Match Pictures | Matches: 2021 – 2022
Trivia
- UEFA Europa League 3rd Qualifying round
- KO: 19:45, Thursday; Second leg, 3rd round
- First leg 4-2; aggregate score: 7-2.
- Jablonec nad Nisou is a city in Czech Rep.
- Winner to face AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) to take place on 19 and 26 August.
- First match back with full stadium of fans at Celtic Park since Covid started! Match sold out.
- Many Celtic Fans unhappy as match NOT on the season tickets! Have to pay £19, and Green Brigade banner makes feelings clear.
- Sevco knocked out by Malmö in the Champions league. Drop into Uefa cup qualifiers.
- Celtic signing target Yan Couto was in attendance
- Brian Rice has resigned as Hamilton manager.
- Aberdeen win, St Johnstone lose to Galatasaray and Hibs lose. St Johnstone drop into conf cup qualifier.
- Lionel Messi joins PSG. Total agreement completed on a two-year contract. Option to extend until June 2024. Salary around €35m net per season add ons included.
- Reports: Celtic are reportedly the front-runners to secure the services of OH Leuven striker Thomas Henry; Roma have also joined the race for Edouard, although Brighton appear to be the current favourites.Crystal Palace and Newcastle are also understood to be keen; PAOK and a club from Italy are interested in Barkas; Celtic are expected to make a move to sign Croatian international right-back Josip Juranovic. Celtic Youth player Leo Hjelde is closing in on a move to Leeds United. The Celtic defender has been playing with the club’s B team in the Lowland League.
- Former Celtic defender Jack Hendry insists he “dominated” the club’s £7 million transfer target Thomas Henry in the times they faced each other in the Belgian top flight last season. The Leuven striker is wanted by the Parkhead side.
- Celtic announce Gordon Strachan joining on a 3mth consultancy project. SFA checking no conflict of interest as he has a perm role with Dundee.
- Post-Note: FK Jablonec: The foolishness of a tiny few unfortunately resulted in Celtic receiving a €7,000 fine from UEFA. They issued the penalty after a young fan invaded the field of play, and another supporter lit a pyrotechnic device, during the 3-0 victory over Jablonec on 12 August.
Covid
- Full capacity crowds permitted at Celtic Park from Monday, August 9 onwards.
- This is first full house sellout Celtic game since covid started!
Summary
Joebloggscity:
Celtic held a two goal lead after the first match albeit from a very mixed performance, but this match came after an emphatic victory at home v Dundee. Sevco’s three defeats in a row (albeit two by Malmö in Europe has also raised hopes at Celtic).
Easy enough on the day against woeful opposition with a surprisingly excellent match from Rogic and Turnbull quietening the doubters on both. Turnbull scored two cracking goals (one a Turnbullet) with Forrest sealing the match. Some great play and confidence growing. Taylor great assist for first goal.
Only issue is still defence, but Hart pulled off some cracking saves when under pressure.
FK Jablonec truly were absolute mince! But honestly last autumn we’d probably have lost to them! So some fast progress under Ange so credit where credit is due.
Overall a very good night and great to finally have the Celtic Park crowd fully back in full voice (even though Green Brigade banner will have irked the board, all back to normal ish).
(SW of KDS)
We’ve got that positive vibe back. A charismatic manager who knows exactly how he wants to play and has had the right effect on the players. It’s great during the early months when that happens, just as it did for MON back in 2000.
But back then we were a work in progress for a good few months, and we are very much in that phase now. At times, it was great, but when we dropped the pace we lost control for patches of that game and, if I have to be honest, I thought the scoreline flattered us a bit. However, the positive is that we’ve comprehensively defeated a team from a Tier 2 league over 2 legs.
The game itself was wide open, largely due to Jablonec really going for it and playing an ultra high press. It was an open invitation to score at will, if we passed our way out of it, and I would have liked to have seen us do that better. But that’s the nature of a WIP – it’s not always going to look great, but fair play to the team for sticking with it, and being prepared to take a risk. Against better teams in Europe, we will need a more destructure player in the middle however.
