IN OD WE TRUST
The heavens opened but Lenny puts his faith in Ed
ONE Frenchman might be in the doghouse as he works his ticket out of the door.
Mercifully, Celtic have another one who is more interested in trying to work the club’s ticket back into the group stage of the Champions League.
With Olivier Ntcham getting ready for a flea in the ear from Neil Lennon, countryman Odsonne Edouard was earning a pat on the back from the gaffer with another big goal.
His cultured second-half strike backed up a moment of sheer magic from Mikey Johnston which got this qualifying campaign up and running for the Hoops.
The 20-year-old is being tipped for a big season. If last night’s contribution in Sarajevo is anything to go by, it will indeed be something special.
Johnston’s spectacular intervention laid the platform for Edouard and then sub Scott Sinclair to seal the deal.
It was hardly crisis point. Yet having lost a sloppy goal in an inhospitable arena amid dreadful conditions on a cutting-up pitch, it had the potential to get a bit nasty for the champions.
Johnston though produced a wonderful European goal to ease the stress. If he plays another decade in the Hoops, he won’t score a better one and Celtic were on their way.
The banner behind the goal said “not even a shamrock will bring you luck here”.
Yet it was classy finishing which made sure act one of the eight-episode series which could see Celtic back into the group stage was eventually played out with comfort. At this point of a season, these brutal qualifiers are a juggling act.
A test of balance and skills of negotiation as fitness and squad are built up through the process of trying to win vital games.
Accounting for these factors it was job done. Less than a year ago FK Sarajevo were thumped 8-0 on their own patch by Italians Atalanta. Yet back in that Asim Ferhatovic Hase Stadium last night the Bosnians were a bit more competitive.
Lennon once spoke about bringing back the thunder. His season started with lightning flashing out of the sky and his team being caught in the glare as they lost a shock opener.
But when Johnston got them going they were always in relative control as Edouard and Sinclair won it. The second leg a week tonight should see Lennon’s men through. Performances will need to improve round on round but they will do.
At this stage it’s just about securing the results and this one was achieved within a haunting setting. An open air stadium where the sights of the training-grounds-turned-cemeteries visible from the top seats.
The crumbling concrete around the stadium another vivid reminder of the damage inflicted on this city through a harrowing three-year period of hurt and loss in the 1990s.
The suffering of the people just made nights like this all the more special for them and the locals turned out in their droves. Pouring rain didn’t dampen their fevered enthusiasm. Neither did scoring their opener.
Celtic had to work for it and suffer for a short spell before
they succeeded. The first half hour was dodgy. Scott Bain needed to stand big and make a one-on-one save and Jozo Simunovic tidied up the mess.
It was a chance from nothing and a clear warning of potential threat as well as a quick lesson for Boli Mbombo. Lennon handed the Belgian a starting debut at left-back while Kristoffer Ajer edged across to right-back.
With Christopher Jullien not yet up to speed after his £7million arrival and benched, Nir Bitton joined Simunovic central but that was too simple a way through.
Sarajevo packed behind the ball, broke when possible and weren’t shy in dishing out a bit of treatment. Simunovic made a saving tackle before the resultant corner needed Ryan Christie to bundle clear a header towards Bain’s goal.
Uncertainty was creeping in and it cost Celtic dearly just before the half hour. Bain’s lack of communication with Simunovic saw the centre-back gift away a needless corner which Sarajevo exploited.
Slobodan Milanovic’s delivery wasn’t cleared and Mirko Oremus crashed home the loose ball.
These games are hard enough without doing yourself damage. Simunovic had upset the Bosnians by returning to represent Croatia and how the crowd enjoyed baiting him. But the Celtic response was both sharp and outstanding.
Only six minutes had elapsed from the shock concession when Johnston produced his exhilarating moment. He got a break in the lead-up but the right-foot finish from 25 yards was absolutely brilliant.
Forrest and Callum McGregor came close before the break. Suddenly from being in turmoil Lennon’s team were in the ascendancy. The interval may have come at a bad time for them yet they were right on it from the restart and won the tie.
Captain Scott Brown pinched possession and his pass into Forrest was popped off first time into the path of Edouard.
The striker put two defenders on the deck before caressing a delightful finish over keeper Vladan Kovacevic.
From that point it was about seeing it out. Completing the job.
There was the odd moment of alarm in the final half hour and Mbombo limped off, yet nothing unmanageable and two subs combined to make the second leg a formaility.
Lewis Morgan’s clever work on the flank engineered an opportunity for Sinclair and the backheel finish with moments to go was splendid.
Celtic will face stiffer tests going forward. But if their attackers keep producing these magic moments they must just get back amongst Europe’s elite.