Celtic had it all to do last night against Kazakhstan's Shakhtyar Karagandy with the Scottish champions trailing a 2-0 defeat from the first leg in Astana. The Bhoys didn't disappoint in their performance by overcoming the disadvantage and winning the match at Celtic Park 3-0 with goals coming from Kris Commons, James Forrest and Celtic's European hitman Georgios Samaras.
Celtic, having come back from two goals in the league against Inverness at the weekend, the feat had to be bettered in arguably tougher circumstances. The team had some changes going into the qualifier yesterday with Emilio Izaguirre, Amido Balde and Beram Kayal not making the starting eleven. Throughout the game the formation chopped and changed with winger James Forrest switching flanks and Samaras having a generally costless role.
As the teams entered after a famous rendition of Celtic's ballad 'You'll never walk alone' the teams got a massive ovation from the crowd which got even louder as Celtic went into their huddle. You could sense that everyone at Celtic were up for the game and nobody was going to interfere with that.
Shakhtyor brought an impressive crowd to cheer on their team with the away section being almost full and the sea of blue and yellow Kazakhstan flags were on show as the whole country were behind them like they were in the first leg.
The tone of the game was set from the get go as Celtic captain Scott Brown made a meaty challenge conceding a costless kick in the middle of the field. Predictably Celtic hammered Shakhtyor with attacks with nothing hitting the back of the net which everyone at Parkhead desired.
Anthony Stokes had a great chance to put the Bhoys a goal ahead when his header was saved due to the great reflexes of goalkeeper Aleksandr Mokin who had a good game by all means especially in the first half. One weakness of of his though is his poor presence at crosses which Celtic exploited the whole game from both sides of the field.
Shakhtyor tried their best to stop any flow in the game by going down for an injury several times throughout the first half and a couple of times in the second half creating frustration from Celtic fans and players alike. This had to be ignored and if anything it only helped the Celtic players get more angry and have enough motivation to achieve the result.
Part one of the task was complete in injury time of the first half when a well worked move by Samaras and Commons ended up in a thunderous long effort from the former Scotland international struck the back of the net sending the Celtic fans bonkers and added belief that the tie could be won. There were no celebrations by the goal scorer Commons as he hurried back to kick off.
A goal before half time in any game puts the side which scored it at a massive advantage but in a game such as this it gave the team an extra yard and as the teams went off into the tunnel the fans were much happier with what they had witnessed in the first half.
A well planned idea from the person behind the tannoy had You'll never walk alone be played as the Skakhtyor team waited on the Celtic players returning to the field to try and put as much fear into the opposition possible. The Celtic players entered the field at the end of the song to rapturous applause.
From the off Celtic continued attacking tactics of the half previous. Samaras seemed to have upped a gear as well as he attacked down the left. In the 48th minute the tall Greek international got his goal as Mikael Lustig's shot bounced off a Shakhtyor player and landed at the feet of Samaras who was played onside by the left back and slotted the ball to the top left of the net as the goalkeeper went to his knees. The next stage was done but there was a sense that if Shakhtyor were to score again another two goals were required.
The Kazakh's best spell in the game came after the goal as Celtic seemed to let the foot off the gas a little. They had two great chances to send Celtic's hope of Champions League qualification crashing down as a chance was cleared off the line by Adam Matthews and another chance hit the bar all within the space of five minutes. The frustrations of the Celtic fans were known as the fans shouted for the team to stop slacking.
There was a chance for Anthony Stokes to put Celtic 3-0 up when hit shot from a cross was misplaced which also hit the bar much to the shock of him and everyone in the stadium. James Forrest had a series of shots which went over the bar making the Celtic fans more frustrated.
As the game approached the end four minutes of added on time was given by the referee and everyone expected the game to go into extra time. This prediction was shot down immediately as great footwork from Anthony Stokes made way for a pass cutback to the penalty spot and James Forrest was at the right place at the right time to smashing the ball into the roof of the net. This set off major celebrations in Celtic Park everyone hugging each other and waving scarves and flags. Manager Neil Lennon running from the dugout down the field to join the pile-on of Celtic players was the fastest I've seen him move in a long while. As the song seven nation army was sung by the Celtic faithful Shakhtyor managed to attain a dangerous costless kick which could make or break the night for Celtic if executed perfectly. Sadly for them the cross was smothered by goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
The full time whistle was barley heard from the crowd as everyone was singing in unison. The players and staff in the dugout ran on the field jumping on top of one another. Celtic song 'Just Can't Get Enough' by Depeche Mode rang out around the stadium as the jubilation was shown as the fans and players jumped up and down.
Celtic had done it. They reached where they belong in the Champions League. Football's greatest competition.
Forster; 6. Not much to do.
Matthews; 8. Great defensive and attacking performance.
Lustig; 9. Never put a foot wrong, mistaken assist for goal.
Ambrose; 10. Man of the match, very comfortable, took the ball forward.
Mulgrew; 7. Tested the goalkeeper with crosses.
Forrest; 8. Scored the last minute goal to qualify, ran through the right back the whole game.
Brown; 7. Had the bite in midfield that was required.
Ledley; 6. Not his best game but played well.
Commons; 9. Scored a great goal, linked up his play well.
Samaras; 9. Played fantastic, got a goal. Another great Euro performance from him.
Stokes; 7. Got a great assist.