Full time: Celtic 5-0 Astana
Peep peep! Celtic have qualified for the Champions League group stages with a match to spare. There is a second leg to be played on Tuesday but their five-goal lead is insurmountable. The scoreline flatters them a touch - it includes two own-goals and a controversial third - but Celtic will not care about that, and nor should they. Thanks for your company, night!
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GOAL! Celtic 5-0 Astana (Shitov own goal 88)
Another own goal finishes off a perfect night for Celtic. Griffiths’ shot was going well wide before it took a decisive deflection off Shitov. It’s a shame that’s an own goal because Griffiths deserves a goal after an utterly brilliant centre-forward performance.
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85 min There is some atmosphere now, a mixture of disbelief and joy. I don’t think anybody expected this score.
83 min Celtic Park has turned into a bouncy castle.
82 min Celtic make another change, with Forrest replaced by Stuart Armstrong.
82 min Astana’s final substitution: Muzhikov off, Grahovac on.
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What a lovely move that was. Ntcham drove a long crossfield pass to Griffiths, who had stretched the defence with yet another excellent run in behind. He took the ball down smartly, waited for some movement and played a beautiful reverse pass to Forrest. He pitter-pattered into the area and, from a tight angle, slid the ball calmly across Mokin and into the far corner. Great goal.
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GOAL! Celtic 4-0 Astana (Forrest 79)
This is a marvellous goal!
79 min Astana played well for long spells of this game, but since going 3-0 down they have been all over the place.
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78 min Shomko shoots from 45 yards. You can guess the rest.
77 min Astana make another substitution, with Murtazayev replacing Tomaso.
75 min Sinclair, whose confidence is suddenly stratospheric, is muscled over on the left wing. Another free-kick for Griffiths to whip into the box. It’s a poor one, and headed away at the near post.
73 min Astana have lost the collective noggin. They are putting the boot in all over the pitch. One such free-kick almost leads to a fourth for Celtic, with Griffiths’ free-kick flashing right across the face of goal.
72 min “Hey Rob,” says JR in Illinois. “Good to see they’ve finally started to take head injuries seriously outside the U.S. Not. I thought officials were required to stop games for obvious head injuries. How could the ref have let play continue after that nasty clash of heads? Seems very wrong.”
The strange thing is that he looked at it, saw them fall over and then decided to play on anyway.
69 min Marvellous old-fashioned thuggery from Shitov, who rampages through Sinclair and and then Tierney in the space of a couple of seconds. He’s booked for the first challenge.
68 min “The refereeing around that goal,” says Matt Dony, “was absolute Shitov.”
67 min Kabananka wriggles past his man in the area and attempts a cutback that deflects over Gordon and onto the roof of the net.
66 min An Astana substitution: the injured Logvinenko is replaced by Beysebekov.
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64 min Griffiths scampers onto a long pass from Tierney, moves into the box in the inside-left channel and then splatters a shot well wide of the near post. That was another decent chance.
63 min Tom Rogic is replaced by Callum McGregor. Logvinenko will miss the second leg because of that yellow card.
62 min Both players are still being treated. Rogic has a gash in the back of his head as is gong to come off, while Logvinenko has a bandaged head. I suspect he’ll be going off as well. As he is moving gingerly off the field, the referee books him for the challenge on Rogic!
There was a nasty clash of heads between Rogic and Logvinenko near the halfway line. They both went down, but the referee didn’t stop the game and Celtic broke two against two. Griffiths played a nice pass down the side of the defence for Sinclair, who timed his run excellently and finished first time under Mokin.
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GOAL! Celtic 3-0 Astana (Sinclair 60)
A controversial third goal puts Celtic in a wonderful position.
56 min Astana are settling into the second half now, moving the ball with the same confidence they showed in the first half. The last man Simunovic makes an excellent sliding challenge after a smart one-two between Kabananga and Kleinheisler.
55 min Kabananga is deliberately muscled to the floor by Simunovic, who might have been booked.
53 min For at least the third time tonight, Griffifths is played through on goal and then flagged offside. This one was very tight, though still the right decision.
52 min Muzhikov’s left-wing corner flicks off a head at the near post and flashes across the area to Kabananga, whose acrobatic shot is crucially blocked.
51 min It’s been a sluggish start to the second half from Astana, surprisingly so in the circumstances. That said, a 2-1 defeat would be an excellent result for them so there’s no need to panic,
49 min Tierney is booked for a high foot on Shitov.
47 min “I’m Phil, currently of Astoria, Queens, and I care for neither the Guardian nor Celtic,” says Phil Podolsky. “In fact, I don’t like or enjoy anything anymore. There’s a medical term for it: it’s called being extremely cool.”
46 min Peep peep! Celtic begin the second half. They’d be happy to hear the final whistle now.
Half-time reading (thanks to David Bolam)
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Stat of the night
Celtic have had one shot on target. They lead 2-0.