7 days, 3 wins, 13 goals scored, 2 clean sheets. Fans back at paradise belting out YNWA. The enjoyment and feel good factor looks to have been brought back to our great club. A brilliant last 7 days for Celtic and Ange Postecoglou
Teams
Celtic:
Formation 4-3-3
- 15Hart
- 56Ralston
- 57Welsh
- 4Starfelt
- 3Taylor
- 18Rogic
- Substituted forSoroat 73′minutes
- 42McGregor
- Substituted forBittonat 84′minutes
- 14Turnbull
- Substituted forAjetiat 74′minutes
- 49Forrest
- 8FuruhashiBooked at 45mins
- Substituted forEdouardat 66′minutes
- 17Christie
- Substituted forMontgomeryat 74′minutesBooked at 85mins
Substitutes
- 1Barkas
- 6Bitton
- 10Ajeti
- 12Soro
- 22Edouard
- 23Bolingoli-Mbombo
- 26Urhoghide
- 29Bain
54Montgomery
FK Jablonec
Formation 4-5-1
- 1Hanus
- 4HolíkBooked at 48mins
- 27Kubista
- 12Zeleny
- 16Krob
- 24Plestil
- Substituted forMalínskyat 70′minutes
- 8Houska
- 7Povazanec
- Substituted forMartinecat 87′minutes
- 17KratochvílBooked at 40mins
- 11Pilar
- Substituted forSmejkalat 87′minutes
- 15Dolezal
- Substituted forCvancaraat 70′minutes
Substitutes
-
- 2Vanícek
- 3Hübschman
- 5Stepánek
- 6Malínsky
- 10Cvancara
- 13Vajner
- 14Smejkal
- 22Martinec
- 23Surzyn
- 30Hruby
Goals:
- Turnbull (25′ minutes, 55′ minutes),
- Forrest (72′ minutes)
Assists:
- Taylor (25′ minutes),
- McGregor (55′ minutes)
Ref:Daniel Siebert
Att: 50,000 [some blocked blacked out due to covid restrictions]
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Match Links
Stats
- Possession
- Home64%
- Away36%
- Shots
- Home13
- Away13
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away4
- Corners
- Home5
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home10
- Away9
Articles
Celtic 3 Jablonec 0: Ange Postecoglou’s men energised while sections of returning support all too wearying
The new and the old fused in so many ways at Celtic Park as the stadium shuddered to the crackle created by a 50,000 crowd for the first time since the pandemic hit 18 months ago. Not all of them edifying.
By Andrew Smith
Thursday, 12th August 2021, 10:06 pm
Updated
9 hours ago
David Turnbull wheels away after scoring what was his first goal for Celtic in front of supporters. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)
David Turnbull wheels away after scoring what was his first goal for Celtic in front of supporters. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)
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It must be said, first off, that few in that seething throng would have thought it possible to watch a 3-0 win over FK Jablonec that allowed Ange Postecoglou’s men to breeze through 7-2 on aggregate into a Europa League play-off with AZ Almkaar next week in the context it was delivered. Many overwrought conclusions were drawn about what Postecoglou had to work with when arrived in the summer. As if he was done for if he dared utilise more than a couple. In his third straight win – which took Celtic’s goal tally to 13 in three games – eight of the 11 starters were at the club before him.
Granted, the fact he has added buzzing bee of a striker Kyogo Furuhashi – whose lacerating runs in behind somehow didn’t lead to him adding to his dazzling hat-trick on his weekend home debut – seems to have energised all around him. But, equally, these players are of sufficient quality to be energised; performers who simply lost their way last season, but not their undoubted talents. The two seemed conflated. David Turnbull was neither. Along with Tom Rogic, though, the nimbleness, the passing crispness and forward momentum demanded by his manager, is providing the perfect platform to his abilities.
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His two goals were sumptuous finishes of very different kinds. Terrific work from Greg Taylor to put him in at an angle midway through the first period allowed him to deftly flick – with the outside of his right foot – the ball into the far corner. His second, 55 minutes in, was a long-range drive met so sweetly, you’d half expect the ball had a dusting of icing sugar as it hit the net. As he does on European night, James Forrest also scored, sliding in to knock over the line after Odsonne Edouard had an effort saved in the 72nd minute. It was his 14th goal in continental competition, placing him alongside Bobby Lennox and behind only five others. As raucous as any roars on the night were the two that greeted a double save from Joe Hart shortly before the third, the sort of stops Fraser Forster and Craig Gordon patented on such occasions.
