Celtic 5-0 Astana

Despite the crushing scoreline, Celtic put in a performance of two halves to overcome their Kazakh opponents in last nights Champions League Qualifier.

The first half of this £30m game was tense and lacked a great deal of quality. Celtics passing was uncharacteristically poor and there were a few nervous moments at the back without any sustained threat from Astana. Craig Gordon had his now customary goal kick charged down as Celtic Park remained on edge through a tough opening half hour.

Celtic were dominating the ball and possession but their play lacked tempo and urgency as Astana sat deep to strangle the life out of the Celtic attack.
Even in spite of this, the opening 10 minutes presented 2 chances for the hosts to open their account. A scramble in the box diverted the ball to Sinclair but found him leaning back to send the ball high and wide. Quicker reflexes might have seen him grab the opening goal. Minutes later, Rogic brought the ball forward and lunged to divert the ball into the path of Forrest. Forrest swung the ball in from the right directly on to the head of Griffiths who could only bullet the header wide of the right hand post from the 6 yard area- a golden chance.

The opening goal came about when Lustig thread a beautiful ball to the onrushing Rogic. Smart footwork took the Aussie past his man and into the penalty box on the angle. Tam's shot across the keeper looked to be heading wide but Postnikov, fearing the ghost of Leigh Griffiths at the back post stretched to intercept and turned the ball into his own net.

Postnikov would almost have his redemption a minute later as slack Celtic defending from a corner left him with a free header but he could only nod wide having broken free from the attention of Lustig. This was a major scare and if there was to be a chink in the Celtic defensive armour on the night it would be from set pieces.

The pivotal moment in the tie (for me) came in the form of Scott Sinclair's goal just before half time. The ball broke to Scott, played onside by the fact that it was an Astana player playing the ball. He used his pace to break free and bear down on the goalkeeper. Once again another placed shot from the angle, the keeper getting a glove on the ball but failing to stop it creeping just inside the far post to nestle into the back of the net.

A crucial second goal that was harsh on Astana and a 2-0 scoreline that did not reflect the struggles that the Celtic team had endured throughout the half. This goal changed the whole dynamic of the game, Astana wanted an away goal at the beginning of the night, but now they realistically needed one to shift the balance of the tie back into their favour.

Celtic produced the best 45 minutes of their season just when it was needed the most to produce the goods in the second half. The third goal of the night was not without controversy though. Rogic went up for a header and clashed with an Astana defender in a brutal clash of heads that would end both players night. The ball broke to Sinclair and Celtic sprung the break on an exposed Astana rear guard, all the while both players remained crumpled in a heap on the floor. Protocol would suggest that the referee should have stopped the game but he allowed the mismatch to develop as Griffiths took the pass and slid the ball in behind for Sinclair to collect and fire first time through the keepers legs and into the net.

Celtic dominated the ball and as Astana grew more desperate the gaps began to open up. Number 4 followed as Ntcham pinged a wonderful pass out to Griffiths on the right hand side, Forrest made the overlapping run and Griffiths slid the ball through from to fire a shot across the keeper and find the bottom corner from wide on the right hand side of the penalty box. An accurate finish but one I would be asking questions of the goalkeepers angles.

To put the icing on the cake, Griffiths once more arced his run into that wide right hand channel, squared up his man and with slammed a shot that was heading well wide into the defender, diverting the ball into the far corner with the goalkeeper stranded.

Celtics second half performance was almost perfect. Last year we had a dodgy 15 minute spell that cost us 2 goals in the home leg. This was a street smart 45 minutes from Celtic where we defended responsibly and finished clinically. 5 goals from 3 shots on target, you will struggle to find a better conversion rate. Luck played its part but you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket.

That said I know I won't relax in the second leg until we score an away goal.