OH NO BODO
Sorry Celtic are blown off course by high-flying Norwegians
ANGE POSTECOGLOU has had Celtic soaring.
But this time it was bold Bodo/ Glimt who took flight as they jammed the Parkhead high flyers on the Conference League tarmac.
Boss Kjetil Knutsen waxed lyrical about Celtic’s twin-engine power before last night’s tie, yet his team didn’t just cool the Hoops jets. They took a fire extinguisher to them.
And, if Postecoglou’s boys are to head off anywhere else this season after next week’s trip to Norway, they will have to dramatically change the course of a tie which has slipped away from their grasp.
This was a turbulent night for Celtic as the Norwegians, who have pilot Bjorn Mannsverk as their mental coach, launched the home team’s 17-game unbeaten run from a great height.
Despite being out of their competitive season, Bodo had class and clinical edge which put them two goals up.
Daizen Maeda briefly breathed life into it before Knutsen’s troops slammed the storm doors shut again with a potentially-killer third.
In truth, there was little in the way of excuses. Celtic put plenty into it, but Bodo were more than a match.
Knutsen’s team had belief and they had a bite which the hosts lacked.
Once again, weak defending in Europe haunted Postecoglou’s team as they were exploited and punished.
It’s not over. There’s 90 minutes to go in the Arctic Circle next Thursday.
But it’s going to take something spectacular for the Aussie and his team to save it after an evening which came like a bolt from the clouds for Celtic.
Maybe it shouldn’t have done given Bodo had hit Roma for six this season, but it was still a sore one.
From the moment it got underway, it was breathless.
Given the aggressive styles of both, no one ever thought it was going to end up 0-0. Even so, seven minutes for a Bodo opener was quick enough.
Before Runar Espejord bagged it, Maeda had broken into the box and just failed to find Liel Abada with a cutback, the hosts had forced a trio of corners and Joe Hart also had tasks to undertake when getting behind a strike from visitor Amahl Pellegrino.
It was set up for positivity with Knutsen’s team the ones who struck first. Sharp passing on the edge of the box eliminated Postecoglou’s backline and allowed Espejord space.
The striker was clinical as he slid a cute finish beyond the Celtic No.1.
This was not in the Celtic script and, if Bodo captain Ulrik Saltnes had taken a through delivery in his stride moments later, their issues and concerns would have deepened.
Postecoglou had made big choices. Reo Hatate benched as Matt O’Riley and Tom Rogic started, signalling creative intent in support of Maeda, Abada and Jota.
For every surge from the hosts, the Norwegians responded with one of their own. It was absorbing. Jota and Abada had attempts from outside of the box as Postecoglou’s team made their first moves to get back into it, but neither effort posed a problem for Bodo keeper Nikita Haikin.
Irritation at that stage turned to pain for Cameron Carter-Vickers when Haikan cleaned him out after the pair contested an O’Riley freekick. Postecoglou was barking instructions as his team hunted an avenue back into the tie and they knocked without carving a clear-cut chance before the break.
Josip Juranovic, back in the side after illness, dug out a fine cross to the back post which was destined for Jota until Haikin, who had recovered from his crunch collision with CarterVickers, thrust up a glove to divert the ball beyond the Portuguese.
The hosts had plenty of the ball, they moved it around well enough, but once reaching the final third, gaps were being plugged by Bodo.
Juranovic gave the first signs of frustration just prior to half-time when getting angry at a foul from
Pellegrino which brought the winger a deserved booking. It was still in the air at the interval with Postecoglou’s men needing to find something different when it got restarted.
Celtic had to try and get after it, yet by the end it had got worse.
Initially, Maeda latched onto Callum McGregor’s flighted through pass before having an effort which Haikin blocked.
McGregor also cracked a 25-yard strike over before Bodo delivered a hammer blow second.
Striker Ola Solbakken was the panto villain who made it. The home fans were raging as he lay on the deck claiming a face knock and their mood didn’t lift when he jumped to his feet when his team won the ball back and sprinted at Greg Taylor.
The attacker eased past the Celtic left-back to storm into the danger area and, when his centre wasn’t cleared as Espejord produced a touch, Pellegrino coolly struck beyond Hart. It was a shuddering setback for Postecoglou.
For all Celtic’s probing, they had been unable to create that type of chance and were now in serious trouble.
Quite simply, it wasn’t happening for the hosts. Jota wriggled into the box to have a strike touched over by Haikin and the two-minute spell near the finish summed it up.
Celtic thought they might save it when Juranovic produced a superb cross from the right and Maeda took advantage of room in the box to glance a neat header into the net.
Yet no sooner had the celebrations halted than Bodo struck again.
Celtic squandered possession and Hugo Vetlesen’s strike took a wicked deflection to sail beyond Hart.
It was an incident and a sickening finale which aptly encapsulated the contest for the home team.