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Trivia
- Champions League 2018-19
- First leg of two, First Qualifying Round; 5pm UK time kick-off
- Alashkert is based in Armenia.
- Sparse crowd in a big old school Soviet style stadium.
- For those watching on TV, this was the worst camera workcoverage for a game many fans could recall for many a year. Woeful.
- Late strikes from Forrest, McGregor seal big Celtic win
- Edouard'sfirst European goal opens scoring in Yerevan
- Armenia's Alashkert beat St Johnstone in 2015/16
- Winners v Valur Reykjavík/Rosenborg in second qualifying round; Losers v Astana/Sutjeska in #UEL second qualifying round
- First competitive match of the season. Celtic have to go through four rounds (eight matches) to get to the Champions’ League group stages. A disgrace and a tough ask.
- A few Celtic players not available due to the World Cup (e.g. Boyata & Lustig).
- “This is a squad of players at Celtic who are very respectful to every team we play. It’s a group of players that have a lot of humility.” Brendan Rodgers
- Celtic Fanzine ‘The Celt’: Announced it is to sadly now cease publication after a tenure of ~35 years, http://www.thecelticwiki.com/fanzines–the-shamrock.
- St Johnstone have completed the signing of former Celtic & Hearts striker Tony Watt.
- World Cup currently underway; World Cup semi-final is being played on same day as this game. Straight after (7pm kickoff)
- Belgium v France tonight @7pm with Boyata in the Belgium squad [but didn't end up playing in the match with France 1-0 victors].
- Interesting situation, as Boyata in a game in season 2017-18 (in World Cup) with the rest of Celtic FC starting now to play in season 2018-19 (Champions League)
- Scotland, Dundee & Spurs legend Alan Gilzean has sadly passed away. RIP
Review
(MON LE of KDS)
Perfect result for the tie and at this time of the year in that intense weather with the travelling thrown in. I think our experience in playing these kinds of ties at the very start of the season in far flung 'Europe' is starting to show through in these games. The staff seem to approach it in a very professional manner with nothing left to chance anymore, very well done everyone involved.
I'm not 100% convinced by the 3 at the back with our current defence (Hendry seemed ok but nothing beyond that and Jozo doesn't look as good as he should be) and midfield. I just get the feeling that if we faced a team with pace in the wings and a dominating striker we'd lose a few goals quite easily. I hope I'm wrong as that is kind of how a lot of teams play against us anyway…
Our firepower is unreal though so maybe the idea is to score 1 or 2 more than we concede rather than keep it safe at the back. Could be fun. Lewis Morgan also impressed me as well as the usual McGregor highlights.
(Northern Soul of KDS)
Great result despite the defence being a bit dodgy at times. Had to listen to the first half on the radio ont the way home from work, they made it out that they were very dangerous going forward. Made the pub at half time and my mates were saying they're one of the worst teams we've played at this stage. Radio Scotland getting a bit over excited everytime they crossed the halfway line by the sounds of it.
Teams
Alashkert
- 55Cancarevic
- 13Sekulic
- 8DaghbashyanBooked at 67mins
- 3Voskanyan
- 15NenadovicSubstituted forRomeroat 55'minutes
- 9Dashyan
- 18Reis De JesusBooked at 15minsSubstituted forSimonyanat 85'minutes
- 22Práznovsky
- 17Yedigaryan
- 21Grigoryan
- 20YedigaryanBooked at 45minsSubstituted forManasyanat 82'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Avagyan
- 4Zeljkovic
- 5Stojkovic
- 6Antonic
- 7Manasyan
- 14Simonyan
- 19Romero
Celtic
- 10 Gordon
- 04 Hendry
- 08 Brown
- 35 Ajer
- 49 Forrest
- 22 Edouard Substituted for Morgan at 77'minutes
- 42 McGregor
- 05 Simunovic
- 21 Ntcham Substituted for Kouassi at 68'minutes
- 63 Tierney
- 10 Dembele Substituted for Sinclair at 68'minutes
- 11Sinclair
- 16Morgan
- 17Christie
- 19Allan
- 29Bain
- 56Ralston
- 88Kouassi
Goals
-
Edouard 45+2
-
Forrest 81
-
McGregor 90
Attendance: est 5k, sparse crowd in a big old school Soviet style stadium
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
- Pre-match http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/11082684/
- Match http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/11083183/
- Post Match http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/11083191/
MOTM
- Voting Thread
- Result Thread
- Winner –
Stats
Articles
BBC
By Andy Burke
BBC Scotland
10 July 2018
Celtic took a big step towards the second round of Champions League qualifying with a 3-0 win over Alashkert in Yerevan
Goals from Odsonne Edouard, James Forrest and Callum McGregor gave Celtic victory in the first leg of the Champions League first qualifying round tie against Alashkert.
In their first competitive outing of the season, Brendan Rodgers' side were tested in the searing Yerevan heat.
