Martin O’Neill ‘delighted’ with display as Celtic seal play-off place
The hosts came flying out of the blocks against FC Utrecht.
Martin O’Neill praised his Celtic players after they eased past FC Utrecht 4-2 to reach the knockout stages of the Europa League.
An early Benjamin Nygren strike, an own goal from Nick Viergever, an Arne Engels penalty and an Auston Trusty header saw the home side run out relatively comfortable winners, although the Dutch side did threaten a comeback when goals from Dani de Wit and Adrian Blake briefly reduced the deficit to 3-2.
Celtic will discover on Friday lunchtime whether they will face Ferencvaros or Stuttgart in the play-off round, with either Braga or Porto potentially awaiting the Scottish champions in the round of 16.
O’Neill admitted it had not been entirely plain sailing but was just pleased to progress after a slow start in the competition that saw Celtic win just one of their first four Europa League matches.
The Celtic interim manager said: “Obviously I’m delighted with the result for a start. And the performance I thought for most parts was really terrific.
“I thought our pressing was terrific. And, as a consequence, we got ourselves a couple of goals in front. And not that you’re ever coasting in a game, but we were doing splendidly. And I thought we’d just maybe see it through to half-time.
“They get a goal back and it unnerves you a little bit. And then when they got the second goal, then of course you’re just beginning to get a wee bit concerned because at that time I actually thought we were flagging a little bit.
“But Trusty comes up with a great header and naturally we deserved to win the game. But overall I was delighted with the performance.
“You would have got long odds on us qualifying after about four games or something like this here. But great credit to the players, genuinely great credit to them. They worked tirelessly on what they have done.”
Ferencvaros are managed by Robbie Keane, the former Celtic and Republic of Ireland striker who was once managed by O’Neill, who added: “Robbie’s just starting his managerial career. And from the start he’s made, he’s doing really, really well. He was a great player too so he’s got a bit of pedigree.”
Celtic have been linked with moves for wingers Fares Ghedjemis, who plays for Italian Serie B club Frosinone, and Damir Redzic of Slovakian outfit DAC Dunajska Streda, with O’Neill revealing both players are on the club’s radar.
He added: “I’ve got to tell you, you wouldn’t be a million miles away (with those names). Would it be one or the other? It could be.
“They’re both wingers. There’s progress today on certain things, yes. I don’t want to be that cryptic. I would hate to say something is absolutely certain and then it fell away.”
