Celtic salvaged some pride despite exiting the Europa League at the hands of Stuttgart 4-2 on aggregate as Luke McCowan’s first-minute strike earned them a first-ever victory in Germany.
Trailing by three goals from the first leg and needing a minor miracle to progress to the last 16, Martin O’Neill decided to rest eight first-teamers against a side fourth in the Bundesliga ahead of a crunch Old Firm game on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
O’Neill’s players did not share his apparent willingness to throw in the towel and stunned the MHPArena with just 28 seconds on the clock as Junior Adamu’s slide-rule pass was fired home by McCowan for his first European goal.
Celtic could have had a second when Reo Hatate got the ball stuck under his feet from an Adamu cross with the home side struggling to settle.
But once they did settle, there were few signs of an unlikely comeback and stand-in goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo, making his European debut for the Hoops, made a number of saves to keep the visitors ahead on the night.
The one time the Finnish stopper was beaten by Deniz Undav, VAR intervened to rule Ermedin Demirovic offside in the build-up and keep Celtic’s lead alive and avoid a moment of potential controversy for the fourth official, who had let Demirovic back onto the pitch following an injury moments before receiving the ball.
Following a first-leg hammering and an equally disappointing home defeat by Hearts at the weekend, Celtic’s narrow win provided a tonic for their delighted travelling support as they bowed out of Europe with a victory, and joined Bayern Munich as the only opposition sides to win in Stuttgart so far this season.
More to follow.