Celtic's superior finishing proved the difference as Edouard and Forrest struck either side of the break.
McGregor's goal at the death turned a good win into an emphatic one.
The second leg takes place at Celtic Park on Wednesday, 18 July.
Scotland's champions must negotiate an extra qualifying round if they are to make the Champions League group stage this season, with this the first of four potential ties.
The most intriguing aspect of the Celtic starting line-up was the decision of manager Rodgers, who so often deploys a lone striker, to pair French duo Moussa Dembele and Edouard in attack.
Dembele twice came close to finding the scoring touch in the opening minutes, almost intercepting a loose backpass and then just failing to apply the necessary contact to a superb Kieran Tierney cross.
Odsonne Edouard slots home the opener for Celtic
A double scare soon came at the other end. Uros Nenadovic skipped away from Jozo Simunovic and his rasping drive had to be beaten away by Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon. Moments later, the Serbian striker tried his luck from the corner of the penalty area but his strike sailed over the bar.
Dembele drew a good save from Ognjen Cancarevic in the Alashkert goal as Celtic searched for the opener, while James Forrest found space and drove towards the box but could not keep his shot down.
Tierney was running Alashkert right-back Artak Yedigaryan ragged, with most of Celtic's joy emanating from that flank.
McGregor flashed a shot across goal and while the Scottish champions were well on top, they were given regular reminders of the home side's threats.
Artak Dashyan fed Nenadovic inside the Celtic penalty box and only a well-timed intervention from Simunovic prevented Gordon being called into action. Artur Yedigaryan then tried his luck from the edge of the box but the captain's shot was off-target.
Scott Brown shook off a knee injury to captain Celtic in Yerevan
Dembele was denied by Cancarevic after getting in behind the home defence but, just as it looked like the Armenian champions had made it to the break intact, Celtic struck in first-half stoppage time.
Edouard, who signed a permanent deal in the summer after a successful loan spell from Paris St-Germain last season, turned the ball home from 12 yards after meeting Forrest's ****** shot first time.
That should have settled any nerves in the Celtic ranks, but early in the second half defender Jack Hendry was robbed of possession by Jefferson Reis, who should have done much better than to tamely stab the ball straight at Gordon from 12 yards.
Cancarevic almost contrived to gift Celtic a second goal. The keeper raced from his goal to mop up a loose ball only to be dispossessed by Dembele, but managed to clean up his own mess before any damage was done.
Regular water breaks were permitted in the searing heat of Yerevan
With the temperature around 30C, and with early-season rust no doubt playing a part, Celtic were not exerting their superiority. Artak Yedigaryan stung the palms of Gordon with a fierce 22-yard strike as Alashkert threatened to level things up.
Cesar Romero and Reis saw chances come and go as the visitors began to sit in, seemingly content to take a one-goal aggregate lead back to Glasgow.
However, after a goalmouth scramble the ball dropped to Forrest to lash home Celtic's second 11 minutes from the end.
And with almost the last kick of the game, McGregor fired a measured low finish into the net to all but guarantee next week's second leg is nothing more than a formality.
Alashkert 0-3 Celtic: Hoops record commanding first-leg win in Armenia
Celtic all but secured their place in the second Champions League qualifying round following a commanding 3-0 win against Alashkert in the searing heat of Yerevan.
The champions of Armenia for the past three seasons showed little in the way of an attacking threat until the 20th minute when Artak Dashyan left Celtic defender Jozo Simunovic on the flank and drew a fine save from Craig Gordon at his near post before Uros Nenadovic missed the target seconds later.
In the 36th minute, Celtic midfielder McGregor dragged a shot inches wide of the far post after a flowing move.
The visitors survived a scare at the start of the second half when Gordon had to make a save from Brazilian Jefferson Reis and then shortly after the hour he tipped a powerful long-range effort from Artak Edigaryan over the crossbar.
The home side powered forward when they could but Celtic remained concentrated for the most part and retained a threat of their own.
Lewis Morgan came on for Edouard in the 77th minute to make his competitive debut for Celtic following his move from St Mirren after Scott Sinclair and Eboue Kouassi had earlier replaced Dembele and Olivier Ntcham.
He then set up McGregor for the late third, his fellow Scotland international rifling a shot into the far corner of the net to make the return game all but academic.
Alashkert: Cancarevic, Yedigaryan, Voskanyan, Praznovsky, Daghbashyan, Grigoryan, Dashya, Jefferson Reis (Simonyan 85), Edigaryan (Manasyan 82), Sekulic, Nenadovic (Romero 55).
Subs not used: Avagyan, Zeljkovic, Stojkovic, Antonic.
Celtic: Gordon; Hendry, Ajer, Simunovic; Brown; Forrest, McGregor, Ntcham (Kouassi 67), Tierney; Dembele (Sinclair 67), Edouard (Morgan 77).
Referee: D Grujic
The referee ends the second half.