Joe Hart and Stephen Welsh were culpable for the first dreadful mistake last night against AZ Alkmaar and Carl Starfelt added to Celtic’s first half woes to put the Dutch side into the lead on the night at the interval. Yet all three stood up magnificently after the break in a central defence which had THREE Celtic Academy players in our back four, Ralston, Welsh and Montgomery.
Both full-backs had solid games and it’s worth mentioning that it was Ralston’s wonderful through ball to Abada that allowed the winger to get his assist for Kyogo for what turned out to be the decisive goal in the tie. That Ralston pass at the start of the move isn’t being talked about enough this morning, that was one comment on social media earlier. Another is the handful of Celtic fans going absolutely crazy behind the goal as Kyogo burst the net. Did you see then?
Joe Hart was clearly thrilled to have got through the tie and to have done his bit after being partly responsible for the shambles at their first goal. He took to Instagram to give his thoughts on the match.
“What a night,” Joe stated. “Such a tough game. Yes mistakes happen…but it’s about standing up when it matters.
“We did that and stuck to what we believe in … delighted to take part in this years Europa League (Group stages, dust ourselves down, and let’s go again.” adding the coybig and Celtic FC hashtags.
Here are some images of Joe in action last night…
View this post on Instagram
