FRIMPONG SPARKS A MOMENT OF RELIEF

EUROPA LEAGUE Livewire Dutchman rides to rescue and tees up Elyounoussi for winner

AFTER 89 minutes of Riga mortis, a last-minute strike from substitute Mohamed Elyounoussi spared Celtic an untimely demise in the Europa League.

Yet an uninspiring display against dogged, but mediocre Latvian opponents ended with the real kiss of life being delivered by Jeremie Frimpong.

When James Forrest limped from the playing surface of the Skonto Stadium after 34 minutes, it felt like an ominous sign for Scotland’s champions. It probably proved their salvation in the end.

A direct replacement, Frimpong dragged the Parkhead side kicking and screaming into next Thursday’s one-leg play-off.

Just watching the teenager was an exhausting business at times. Despite soaring temperatures in the Latvian capital, his pace and direct running teed up a calm sidefooted finish for Elyounoussi from 12 yards to win the game as extra-time beckoned.

With sharper finishing by his team-mates, Frimpong would have bagged the two or three assists his all-round play deserved.

Celtic had to settle for one goal in the end. And they were hugely glad of that after another insipid 90 minutes.

When things don’t go right for Odsonne Edouard, people are quick to study his body language and there was plenty of that going on after an off-night for the Frenchman.

It might be form, it might be fitness, it might be the speculation over his future. Whatever it was, the striker wasn’t alone. Frimpong and Elyounoussi were the only players in green-and-white shirts to cover themselves in glory.

‘Odsonne looked fresh enough in training,’ said Neil Lennon. ‘But tonight he looked a little bit off the pace.

‘Maybe he just needed a run-out to get him up to speed. We’ll see how he is for the weekend. He’s fine, there are no injury issues with him at all.’

For Celtic, Latvian opposition in Europe was a first and an experience they won’t be keen to repeat. Nineteen games into their domestic campaign, Riga’s newest and biggest club sit top of their domestic league. Knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by Maccabi Tel Aviv, a 1-0 win over San Marino’s Tre Fiori was never likely to scare the horses.

Only formed six years ago, they had never lost at home in six European ties — and you could see why. Stuffy, organised and hard to break down, Lennon’s pre-match concern was justified in the end.

Celtic dominated possession against a home side being cheered by some determined locals watching from two open-top buses parked at one end of the 8,000-capacity venue. Doing much with it proved the hard part.

For the Parkhead side it felt, at times, like a Premiership game. The grey-shirted home players camped deep in their own half and invited the visitors to break them down, pressing high and making a nuisance of themselves. Their cause was aided by laboured build-up play from the visitors.

Despite starting as they meant to go on, Lennon’s side threatened just once in the opening half hour — when Edouard’s fine first touch from a Greg Taylor cut-back was snuffed out by Herdi Prenga.

The arrival of Frimpong stretched the hosts in a way no one else could. Celtic only became a threat when he arrived, and it wasn’t a coincidence.

A dipping 25-yard strike from

Olivier Ntcham gave keeper Roberts Ozols his first save of the night. A better chance still fell to Nir Bitton moments later when Shane Duffy knocked down a probing Ryan Christie cross. The Israeli tried to place his shot when he needed to put his laces through it, Ozols falling gratefully on the ball. Celtic should have scored.

Before half-time, Callum McGregor found some rare space in behind a packed defence to race on to an Edouard throughball. With Ozols coming to meet him, the Scotland midfielder tried to square for Frimpong at the back post when a shot might have been the better option. Riga hacked the ball clear and made it to half-time with the game goalless.

Celtic had seen a lot of the ball. They had done precious little with it.

Despite four central midfielders in the team, there was not much creativity or spark. When there was, Edouard didn’t look anything like the player he can be. The ball went from side to side and back to front, with little or no indication that anyone had much idea how to make it count.

It took 15 minutes into the second half for the Parkhead side to pose a threat. Christie was the architect of a fine chance, tucking inside to craft an opportunity for a left-foot strike at goal. Once again, it needed power rather than placement, Ozols producing a comfortable low save.

Christie then cast a probing cross deep into the area to pick out Taylor’s run. The left-back isn’t a natural goalscorer and his header soared over the crossbar.

Taylor is a decent full-back, but there really is no evidence that he’s a natural left wing-back.

Despite Lennon’s switch to a 3-5-2, it’s not clear he has the personnel to really make it work. And with 18 minutes to play, the prospect of extra-time began to look menacingly real.

The arrival of Albian Ajeti as a second striker signalled a desire to win the game in normal time and almost paid instant dividends.

The one shaft of attacking light for Celtic was Frimpong, the Dutchman producing a brilliant piece of darting wing-play to cut the ball into the path of the Swiss substitute six yards from goal. When the ball caught under Ajeti’s feet, it seemed to sum up Celtic’s night. Almost nothing was going right in front of goal.

Undeterred, Frimpong had another go, an outstanding run ending in a driven cross turned into the arms of the keeper by full-back Armands Petersons, with Edouard lurking at the back post. The Frenchman limped from the field a disconsolate figure just moments later to be replaced by Elyounoussi.

A winger to trade, the Norwegian went into a front two and the move paid off in style when Frimpong proved that the best things come in threes, his driven cut-back swept into the net by his fellow substitute to Celtic’s relief.

FC RIGA (4-5-1): Ozols; Petersons, Stuglis, Prenga, Rugins; Nata Wachholz (Brisola 71), Panic, Rodrigues Figueira, Djurisic, Debelko (Milosevic 67, N’Kololo 90); Kamess. Subs not used: Bezerra, Sharpar, Purins, Hora, Cernomordiis. Booked: Kamess. CELTIC (3-5-2): Barkas; Bitton, Duffy, Ajer; Taylor, Brown, McGregor, Ntcham (Ajeti 72), Forrest (Frimpong 34); Christie, Edouard (Elyounoussi 82). Subs not used: Klimala, Turnbull, Bain, Elhamed. Booked: Duffy, Brown. Man of the match: Jeremie Frimpong. Referee: Fabio Verissimo.