A breakthrough victory in the Europa League: Celtic beat Besiktas in spectacular fashion, 3–2

Has the team finally broken its duck? Following a run of rather lacklustre performances and just three wins from their last ten competitive matches (with six defeats), Celtic Football Club returned to winning ways last night in their home match on Matchday 4 of the UEFA Europa League. Against Turkish top-flight side Besiktas, manager Martin O’Neill’s team secured a well-deserved 3–2 (0–0) victory following a dramatic second half.

It was a huge weight off the shoulders of the manager, who had recently come under criticism. “That was simply a magnificent performance,” O’Neill said, still catching his breath. “We’ve put ourselves back in the running.”

A certain singer, a self-confessed “Celtic maniac”, is also likely to have thoroughly enjoyed last night. However, it will not have escaped Sir Rod Stewart’s notice that the first half at a sold-out Celtic Park was anything but a walk in the park. The Hoops couldn’t get a foothold in the first 45 minutes, which was evident from the fact that the Bhoys in green didn’t manage a single noteworthy shot on goal before the break and were lucky on a few occasions that the visitors didn’t take the lead.

The second half, however, had something in store for Rod and all the Celtic fans. At first, however, the faces of the 60,000 or so fans grew longer and longer. Following a foul by Jordan Lotomba on Ernest Poku, German referee Sascha Stegemann, to the horror of the spectators, awarded Besiktas a penalty, which Junior Olaitan converted from the rebound to make it 1–0 to the visitors (54’).