Group D in this season's Europa League began to hot up, as all 4 teams looked for maximum points in their respective group stage matches.
Scottish champions Celtic were up against Astra Giurgiu of Romania at Celtic Park; whilst Austria was the home venue as Red Bull Salzburg hosted Dinamo Zagreb from Russia.
On paper, it looked to be a mis-match in class. Celtic have a strong European pedigree, and before tonight, many were not aware that Astra Giurgiu barely existed, let alone that they would travel to Scotland to try and pick up a result from the SPL champions. You could tell that it was going to be a physical match from the first minute, when Charlie Mulgrew clattered into Astra captain Budescu. The first corner of the game was given away cheaply on Astra's part, based on the fact that they were overwhelmed at the back and found themselves in a dangerous position - but were let off as the resulting delivery was headed over the bar by Mulgrew.
A nasty-looking sliding challenge by midfielder Yahaya resulted in the first yellow card of the game, just 7 minutes in when he slid in late on Lustig, to ironic cheers from the home supporters who were loud throughout, supporting their team. Astra continued their sloppy tackles, and conceded a costless-kick just minutes later - luckily for them, defender Virgil van Djik's effort was blocked by the FK wall. Having said that, Celtic kept up the pressure and probed the Astra defence as it looked constantly shaky in the first 45. Astra had a few half-chances of their own, with goalkeeper Craig Gordon doing well to parry away three times in quick succession from close range as the visitors came close with Yahaya, Budescu and Soto all having opportunities to break the deadlock...
Even though they started the game brightly, the hosts were sloppy at the back and Astra should have made them pay in truth. Their chances went begging, especially one when a poor back-pass found an Astra player one-on-one, only to find the side netting. At half-time; the score was still goal-less, somehow.
In the second period, Celtic were much better going forward but were unable to convert their chances on-goal. Scepovic missed a few clear-cut opportunities fed through to him by Izaguirre, before he eventually made amends with a header in the 73rd minute. A close range effort from Johansen doubled the hosts lead in the 79th minute, in a position that he simply could not miss from after the goalkeeper made a mess of an attempted clearance from Tonev's inviting cross into the area.
Enache pulled one back in the 81st minute, after scrappy contact inside the area was poorly dealt with by the Celtic defence, but they stayed strong despite late drama to hold out for another win in the group.
Suffered a late scare, but they grab another 3 points and remain at the top of their Europa League table. Astra remain at the bottom of the table despite playing relatively well but not taking their chances when it counted most, with Zagreb in third and Salzburg's big win (read below) meaning that they are level on points with the SPL champions.
This tweet by the official Celtic Twitter account sums up the game perfectly:
Salzburg - Dinamo Zagreb - match report:
Well, the hosts started the better out of the two teams, and made their opposition pay with goals in quick succession after the break. They took the lead after just 14 minutes, when striker Alan was played through courtesy of a wonder delivery by Peter Ankersen, breaking the deadlock with a power header underneath the reach of the goalkeeper.
The Brazilian went onto complete his brace and secure his hat-trick later on in the game, after a darting run inside the Zagreb half by winger Kevin Kampl was poorly dealth with by the Zagreb defence, who were weaved past too easily and the Serbian was able to thread through a pass into the feet of Alan, who toe-poked into the bottom corner of the net, out of the keeper's reach.
A poorly-defended corner-kick, just minutes after the restart ensured that Salzburg made it 3-0, thanks to Andre Ramalho Silva's header into the back of the net. Then, to make matters even worse, Zagreb conceded again! Alan sped past his marker into the area, before going down in the box, quickly recovering to receive a pass into feet from his team-mate before weaving his way past two defenders and the goalkeeper to smash home.
Ademi got himself on the scoresheet for the visitors with 10 minutes to play, after a well-worked move was finished by the midfielder who took his chance and smashed the ball into the roof of the net; before getting the ball out of the net and hoping for a dramatic comeback.
The odds were stacked against them, but they managed to grab another in the 89th minute. Loanee striker Angelo Henriquez got himself a goal, as he looks to impress parent club Manchester United who loaned him out two seasons ago after signing him from a side in Chile for £4million pounds. He found himself isolated in-front of goal, with 3 defenders standing in his way, but he was able to use his pace to burst past them effectively and slot the ball low into the corner of the net, out of the goalkeeper's reach.
Zagreb were unable to get a foothold in the game until the closing minutes, with the hosts overwhelming them with attacking brilliance and their touch in-front of goal was clinical to say the least. A deserved win for sure.