THE JOLLY AFTER BOLI
CELTIC ..... 6 KR REYKJAVIK ..... 0 Celts put bubble-bursting behind them by swinging wrecking ball at Reykjavik
THERE is at least one left-back still in the good books at Celtic.
Boli Bolingoli is in the doghouse after his senseless flight to Spain but when Greg Taylor decided to take to the air it wasn’t to disgrace himself.
Instead it was to head home his first goal for the club in what was a fitting moment as Neil Lennon’s side strolled past a limited KR Reykjavik.
The Hoops boss expected his frustrated troops to come out firing, having been stuck in quarantine due to the folly of Bolingoli’s jolly.
His squad did not disappoint – even though Lennon knows it will not get much easier in the Champions League qualifying stages than this.
Swedes Djurgardens or Ferencvaros of Hungary will be a step up the qualifying round levels next week.
Nonetheless, if the adage is you can only beat what’s in front of you, Celtic did so with clinical precision.
Six did not flatter them. Odsonne Edouard forced an own goal in between finishes from Mohamed Elyounoussi and Christopher Jullien before Taylor acted the anti-Boli by getting pats on the back for his special moment.
Edouard then got in on the act, which afforded Lennon the chance to throw £5million striker Albian Ajeti on for a debut, before Elyounoussi completed the rout with his second.
Swiss signing Ajeti did not have many chances to impress but his new team-mates had already done that.
Reykjavik must have wondered why they bothered. They were confined to one floor of their hotel for more or less their entire stay in Glasgow.
Then when they did get out, they were confined to their own half as they were pummelled.
Not that Celtic care much. The European campaign – and their season – is back up and running. They are just four games from the group stage.
Tougher examinations lie in wait both at home and abroad but this was just the job for Lennon after an irritating few weeks.
It was hard to know what to expect with no crowd and silence at kick-off. The mystery didn’t last long. Celtic’s intent to make this a routine event was evident from the off.
The sight of Kristinn Jonsson almost turning Taylor’s cross into his own net 33 seconds in should have been sufficient notice of what was to come.
In case it wasn’t, there was the fullback’s delivery for Edouard to head into Beitir Olafsson’s gloves.
Elyounoussi’s opener was not far behind. Jullien’s raking pass over the top was taken first time by the Norwegian whose deft touch knocked the ball beyond Olafsson. His smooth take made the finish a simple one as he wandered beyond the keeper and slotted into an empty net.
There were 85 minutes still to go but, right there and then, the handful of folk inside the stadium knew the tie was finished.
Tonight it would be a case of how many Celtic would score. Sure enough, more arrived before the interval. Lennon’s side bagged their second in 17 minutes when Hatem Elhamed attempted to pick out Edouard on the six-yard line.
The manager had altered his back four, with Elhamed and fellow Israeli Nir Bitton in for Kristoffer Ajer and Jeremie Frimpong, but most of their touches were in the opposition’s half.
Elhamed’s teasing ball eluded Edouard but Arnor Adalsteinsson lost his bearings and the ball bounced off the defender and dribbled in.
Celtic’s professionalism had trounced any worries and turned it into a training game.
KR were being swamped and the Scottish champions looked like scoring every time they ventured forward.
An Elyounoussi effort and James Forrest’s deflected shot had to be saved by Olafsson before the undersiege keeper managed to get his body behind a Ryan Christie shot.
But with his head still spinning, he stood statuesque as Jullien bulleted No.3 just after the half-hour. Christie’s outswinging corner saw the 27-yeartwo
old Frenchman rise to crash home a venomous header at the near post.
Having struggled on his last outing at Kilmarnock nine days earlier, it was a welcome pick-me-up for the stopper and displayed he’s lost none of the penalty-box threat that culminated in seven goals in his debut season.
It had become a delightful sight for Lennon. He’d spoken about rust, about his team needing to find a rhythm.
This evening proved the ideal platform with everyone getting touches – and plenty of them.
Moves came off, passes found their target. It was far from a realistic preparation for stiffer tests in store but following their enforced Bolingoli lay-off, it was ideal in terms of timing.
Elyounoussi and Edouard had close-range efforts bundled off the line and Scott Brown a drive saved before Vasilis Barkas had his first save to make in stoppage time. Normal service resumed within a minute of the restart.
A sweeping move ended with one full-back crossing for the other, Elhamed teeing up Taylor to glance home a far-post header for No.4.
Barkas had one more piece of work to do but apart from a late KR effort flagged for offside he could have spent the night flicking through Bolingoli’s travel brochures. It was almost inconceivable Edouard wouldn’t net and so it proved. The striker bustled past four defenders before opening his body and rolling into the net for No.5.
That allowed Ajeti to enter the fray for the best part of 20 minutes.
Patryk Klimala joined him in getting a late outing but it was Elyounoussi who finished the job with a clever run and one-touch sliding finish from sub Olivier Ntcham’s piercing pass.
Mission accomplished.