.
‘Welcome to the annual Be’er Sheva moment,’ joked Rodgers afterwards.
It is 12 months since Celtic’s composure almost deserted them in Israel. The Celtic manager regards his team as a different beast to then, but old failings were evident here.
Until Ntcham claimed a second goal 10 minutes from time, this was desperate stuff. No team had ever overhauled a five-goal first-leg deficit in a UEFA competition. There were fleeting moments until those two late Celtic goals, as Twumasi missed golden chances to trigger a full-scale crisis, when the spectre of history beckoned.
‘You have to give credit to Astana,’ said Rodgers. ‘They changed their shape and went to 3-5-2, with two players up front.
‘At 4-1, you can be blurred in that moment. But we made some more changes to try to get the balance to the team. We tried to get hold of the ball again and, obviously, the second goal was a big goal for us — a well-worked move and a good finish.’
In truth, Celtic should have had little need of a second, let alone a third, goal. At half-time, the Parkhead side were comfortable. The better team, even.
Dmitri Shomko’s wild, hopeful shot spun off the foot of Ajer to nestle in the Celtic net after 26 minutes, but still there was no panic.
Scott Sinclair’s outstanding curling equaliser on 33 minutes was not only deserved, it looked a precursor for more goals from the visitors.
A wretched, awful start to the second half — Astana scoring twice in two minutes — indicated what was to come next. Celtic’s 42-game unbeaten run in all competitions is over. Yet the overriding emotion at time-up was relief. The pre-match injury to No1 central defender Jozo Simunovic was the catalyst for so many of the problems. Rodgers was forced to reach the promised land with central midfielders playing at the heart of defence. Against Real Madrid or Barcelona, that is not an option. Shomko’s strike was the first goal Celtic had lost in Champions League qualifying. It wouldn’t be the last.
At times, Celtic were all over the place. Quite why things became so nervy during the opening 25 minutes of the second half is hard to fathom.
Sinclair looked to have removed the wind from Astana’s sails with a stunning equaliser. Mikael Lustig found Callum McGregor in the middle of the Astana half, before he spread the play to the winger, who cut inside his man and curled one of his trademark finishes beyond Nenad Eric.
Celtic had their away goal. At 1-1, they looked comfortable, safe and secure. Little did we know.
Composure deserted them within minutes of the restart.
Astana were given hope by an uncharacteristic piece of sloppy play from skipper Scott Brown.
Gifting the ball away inside his own half to Astana, Brown then headed the resultant cross into the path of Serikzhan Muzhikov, the playmaker prodding the ball into the top corner from close range for 2-1. There was no panic. Not yet. But Astana scored again within a minute. And the doubts crept in.
Twumasi had time and space to bullet a downward header beyond Craig Gordon. The visitors, now, were in trouble. Back in Be’er Sheva territory, their energy drained fast.
Rodgers, as he had to, made changes. Yet the tide of yellow shirts towards Celtic’s goal was relentless. Astana — with some justification — sensed something in the air.
Matters became downright alarming when, with 21 minutes to play, the Kazakh side claimed a fourth goal.
Griffiths — of all people — had a wonderful chance to change the narrative seconds earlier, controlling a fine Kieran Tierney cross on his chest and blazing high and wide.
Astana took full advantage. Twumasi capitalised on hesitation from Bitton, cutting in off the right touchline to run unchallenged and hammer the ball between Gordon and the near post into the net. It was an awful goal to lose.
There were visions, suddenly, of that horrendous night in Artmedia.
Griffiths had another chance to pull one back and ease the pressure on 71 minutes. Winning a free-kick in the same position from which he punished England twice in June, this time Eric — who had a fine game — pushed the ball round the post.
There were torrid, frenetic moments before Ntcham finally removed the tension when Astana could — should — have scored a fifth and a sixth through Twumasi.
Gordon pulled off a brilliant fingertip save. Yet the same player blew another glorious chance to claim his hat-trick from 12 yards out 14 minutes from time. He blazed a shot over the bar when it looked easier to score. Celtic, finally, caught their breath.
And the Scottish champions could breathe easy 10 minutes from time.
Stuart Armstrong laid the ball across the penalty area for Ntcham, an increasingly influential signing, to sidefoot a deflected shot past Eric.
Griffiths — as he did in Glasgow last week — had the final say with a firmly struck low shot in the 90th minute.
Celtic, now, wondered what all the fuss was about.