Half time: Celtic 2-0 Astana
A nervous half for Celtic ends with a wonderful scoreline. Two slightly fortunate but very timely goals have put them in a great position in the tie, particularly if they can keep a clean sheet tonight. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
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The goal came out of nothing. Rogic, in the centre circle, tried to play the ball out to the left. He was challenged by Kleinheisler and the ball deflected behind the defence for Sinclair, who read the play and made an excellent run. He scampered into the box, to the right of centre, and sidefooted the ball through Mokin and into the far corner. The keeper might have done better. Celtic give not one fig.
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GOAL! Celtic 2-0 Astana (Sinclair 42)
Never mind the run of play, Celtic are 2-0 up!
41 min On reflection I think Brown was booked for a sort of hand-off/elbow.
“Re that Astana chance on 34 mins - watching the game from my home in the southerly part of Glasgow, I’m surprised to learn that my next door neighbour is a Kazakh,” says Jim Crane. “At least that is all I can surmise from his roar of anguish as the chance went begging…”
40 min Scott Brown is booked for opening his mouth once too often in the vicinity of the referee.
38 min Tierney gallops down the left and slides a fine ball across the face of goal, but there are no Celtic players there to finish it.
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37 min Twumasi wins another corner. Astana have responded brilliantly to the goal, with some menacing attacks. This corner leads to another, which is eventually cleared. Celtic still don’t look comfortable.
35 min “That goal,” says Brendan in Spain, “really tied the room together.”
That’s just, like, your opinion, man.
34 min Astana should have equalised there. In fact, Postnikov should have equalised his own goal. He had a freeish header, six yards from goal from a left-wing corner, and thumped it just wide of the near post. It came off the side of his head I think.
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I take it back, it’s an own goal. Rogic slithered superbly through the defence on the right of the box and dinked the ball over the advancing keeper with his right foot. It was spinning wide of the far post, but the stretching Postnikov - who was trying to clear a shot he thought was going in - put it into his own net.
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GOAL! Celtic 1-0 Astana (Postnikov own goal 32)
This is a fine goal from Tom Rogic!
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31 min “Speaking of fake news as you almost were,” says Ian Copestake, “all this talk of alt-right and alt-left seems utterly based in twaddle, as nothing happens when I press them on my keyboard.”
I blame alt-J. For everything, but primarily for the fact I can never lick a crisp packet again.
30 min Tierney’s dipping cross is headed behind for a corner. It’s played short, tossed deep, and headed behind by Lustig. Bah.
30 min Forrest looks sharp for Celtic, the biggest attacking plus for them. Sinclair has been quiet, as has Griffiths, with Rogic good in patches.
28 min “I’m Diego from Guatemala, a big fan of the Guardian and vivid Celtic supporter,” says Diego Ortiz, challening Brendan for the Unique Sentence of the Night award. “Do you think we have a shot of qualifying to the CL Group Stage and making a good run? Or do we have more chance in Europa League and maybe think of winning it?”
I’m not sure about winning the Europa League, but with a fair wind they could go to the later stages. In the Champions League, they’d do extremely well to get out of the group stages. But they’ll get more money and the players will learn more. If it was me I’d quite fancy the Europa League.
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26 min Celtic are pretty fortunate that Shitov’s deep cross from the right goes just over the head of the unmarked Kabananga, allowing Lustig to head behind for a corner.
25 min “Evening Señor,” says Jim Crane. “The Standing Section (pleasingly) is priced as standard - but perhaps unsurprisingly all spaces are sold out via Season Tickets. I understand the emotion attached to the issue with some supporters, but having stood there a couple of times I would say that it’s not only a safe experience but also a fantastic addition to the matchday experience (Christ, I sound like Richard Scudamore).”
It sells Michelin-star food as well, right?
24 min That shows what I know: according to the stats, Celtic have had 63 per cent possession. FAKE STATS.
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23 min The crowd are somewhere between restless and nervous. Astana have dominated possession and are playing with a striking confidence.
22 min Muzhikov strikes a bouncing, wobbling shot from 25 yards that is excellently held by Gordon. It was straight at him but the movement - both sideways and up and down - made it a very awkward ball to hold.
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21 min Twumasi cuts inside Tierney 25 yards from goal and whacks the bouncing ball well wide of the near post. The two wingers, Twuamsi and Tomaso, look dangerous.
21 min Brown is a little fortunate to avoid a yellow card for a foul on Twumasi.
19 min “Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “Always nice to see Scottish teams doing well in Europe, especially seeing as Celtic have a healthy number of Scots in their starting eleven. Though it’s not exactly McAlpine, Stark, Malpas, Gough, Hegarty, Narey, Bannon, Milne, Kirkwood, Sturrock and Dodds, is it?”
