KIDS MAKE A BIG NOISE
Stand-ins the Sur-Real deal as Celts roar while fans stay quiet
IT might not have been Barca 2012 but try telling that to Celtic’s kids who beat Betis last night.
This was the Real thing all right. And at times it was the Sur-Real thing.
Twice they took the lead against a top Spanish outfit, twice they were pegged back but Ange Postecoglou’s boys came back for more.
And they won it with a David Turnbull penalty that finally cranked up the volume on a ground that had been muted for most of the night by the fans’ silent protest against the appointment of cop Bernard Higgins to a senior security role at the club.
That, and the fact, that this was meant to be a dead rubber, lent a fairly surreal aspect to the night but if there was nothing at stake, someone forgot to tell the fringe players who flooded Postecoglou’s team.
Stephen Welsh opened the scoring early on and although it was harem-scarem at times they held on until Borja Iglesias levelled midway through the second half.
That opened the floodgates. Kyogo Furuhashi, who had come on for the injured Albian Ajeti, went off with a knock that his team will be praying isn’t serious – before Ewan Henderson put Celts back in front only for Iglesias to level again.
Turnbull’s penalty ended the scoring and the crowd left wondering what this might have been like if it had meant something.
Fact is, it meant everything to the makeshift Celts who held on, even after nine minutes of injury time.
Betis made nine changes from the team that beat Barcelona at the weekend and had 40-year-old Joaquin wearing the armband but Manuel Pellegrini wasn’t the only one treating this as a dead rubber. Well, at least until the ball started rolling.
Postecoglou filled his team with players who have barely had a sniff of first-team action such as Osaze Urhoghide and Liam Shaw, in front of Scott Bain.
Liam Scales, who scored on his league debut as a sub at the weekend, was handed his first start in defence as well, at left-back with Adam Montgomery in front of him,
Incredibly, Celtic’s kids took the lead after only three minutes.
It was all ridiculously simple. A Liel Abada corner, the second in quick succession, found Welsh unmarked six yards out and the centre-back glanced home.
The Spaniards should have levelled in the 16th minute when a lightning break caught the home defence too far upfield, allowing striker Iglesias to storm forward and deliver a low cross to Diego Lainez that should have been swept beyond Bain but flew past the post.
Tello then drew a decent save from Bain after terrific work from Mexican international Lainez and the keeper denied Joaquin from close range moments later as the visitors began to turn the screw.
Ismaila Soro went in the book for
2
catching Lainez with an arm as they tussled for possession.
In the 26th minute Celtic lost Ajeti to injury as he went down clutching his hamstring after blocking a clearance from keeper Rui Silva that nearly found the back of the net.
The Swiss striker was immediately replaced by Furuhashi to tumultuous applause from the crowd,
The team from Seville continued to create the majority of the chances and five minutes from the break Bain was rooted to his line as a curling 20-yarder from William Carvalho flew inches wide of his left upright.
The same post came to the keeper’s rescue with virtually the last kick of the first half. Paul Akououkou’s blistering drive from the edge of the box, after a corner had been knocked out to him, gave Bain no chance but the ball cannoned back out to safety.
The second half was only seconds old when Kyogo almost doubled Celtic’s lead with a trademark dart to the near post. His flick deflected Urhoghide’s low cross just wide. The
Bhoys then had Bain to thank in the 55th minute when he left his line to block Tello’s effort.
And yet Urhoghide almost created a second goal with another searing run and cross that Altor Ruibal almost hammered into his own net.
It was end-to-end stuff now and Celtic brought on Turnbull, Mikey Johnston and Callum McGregor in the 65th minute, with Soro, Montgomery and Shaw making way.
Two minutes later most of the stadium was singing in homage to the Lisbon Lions. The Green Brigade remained silent,
And seconds later, the rest of the ground joined them as Betis levelled. There was an element of good fortune about the goal as Iglesias’ powerful shot smashed Bain’s left-hand post and crashed back off the keeper’s foot into the net.
Worse was to follow when Kyogo limped off injured to be replaced by Henderson – who then brought the house down by scoring with his first touch, knocking home Johnston’s cross from close range.
The Scots didn’t get time to enjoy their lead this time. Betis stormed up the park in the 74th minute and with Iglesias running onto a through ball he beat Bain emphatically to make it 2-2. Didn’t matter to Celtic. They simply ran up the pitch, won a penalty when Abada was taken out by Edgar Gonzalez, and Turnbull tucked it home to give his team the lead for the third time on the night.
Their goal led a charmed life as Betis hit the bar and Nir Bitton heroically headed the rebound over. And Celtic missed a golden chance to finish it when Johnston chose the wrong option as three team-mates raced clear.
Betis got the ball to safety but it made no difference to the outcome. Celtic had won a pre-Christmas cracker.