UEFA Champions League
Second qualifying round, second leg
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
The A.Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia

NOMME KALJU… 0

CELTIC… 2
(Kulinitis og 10. Shved 90+3)

CELTIC duly booked their place in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, where they will face Romanian side, CFR Cluj.

The Hoops beat Nomme Kalju 2-0 in the Estonian capital for a 7-0 aggregate win, with Marian Shved scoring a spectacular debut goal in added time, while Cluj knocked out Maccabi Tel Aviv. The first leg will take place in Romania next week.

Having beaten Kalju 5-0 at Celtic Park last week, Neil Lennon’s side were already in control of the tie, even before a ball was kicked in Tallin.

And they were on the front foot from the first whistle, with Lewis Morgan’s early effort just off target. Mikey Johnston was causing problems down the left-hand side for the Kalju defence, and he created a chance for Leigh Griffiths on seven minutes, the goalkeeper intercepted the cross.

However, just three minutes later, Neil Lennon’s side did open the scoring. Once again, it was Johnston who fired the ball across the six-yard box for Griffiths, but defender Alexsandr Kulinitis arrived just ahead of the Celtic striker and steered the ball into his own net.

The Hoops were dominating the game, with Morgan, Ntcham and Bitton all trying shots from outside the area, but their efforts were all off target.

Into the second half and it was still the Scottish champions who pushed forward, with Ntcham coming close on 49 minutes.

Craig Gordon, who was a virtual spectator for much of the match, stopped a Kaspar Paur effort in the 55th minute before Christopher Jullien, making his competitive debut for the Hoops, headed wide from a free-kick.

Marian Shved came on after 70 minutes for his debut, and the Ukrainian winger should have marked the occasion with a goal when he was set up by Lewis Morgan just seconds after his introduction, but the Kalju keeper saved his effort on the edge of the six-yard box. Morgan then came close with a shot, but that, too, was well-saved.

However, Shved was not to be denied his debut goal, and it duly arrived in added time. He gathered the ball on the edge of the area, took a took and then curled an exquisite left-foot shot into the top of the net beyond the despairing dive of the Kalju goalkeeper.

Now the Hoops can look forward to Flag Day at Paradise this Saturday before they turn their attentions to CFR Cluj next week.

CELTIC: Gordon; Ralston, Simunovic, Jullien, Bolingoli; Brown, Bitton (Shved 70), Morgan, Ntcham (Christie 84), Johnston (Sinclair 61); Griffiths.
Subs: Bain, Ajer, Hayes, Edouard

Marian Shved hits debut goal as Celtic cruise to victory in Estonia