On This Day in 2016, Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic faced Astana in the second leg of the Champions League Third Qualifying Round. It was a stern test but Celtic went into the game with a 1-1 first leg score and knew that a 0-0 would see them through.
Kieran Tierney was fouled on the stroke of half-time in the penalty box and Leigh Griffiths skillfully dispatched from the spot, sending the supporters into raptures at the prospect of a Champions League play-off place.
Craig Gordon was lobbed by Agim Ibraimi after playing sweeper-keeper to set up a tense finish at Paradise. Celtic were caught between throwing caution to the wind and losing a goal on the break and as a result, extra time and penalties looked likely.
Moussa Dembele came on as a sub, linked up with Leigh Griffiths and was fouled in the box. The Frenchman stepped up, put away the penalty and gave Celtic a late late winner to book a place in the Champions League play-off.
The game ended in a frantic fashion, it would highlight the work that Rodgers and his staff had been doing behind the scenes, keep going until that final whistle and leave everything on the pitch. Something that some of our current crop could learn from.
The scenes above will excite supporters as they await confirmation of a return to full stadiums in the coming days. Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that social distancing would end on August 9th but that clubs needed to continue applying for the attendance for games, suggesting there could be a delay.
Celtic face FK Jablonec next Thursday in the second leg of the Europa League Qualifiers, a full house could realistically be welcomed back into Paradise but we await the announcement of this. Hopefully, we can see the return to a full house on another big European night.