Celtic’s new Great Dane defies Brendan Rodgers’ soon to be Invincibles, and ruined James Forrest’s day at Celtic Park back in the summer of 2016…
The next round of Champions League qualifiers would be a different challenge entirely for Brendan Rodgers and Celtic, both in terms of quality and logistics, as the Hoops faced a 6,000-mile round trip to Asia to face Kazakh champions Astana. Although they nearly didn’t.
The club formed only seven years earlier as Lokomotiv Astana enjoyed sponsorship from the national railway company in Kazakhstan, allowing them to bring in players from Russia and Ukraine plus the best of the internal talent to quickly become the dominant force in the country, Lokomotiv changing their name to FC Astana in 2011. In November 2010, they had won their first national trophy, the Kazakhstan Cup, however, they were unable to take their place in the following season’s UEFA Europa League, having been in existence for less than three years. You will probably be familiar with that rule.
They would repeat that Cup feat in 2012 to access European football for the first time in July 2013, Astana losing both legs of their qualifying round tie to Bulgarians Botev Plovdiv. The coach of the victorious Botev side, Stanimir Stoilov, must have impressed the Kazakhs, as he was hired in June of the following year.
Plovdiv’s Astana made decent progress in their second assault on the Europa League. In the first qualifier they cruised past Armenians Pyunik Yerevan on a 6-1 aggregate, then accounted for Hapoel Tel Aviv by 3-1 in the next round. Sweden’s AIK Solna – Johan Mjallby’s old side – were next to fall, this time by four goals to one, following a tremendous 3-0 victory in the Stockholm suburbs. The great run was finally brought to an end at the Play-off stage by Spanish cracks Villarreal, Astana sunk home and away by El Submarino Giallo for a 7-0 aggregate defeat. It had been a tremendous effort by a club not yet five years in existence. European football was now aware of a new threat from the East.
A few months later, Astana would have another reason to celebrate, a first Kazakhstan Premier League title clinched on 1 November 2014, securing passage into the Champions League of 2015/16. They would again go on to defy the odds, beating NK Maribor, conquerors of Celtic the previous season, then HJK Helsinki before facing thirds seeds Apoel Nicosia in the Play-off. Just as Deila’s Celtic, seeded second, found that label offered no protection in Malmo, so the Cypriots fell to Astana, as the Kazakhs became the first-ever team from their nation to reach the group stage of the Champions League. They would face a tough challenge – paired with Benfica, Atlético Madrid and Galatasaray – however there was certainly no disgrace in their performance, drawing all three home games plus the visit to Istanbul.
There would be some consolation in November 2015 for their European exit, as Astana clinched their second consecutive title, offering up another tilt at the Big Cup. Their first-round opponents this time would be the Lithuanians of Zalgiris Vilnius. For once the Kazakhs would start as favourites, a goalless draw in Lithuania setting things up nicely for the return. However, as the game moved into stoppage time, it was looking very much like a trip to the Baltic for Rodgers’ Celtic, the match tied at 1-1 giving the visitors that critical advantage of the away goal.
Then lightning struck twice. Bosnian defender Marin Anicic had earlier put Astana ahead with just his second goal for the club, following his move from Zrinjski Mostar in February 2014. As the referee checked his watch, he would somehow manage to treble his goalscoring tally for Astana, Anicic’s last-gasp winner taking the Kazakhstan champions through, causing heartbreak to fans of Zalgiris and Celtic alike, as the costs of the flights became clear!
On the Saturday before heading to Kazakhstan, Celtic hosted shock English champions Leicester City in the first of their International Champions Cup-ties, around 33,000 in the ground for the evening kick-off. With the Hoops still missing injured defenders Jozo Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata, Cork-born youngster Eoghan O’Connell was given a rare start beside Mikael Lustig and Saidy Janko in a three-man defence, whilst a potential recruit, Kolo Toure, watched from the stand.
After a dull first period, English Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez brought the game to life within seconds of the restart, cutting in from the right to send a fantastic curling shot past Craig Gordon.
O’Connell then had his moment in the Parkhead sun on the hour-mark, as he placed a delightfully controlled shot past Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel – a half-time replacement for new German signing Ron-Robert Zieler – and inside the far post for the equaliser.
As a host of substitutions followed, the game died as a contest, to be resolved by a penalty shootout. The first ten kicks were successful, James Forrest the unfortunate Celt who watched the Great Dane Schmeichel save his kick, as Claudio Ranieri’s side won 6-5.
Rodgers focused on the positives afterwards, including the prospect of bringing Toure on board.
“It was an excellent game. For a pre-season game, it was at a good level and good intensity. Leicester looked fit and strong and ready for another challenge. We were excellent. Mahrez scored a fantastic goal but our reaction was really good. The mentality we have tried to create is a winning one. Even in pre-season, that’s important. We came from a goal behind and that is important. Hopefully, Kolo Toure will be signed by Sunday and he will be great for us. I brought him to Liverpool, and he did great. He looks after himself and is in good condition. He will be a valuable player for us.”
Celtic headed out to Kazakhstan immediately after the game, their second visit to Astana in four years, following the 2-0 first-leg defeat to Shakhter Karagandy in the Champions League Play-off in August 2013, a position mercifully retrieved on a memorable night in Glasgow’s east end thanks to goals from Kris Commons, Georgios Samaras and a dramatic last-gasp winner from James Forrest. The seven-hour flight would cross five time zones, Brendan Rodgers making the sensible decision that the team would remain on Celtic Park Time throughout the trip to reduce the potential impact on the players’ body clocks.
With Erik Sviatchenko now added to the ever-increasing injury list, 20-year-old Eoghan O’Connell was handed his European debut in the Kazakh capital, paired with the returning Efe Ambrose, with Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney on either side. There were just under 30,000 fans inside the futuristic Astana arena to watch the action unfold on the artificial surface, with just a few hundred wearing the Hoops.
Celtic had settled well before being hit with a sucker punch on 20 minutes. This time it was Anicic’s defensive partner Yuriy Logvinenko, a recent Astana recruit following a decade of service with his hometown club FC Aktobe, who did the damage, rising unmarked to head home his first European goal from a corner with O’Connell and Craig Gordon all at sea.
Celts then had their big keeper to thank for keeping them in the tie, one outstanding save from an Azat Nurgaliyev chip the highlight. As the afternoon TV audience back home chewed nails and settled for a single-goal loss, the tie swung back Celtic’s way. With 12 minutes remaining, Patrick Roberts chased a lost cause in the far corner before dispossessing a defender and cutting the ball back for Leigh Griffiths. One touch to set up a left-foot drilled finish for the Scotland hitman and it was 1-1, Celts seeing out the remaining time comfortably to secure an excellent away result.
An extract from INVINCIBLE by Matt Corr, available from Celtic Star Books for just £10 plus P&P.
Hail, Hail!
Matt Corr
Follow Matt on X/Twitter @Boola_vogue
