Bhoys survive a scare on trip to Transylvania
Winger hits vital leveller to give Celts advantage at Parkhead
IN Transylvania, home of Count Dracula, James Forrest sunk his teeth into CFR Cluj and drew blood.
The injuries inflicted on the champions of Romania should be damaging enough to earn Celtic a meeting with Slavia Prague in the play-off round of the Champions League.
A controlled and composed performance saw the SPFL Premiership champions withstand the flesh wound of an opening goal for veteran striker Mario Rondon before the half hour.
Towards the end of this testing night in the Dr Constantin Radulescu Stadium, news broke of the imminent £25million sale of Kieran Tierney to Arsenal.
But even a ropey, nervous display by his direct replacement Boli Bolingoli couldn’t take the shine off a good job well done thanks to a solo strike from Scotland international Forrest in the 37th minute.
As he must, manager Neil Lennon played down talk of Celtic being firm favourites to meet the Czechs in the final barrier to the Champions League group stage.
Cluj won the home game of their second qualifying round against Maccabi Tel-Aviv 1-0 before negotiating a 2-2 draw in Israel.
Yet, in front of a home crowd in Glasgow next Tuesday night, Celtic are entitled to fancy their chances — even if it is to be without Tierney, a once-in-a-generation talent for whom the Gunners deal was simply too good to turn down.
Home coach Dan Petrescu spent much of the night gesticulating angrily at officials. His frustration stemmed, no doubt, from the knowledge his team had their guests on the ropes when taking the lead in 28 minutes.
The goal stemmed needlessly from a dangerous Celtic free-kick in Cluj territory. From the moment Ryan Christie’s effort struck the first defender, the hosts broke in numbers before a superblyweighted Ciprian Deac pass caught out Bolingoli.
The left-back not only played Rondon onside, but lost him completely. The 33-year-old duly raced in to calmly slot an angled low shot under the body of Scott Bain. Celtic gulped.
‘I thought we got lazy with it,’ acknowledged Lennon after the game. ‘I’m not sure it’s completely Boli’s fault. I think Jamesie (Forrest) could have done a little bit more in tracking back but, again, we’ll analyse that over the next couple of days.’
It is too soon for harsh judgements on the £3m signing from Rapid Vienna. Yet when Tierney goes before tonight’s English deadline — and the signs are he will — at least some of the cash is likely to be diverted to another left-back. Bolingoli’s early yellow card left him vulnerable to one rash, mistimed challenge and a red card as the home support sniffed blood after Rondon’s clinical finish.
Cluj looked liable to double their lead at that stage, only for Celtic to snare that precious equaliser eight minutes before half-time.
Hatem Abd Elhamed, who had a solid night, slid a low ball into Forrest 16 yards from goal in a crowded area.
There was still work to do, mind you. Somehow, the winger found space to work a shooting opportunity with his left foot, the ball sneaking into the net off the inside of the post.
From the chaos and mayhem of the preceding moments, the stadium was suddenly quiet but for the 250 Celtic supporters banked behind a goal.
Heading into the interval with the Forrest effort in the bag, while Petrescu ranted and raved at substitute goalkeeper Craig Gordon, Lennon allowed himself a wry smile. The complexion of the tie had taken a turn for the better.
The job was a long way from done, of course. The challenge was to make it through another 45 minutes without defensive mishap. Bolingoli partially redeemed himself when Celtic survived a hairy moment six minutes in.
How a Cluj corner-kick found its way through a ruck of bodies to the unmarked No9 Billel Omrani at the back post, God only knows. The striker should have buried the opportunity, a hesitant effort allowing Bain the time to throw himself low to his right and pull off a superb one-handed save.
This time, Bolingoli kept his nerve on the line, hooking the ball clear.
None of this was doing much for Petrescu’s blood pressure. After his histrionics at half-time, the former Chelsea defender was one of the first coaches to be shown a yellow card under new IFAB directives in the 58th minute. The
home crowd were still animated, but for different reasons now, howling in frustration at the referee. It suited Celtic perfectly.
To shore things up, Lennon threw Olivier Ntcham on for Lewis Morgan. Entering the final 20 minutes, Celtic were in a decent place. Game management was sound, the defending solid.
Jozo Simunovic left the fray with 17 minutes to play, presumably through injury. The arrival of £7m Christopher Jullien could hardly be said to have weakened Lennon’s hand. Yet Simunovic and Kristoffer Ajer had fine games here. In truth, Celtic had decent performers in a few areas. Scott Brown asserted himself alongside Callum McGregor in midfield, while Forrest had a terrific night. It almost improved further when the winger ghosted in from the left with 12 minutes to play and smacked a low 20-yard shot inches wide of the left-hand post with Cluj goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis scrambling. There was the inevitable late scare for Celtic when a ferocious low strike from sub Alexandru Paun was scooped high into the night sky by Bain. When it dropped, the second attempt was hooked over the crossbar, the danger gone. CFR CLUJ (4-4-2):