NEIL Lennon’s side delivered an impressive European away performance to book their place in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League.

Leading 2-0 from the first leg at home, the Hoops won 4-1 in the Friends Arena to secure a 6-1 aggregate victory over Swedish champions, AIK.

You can read the full match report here, but we've got five quick-fire talking points from Celtic’s superb night in Stockholm...

SWEDE DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS
James Forrest’s goal after 17 minutes was a joy to behold. The winger, who was exceptional from first minute until last, fed the ball out wide to Odsonne Edouard and then set off at full speed through the inside-right channel. The Frenchman floated a ball into Forrest’s path, and after a perfect first touch with his right foot, the Celtic attacked steered a stunning left foot shot into the top corner of the AIK net. It put Celtic 1-0 up on the night, 3-0 ahead on aggregate, and on their way to the group stages of the Europa League.

IT’S ONLY TAKES A MINUTE…
AIK might have thought they had a glimmer of hope when their captain, Seb Larsson, converted a penalty he had won in the 33th minute to make it 1-1 on the night, but barely 60 seconds later, Celtic had restored their lead. Mikey Johnston showed great battling qualities and an impressive degree of skill to get beyond two AIK players before firing a low shot from the byline which managed to squirm its way under Swedish goalkeeper, Oscar Linner, and into the back of the net. The Swedish word for deflated is ‘tömd’, and that was certainly the mood amongst the AIK players and supporters from that moment on.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION
Scott Brown might have claimed he was gutted that his chance of a goal was snatched from him by Christopher Jullien’s goal-line intervention, but the Celtic captain was delighted to see the Frenchman cap an impressive display with his first goal for the club. That game in the 87th minute, with the 26-year-old applying the final tough to nudge the ball over the AIK line after Brown had got a touch on Ryan Christie’s low cross into the six-yard box. It put Celtic 3-1 ahead on the night, and there was still time for Lewis Morgan to head home a fourth for the Hoops in added time.

QUICK ON THE DRAW
Celtic now go into Pot 2 of the draw for the group stages of the UEFA Europa League, which takes place in Monaco on Friday. And having now guaranteed European football up until Christmas, the Hoops will be aiming to replicate the previous two season and extend their participation in the competition into the new year. The football focus, of course, now turns to the first Glasgow derby of the season, at Ibrox this Sunday, with the manager confirming after the game that Odsonne Edouard will be fine for the clash, although Kristoffer Ajer could be a doubt, with the Norwegian defender forced to come off early in the first half of the game in Sweden.

THE LAST WORD…
A delighted Neil Lennon said after the match: ‘Going forward tonight, we were a dream at times. Scoring four goals away from home, it could’ve been more. It was brilliant. We looked strong and played brilliant football at times, defended resolutely when we needed to.’

Five quick-fire talking points from a stunning night in Stockholm