Celtic goalkeeper Conor Hazard is currently enjoying first team action as part of a loan spell with Finnish club HJK Helsinki.
Helsinki won the league title in Finland last season and entered the first Champions League qualifying round second leg against FK RFS of Latvia tonight. Leading 1-0 on aggregate ahead of the match, facing a tough test away from home, Helsinki struggled and lost the game 2-1.
Extra-time and penalties ensued, when just as in the Quadruple Treble clinching Cup Final, Hazard emerged on the victorious side courtesy of a 5-4 result. The Irishman didn’t save one on this occasion as Stefan Panic blazed his spot kick over the bar, but the keeper is gaining invaluable experience of crucial pressure situations.
Helsinki now await their opponents in the second round, and will be hoping to finally reach the Champions League group stages for the first time since season 1998/99.
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Conor Hazard will always have his small corner of Celtic immortality by his performance in the penalty shoot out in the Scottish Cup final of 2020 in that bizarre game with an empty stadium. But oh! How we needed something in those desperate days of December 2020! So delighted to hear that he is doing well! Like Jean-Joel Perrier Doumbe in 2007, every doggie has his day!