Celtic took a giant stride towards securing their place in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League with a comprehensive 3-0 win over LASK Linz in the first leg of their play-off tie.
Just 90 minutes now seperates Martin O'Neill's men from qualifying for the main draw of Europe's elite club competition as Benjamin Nygren's opener and a superb brace from Camilo Duran saw them topple their Austrian opponents.
Celtic Park erupted after 26 minutes when a LASK clearance fell to the feet of Nygren and the Swedish midfielder rifled an outstanding curling effort beyond Lukas Jungwirth and into the top corner.
The hosts then doubled their advantage 12 minutes later through Duran, who attempted to make Nygren's strike appear mediocre as he struck a sublime volley from the edge of the area.
Celtic continued to control proceedings in the second half and their third goal was a fabulously constructed sequence that began with Viljami Sinisalo playing out from his own six-yard box.
The Bhoys navigated from their own penalty area into LASK's half in six passes and it was the two goalscorers who combined to finish off the move, with Nygren teeing up Duran to produce his second outrageous goal of the night as he whipped the ball into the far corner.
Celtic v LASK Linz Match Stats
Celtic | 3-0 | LASK Linz |
64% | Possession | 36% |
0.87 | Expected Goals (xG) | 1.75 |
17 | Shots | 20 |
7 | Shots on Target | 8 |
8 | Goalkeeper Saves | 4 |
1 | Big Chances | 2 |
7 | Corners | 3 |
659 | Total Passes | 358 |
88% | Pass Accuracy | 81% |
5 | Successful Tackles | 9 |
24 | Clearances | 20 |
0 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
0 | Red Cards | 0 |
Celtic v LASK Linz Timeline
- 26' - GOAL for Celtic! Scored by Benjamin Nygren
- 38' - GOAL for Celtic! Scored by Camilo Duran
- 65' - Reo Hatate replaced Mika Baur
- 65' - Alessandro Schopf replaced Krystof Danek
- 67' - GOAL for Celtic! Scored by Camilo Duran, assisted by Benjamin Nygren
- 73' - Christoph Lang replaced Moses Usor
- 76' - Liam Scales replaced Kieran Tierney, Sebastian Tounekti replaced Yang Hyun-jun
- 82' - Yellow card for Kasper Poul Molgaard Jorgensen
- 83' - Haissem Hassan replaced Camilo Duran, Anthony Ralston replaced Colby Donovan
