Astana 4-3 Celtic (Agg 4-8)

Celtic coasted through in a game that was never in doubt......

Ok maybe not

In recent match reports I've talked about game maturity- us seeing out games when we are perceived to be under pressure. For 45 minutes this was a really solid away performance in Europe. We had limited their chances and looked a threat on the break with Sinclair, Forrest and Griffiths causing problems up front. They took an undeserved lead through the unlucky Ajer who deflected a curling shot wrong footing the helpless Gordon to make it 1-0 on the night. Celtic did not lose their composure, Sinclair might have levelled through a marauding run that cut through the Astana defence, only to blast the ball straight at the outstretched keeper when faced one on one. Sinclair would make amends with a goal out of the top drawer, cutting in as he so often does from the left hand side and hitting a right footed shot that arced over the defenders head and across the goalkeepers dive to nestle in the netting on the right hand side.

This was vintage Sinclair at his best and scored Celtic the crucial away goal, that SHOULD have ended the tie as a contest.

It was inevitable that Astana would look to throw the kitchen sink at Celtic in the second half but I felt that the menace of our attacking options on the break would see them come up short and indeed win the game on the night for Celtic.

This would be only half true- our attacking options would see us score the goals to win the tie but I did not account for the sheer mayhem that ensued in that second half. Celtic came out in that second half going through the motions and in European football you will be punished for your lack of concentration.

Bitton had drifted out to left back (!) when Brown played a lazy ball that was intercepted by the Astana player. He drifted a ball into the box that Brown could only cushion into the path of the Astana attacker and he prodded the ball home after tacking a touch. Poor play, criminal defending but not a concern until the back line once again leaked a ridiculous goal from almost the kick off. Another cross into the box and Bitton leaving his man with a free header in acres of space right in front of goal. 1-1 had escalated to 3-1 and Celtic were struggling in a game they had under control for the entire first 45 minutes.

Celtic were still a threat going forward and Griffiths should have done better when picked out superbly on the diagonal- instead of hitting the back of the net, he skied it over the bar. Thanks to the wonders of Kazakh TV coverage the next thing we are seeing is an Astana player breaking in on goal and somehow slotting the ball past Gordon from the narrowest of angles. On replay we see that once again Bitton has committed himself out wide and left a gaping hole in our defence to be exploited. Gordon should do better from that angle but I want to talk about Bitton.

I may be singling him out, but that is because the inescapable truth is that he was involved in much of the damage that Astana inflicted. Brown will not escape either as the number of times he got caught on the ball put us in so much trouble. Bitton is not a centre back and having listened to Brendan post match I am hopeful that he agrees that starting him against CL Pedigree teams is the stuff of my nightmares for the next few weeks.
We missed Jozo and I respect why he did not play tonight but going forward we need to avoid a situation like this.

At 4-1 we were on the backfoot and a number of chances passed Astana by where balls into the box were just not dealt with, which on another night could have cost us everything.

As it were Rogic was introduced and he seemed to add that extra bit of cohesion to our attacking play. A break led to Armstrong feeding Ntcham and the luck which evaded Ajer earlier in the game was returned as Ntchams shot deflected off the defender to take it past the goalkeeper and into the net. This was the goal that sealed the game but there was still time for Griffiths to run in on goal, fed by a pass from Bitton stepping into his actual position. Griffiths squared up the defender and shifted the ball onto his right foot to drive across the goalkeeper and into the bottom right hand corner. A quality strikers goal to add gloss to an uncomfortable night in Kazakhstan.

Man of the match for me was Ntcham- in our worst moments he was the guy that held the ball up, made his passes and ultimately got the goal that ended the resistance.

Job done and if you'd offered me this before the game I would have taken it. I hope that this performance might act as a catalyst in a similar way to the draw against Rangers did last year.