17 min Astana have been the better team in general play, yet Celtic have had those two excellent opportunities. It’s a really interesting game.
16 min Kabananga eyes immortality from 25 yards. Goal kick to Celtic.
15 min Ntcham sprays a nice pass wide to Tierney, who takes it well on his chest and swings in a good cross that is headed away by Postnikov. Or Logvinenko. I haven’t a clue, to be honest, I’m just assuming it was a centre-half.
14 min “Prowling like a demented animal in a zoo clicking refresh on my phone the way they would if they had fancy phones,” says an unnamed correspondent. “I now have to go to the pub. Impossible to get the BBC Scotland radio coverage over my network to my phone and I have no blinking wifi (relationships ending have incalculable consequences). C’mon you Hoops!”
I like that you have to go to the pub.
13 min The elegant left winger Tomasov, a former Croatia international, looks a threat. Astana are a decent side, though that won’t come as a surprise to Celtic after last year.
9 min “The issue with Griffiths there,” says Brendan in Spain, “was he has far too much hair.” Larry David would have buried it.
8 min What a chance for Griffiths! Forrest, found by Rogic, curls an excellent first-time cross towards the six-yard line. Griffiths gets ahead of his man, hangs in the air - and heads it just wide of the near post. Brendan Rodgers had his arm up in celebration as it came off Griffiths’ head.
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6 min Postnikov is booked for unapologetically taking out Rogic near the halfway line. Celtic had a break on so it was a a sensible piece of cynicism.
5 min Astana have started confidently in possession, with Tomasov beating Lustig easily on the left before flashing a cross that is headed clear by Simunovic.
4 min Forrest runs at Shomko down the right and wins a free-kick. Griffiths swings a lovely inswinging ball that bounces off Maevski on the six-yard line. It falls slightly behind Sinclair, who slices an instinctive snapshot wide of the far post. That was a chance.
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2 min Here’s Ian Copestake. “Regarding the onset of entitlement and Scotland’s possible status as a Lost World, preserved from vulgar things like cash and evolution, do tickets for safe-standing seats cost an and arm and a leg, or is this a way for the wee man to sneak back into footer?”
Good question. I don’t know. What do you think this is, a national newspaper? Anyone know how much they cost?
1 min Peep peep! Astana, in yellow, kick off from right to left. Celtic are in the hoops.
The players emerge from the tunnel to a familiar din. This is some atmosphere. And they haven’t even played the Champions League music yet!
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The defenestration of impartiality
Come on Celtic!
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An email “I am an Australian following Celtic with great interest from Santiago de Compostela in Spain,” writes Brendan, winning the prize for ‘Unique Sentence of the Night’ before a ball has been kicked. “Looking forward to your updates!”
Longshot
Is anyone reading this who lives in Orkney and has an interest in a regular game of five-a-side?
Team news
Celtic (4-2-3-1) Gordon; Lustig, Simunovic, Bitton, Tierney; Brown, Ntcham; Forrest, Rogic, Sinclair; Griffiths.
Substitutes: Armstrong, de Vries, Benyu, Ajer, McGregor, Ralston, Miller.
Astana (4-2-3-1) Mokin; Shitov, Postnikov, Logvinenko, Shomko; Maevski, Kleinheisler; Twumasi, Muzhikov, Tomasov; Kabananga.
Substitutes: Eric, Anicic, Grahovac, Beysebekov, Tagybergen, Maliy, Murtazayev.
Referee Ovidiu Hategan.
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Preamble
Good evening. With the possible exception of u, nothing compares to European nights in Scotland. The atmospheres are like something from the 1980s, cacophonous and entitlement-free. It’ll certainly be an ear-splitter at Celtic Park tonight, as Celtic try to take out the Kazakhstan champions Astana for the second year running.
Celtic needed an injury-time penalty to win the third qualifying round match between the sides a year ago, and that was with home advantage in the second leg. Astana, in the best traditions of crack eastern European teams (sic), are formidable at home and a bit useless away, so Celtic will want a decent win tonight: 4-2, 3-1, 2-0 and 1-0 would all be acceptable.
Astana are a new club, who were only founded in 2009. Eight years old, dude. In that time they have been champions for the last three seasons and are on course for four in a row. Celtic can see that achievement and raise it. After two games of the SPL season, they are 1/18 to win a seventh consecutive title.
They would never say as much, but domestic football has become a formality for Celtic. That’s why European progress is so important. They did pretty well in a very tough group last year, drawing twice with Manchester City and also in Monchengladbach; we won’t dwell on the 7-0 doing in Barcelona.
Defeat to Astana wouldn’t be the end of the world for Celtic, or even their European season. The losers of this tie will be parachuted into the Europa League, and there is an argument that this might be better for Celtic as it would give them a greater chance of a significant achievement. That view is not, however, likely to prevail at Celtic Park tonight.
Kick off is at 7.45pm.
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