It must be said there was plenty else that emanated from sections of the support which were wearying to hear again. It took the Green Brigade, North Curve, or whatever this often self-serving group like to call themselves, about four songs and 10 minutes before they gave voice to a pure Celtic song. Ireland’s war of independence, the Troubles, or simply gratuitous IRA references periodically seemed to take precedence. As did abuse of the Queen on occasion. Pathetic, not politicking.
Celtic: Hart: Ralston, Welsh, Starfelt, Taylor: McGregor (Bitton 84); Forrest, Rogic (Soro 73), Turnbull (Ajeti 73), Christie (Montgomery 73); Furuhashi (Edouard 65). Subs: Barkas, Bain, Bitton, Soro, Edouard, Bolingoli, Urhoghide, Montgomery.
FK Jablonec: Hanus; Holik, Povaznec (Martinec 87), Houska, Pilar (Smejkal 87), Zeleny, Dolezal (Cvancara,70), Krob, Kratochvil, Plestil (Malinsky, 70), Kubista. Subs: Hruby, Vajner, Venicek, Hubschman, Stepanek, Kincl.
BBC
By Andrew SouthwickBBC Scotland
Last updated on
12 minutes ago12 minutes ago.From the section Europa League
Celtic players celebrate David Turnbull’s second goal
Ange Postecoglou says Celtic “still have got a long way to go” despite strolling past Czech Republic’s Jablonec in the third qualifying round of the Europa League at Celtic Park.
The dominant hosts continued their recent resurgence with a brace from David Turnbull before James Forrest added a third.
Postecoglou’s side will now face AZ Alkmaar in the play-off.
“I’m not getting too carried away about our progress,” he told BBC Scotland.
“Wins and good performances builds belief, but we’re not the finished article yet.”
After being knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by Denmark’s Midtjylland, then losing their opening Scottish Premiership game of the season to Hearts, Celtic have now enjoyed three wins in a row with 13 goals scored as their season has been reignited.
“For the first 25 minutes, we were the team that we want to be,” the Australian manager said. “We lost our way a little, but we upped our tempo again in the second half. It’s hard to play at that intensity all the time, but they will get better.”
Reaction & as it happened
The anticipation was high around Celtic Park, with three stands packed to the rafters, and that energy fed on to the players.
Kyogo Furuhashi had scored three in the weekend trouncing of Dundee and, within 40 seconds, he could have put Celtic ahead. Finding himself one-on-one with Jan Hanus, he tried to dummy the goalkeeper, but the Czech got a foot in to deny him.
The Japanese forward soon had the ball in the net, but this time he was adjudged to be offside after slipping on to Forrest’s through ball.
The goal was coming though. Stephen Welsh twice headed over and Turnbull had a powerful shot pushed away before Celtic finally broke the visitors’ resistance.
Greg Taylor slipped the ball into Turnbull, who poked it past the goalkeeper with a sumptuous finish with the outside of his right foot.
Jablonec had half chances and a penalty claim when Carl Starfelt slid in on Dominik Plestil inside the box, but goalkeeper Joe Hart was having little to do.
Turnbull finished the tie as a contest when he collected a pass from Callum McGregor, sized up the shot from outside the area and hammered it inside the post.
It was cruise control for Celtic, but two chances in a minute from the visitors woke them up, Hart twice having to block close-range shots from Martin Dolezal and Milos Kratochvil.
However, soon it was three when Odsonne Edouard raced clear of the defence, attempted to lob Hanus, who did well to get a hand to it, but Forrest was there to knock in the rebound.
At times, Celtic took their foot off the gas and Hart was nearly punished when he was robbed of the ball after going for a run with it inside the box. Tomas Cvancara fired the loose ball at goal, but the Celtic defence managed to get back to block.
Man of the match – David Turnbull
Celtic’s David Tunbull
Even without his two goals, David Turnbull impressed in midfield for Celtic with some great passing.
What did we learn?
Postecoglou’s influence on the team is beginning to shine through and again Celtic showed plenty of attacking invention.
At times, the foot came off the gas and still defensively they can creak at times, but two great saves from Joe Hart will do his confidence the world of good and it’s a second welcome clean sheet in a row for Celtic.