Jablonec 2-4 Celtic: Postecoglou's side gain Europa League advantage
Jablonec 2-4 Celtic: Ange Postecoglou’s side gain Europa League advantage but Joe Hart suffers embarrassing lob on Hoops debut
- Ange Postecoglou secured a Europa League advantage on Wednesday night
- The Celtic manager’s side overcame Jablonec 4-2 in the Czech Republic
- It was Abada and Furuhash who scored in quick succession to take the lead
- Before James Forrest and Ryan Christie closed out the game to secure the win
Finally for Ange Postecoglou, a long-awaited first victory as Celtic manager. The complete performance remains some way off.
Given the fact that he’d suffered the misfortune to be the first Parkhead boss in 75 years to fail to win any of his first three competitive games in charge, the Australian will primarily be relieved just to change the narrative in the Czech Republic last night.
Yet the loss of two goals in elementary fashion and the often erratic nature of the display will temper much of whatever joy he felt at this outcome.
Ange Postecoglou’s side secured a Europa League advantage on Wednesday night
His side may be surely all but through to face AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League playoff round but there are many more hurdles to navigate before the side will be anything close to truly pleasing him.
This, though, was still a largely positive night for the Australian. For all the frailties that have been evident in each of his previous games in charge were again conspicuous, they were largely offset by much of the offensive play his side produced.
It was fitting that the first half goals were shared between Liel Abada and Kyogo Furuhashi, garlanding impressive displays from both of the new signings.
James Forrest and Ryan Christie scored either side of the Czech’s third, the latter’s flying header giving the visitors a cushion which will surely be enough to advance.
Jablonec, it has to be said, looked nothing special. Better Celtic sides would have out them to the sword with something to spare.
But Postecoglou’s work in progress didn’t control the game for long enough periods or make enough of their half chances count. There is much work to do.
Joe Hart made his debut between the sticks. Although blameless at each goal, the lack of time the former England goalkeeper has had to work with his defence was glaringly obvious.
MATCH FACTS
Jablonec: Hanus, Krob, Zeleny, Surzyn, Martinec, Pilar, Povazanec, Kubista, Plestil, Kratochvil, Dolezal.
Subs: Vlastimil Hruby, Vajner, Holik, Stepanek, Haitl, Hubschman, Malinsky, Houska, Vanicek, Smejkal, Cvancara.
Celtic: Hart, Bitton, Starfelt, Ralston, Taylor, McGregor, Turnbull, Soro, Forrest, Furuhashi, Abada.
Subs: Bain, Barkas, Welsh, Urhoghide, Montgomery, Christie, Rogic, Robertson, Murray, Ajeti, Edouard.
Carl Starfelt and Nir Bitton looked more comfortable on the front foot than when asked to bolt the back door shut while neither Greg Taylor or Tony Ralston look comfortable in their newly-established roles as inverted full-backs.
There were neat periods of play between the midfield trio of Callum McGregor, Ismaila Soro and David Turnbull but they were pockmarked by sloppiness.
For all the lingering disappointment feel at the exit from the Champions League to Midtjylland, it may be something of a blessing that Celtic weren’t pitting their wits against PSV Eindhoven last night. They are still far from ready for that.
Dominant at the outset, it was the start of dreams for the visitors. Deployed on the left to accommodate Abada, Forrest had the vision to feed the galloping Taylor.
The full-back’s cross was met by Abada only for the Israeli’s first shot to be blocked by Jakob Povazanec. The winger kept his composure to slot home at the second attempt with only 12 minutes on the clock.
Postecoglou’s side might already have been two up by then but Turnbull had rather scuffed an opening with the deadlock yet to be broken.
Hart made one routine save but the traffic generally flowed towards the Czechs’ goal.
Abada saw his hoped of a quick second dashed by Jan Hanus but the Jablonec keeper was merely delaying the inevitable.
Surprisingly selected ahead of Stephen Welsh, Bitton showcased his offensive attributes by stepping out from the back-four and clipping a searching ball over the top.
Furuhashi still had much work to do. A delightful first touch took him through on goal with a clipped finish doubling Celtic’s advantage.
The notion that Celtic may finally be delivering a complete performance did not last 60 seconds.
Povazanec scooped a ball over the visitors’ high line and neither Bitton or Starfelt had the requisite recovery pace. Vaclav Pilar showed commendable composure to stride forward and deny Hart a clean sheet on his debut.
It was, though, a momentary aberration as opposed to the cue for a collapse.
Although Starfelt made an heroic block on the cusp of half-time to deny Dominik Plestil, the response the set-back from Postecoglou’s side was admirable.
Bitton and Turnbull passed up decent opportunities to restore the two-goal advantage with the lively Abada again thwarted by Hanus.
Playing in the central role normally coveted by Odsonne Edouard, there was much to admire about Furuhashi’s performance. But perhaps less said about his glaring miss at the outset of the second half, the better.
Perfectly placed to concern when Abada’s deflected cross came back off the upright, the Japanese lent back and blasted the ball into the stand.
Third in the Czech league last season, the danger for Celtic was that Jablonec hadn’t yet bared their teeth.
Pressing higher up the field, they were more accomplished after the turnaround with Plestil firing narrowly wide after a sustained spell of pressure.
The danger of the bolder strategy was the space they left in behind.
How Celtic exploited that on 64 minutes. Turnbull simply clipped the ball into space with Abada onto it in a flash.
Weaving this way then that, his strike was blocked by Hanus with the keeper’s right hand. Forrest was more alert than anyone in green and fired high into the net to open his account for the season.
A trio of changes which saw Christie, Tom Rogic and Edouard arrive on the scene were designed to put the tie to bed but Forrest’s inability to convert at the far post kept the Czechs believing.
Jablonec’s second, coming with five minutes remaining, was all too easily conceded.
In a carbon copy of their opener, Tomas Malinsky simply ran onto a ball over the top. He showed lovely skill by switching the ball from his left to his right and chipping Hart but yet again the defending left much to be desired.
Christie’s intervention in the final minute of the 90 will allow his side to breathe a little easier ahead of the return leg.
Back in the groove, Forrest took the ball on a half-turn and fired in a cross. Christie launched himself off the ground to convert with a flying header.
For all the imperfections again in evidence, it still rounded off a good night in balance for Postecoglou’s men.
Share this article
Source: Read Full Article