Celtic concede five unanswered goals in Austria to lose Bigger Cup second leg
Celtic conceded five unanswered goals in Austria against Lask on Tuesday night, losing the second leg 5-1 in their Bigger Cup tie after Callum McGregor opened the scoring with a low shot after 21 minutes. McGregor’s strike left Celtic four goals ahead on aggregate before Lask’s comeback forced extra time with a 90th-minute goal.
When McGregor scored the commentator Bill Leslie said: "And with that moment, this tie surely moves beyond the grasp of Lask," and Celtic briefly looked to have shaken off the club’s Bigger Cup humiliation by Kairat Almaty last August. The aggregate cushion suggested control for the Scottish champions until the match turned dramatically. The coverage added that not even the combined forces of Mystic Meg and Nostradamus could have foreseen the collapse that followed.
Martin O’Neill addressed the defeat after the 5-1 second-leg loss, saying: "We should have been out of sight by half-time," and added: "We scored a goal, which was great. We missed two great, great opportunities. And then we give them a lifeline just before half-time and then one just after it. And they come roaring back. And obviously we conceded, from our viewpoint, not good goals at all. But that’s my team and that’s my responsibility." His comments followed a result the manager described as flattering to his side.
Several former players and pundits, including Chris Sutton, Kasper Schmeichel, Stiliyan Petrov and Neil Lennon, offered sharp criticism in the aftermath. The club has spent £23m on four new signings over the summer with more arrivals expected, but faces scrutiny for selling Arne Engels and Daizen Maeda before qualification had been secured. Those sales, critics argue, could compound the financial hit from missing Bigger Cup group-stage revenue, which the coverage suggested might be as much as £40m.
It was noted the second leg was not staged at Celtic Park, and some argued a pitch invasion there would almost certainly have prevented Lask’s 90th-minute goal that took the tie to extra time. Callum McGregor said after the match: "We got what we deserved," and added: "Now we’ll see what people are made of," having shown the performance that prompted the remark. The result was described as an embarrassment for Scottish football and drew little sympathy from domestic rivals who cited controversial refereeing and fan behaviour in the final-day title decider against Hearts.
The edition also carried a separate match anecdote and quote about substitutions: “When I made the substitutions, including taking [him] off, I believed the players coming on could make an impact. I came here to help the players, so as I said, I’m proud of them because every substitute made a positive contribution” – a penny for Roberto Martínez’s thoughts as Ange Postecoglou explains how substituting Cristiano Ronaldo with his 10-man Al-Nassr side 2-0 down, helped them to mount an extraordinary comeback to beat Al-Ettifaq 3-2. The piece commented on recent transfer market oddities, noting how clubs have been able to sell underperforming recruits for sums higher than their original fees.
Reader correspondence and event notices were also included: Phil Taverner wrote, "Oh, and while I’m here, anyone interested in buying a second hand telly? The sound doesn’t work and I’ve lost the remote; I paid £50 for it but I’ll take £100"; Noble Francis’s letter addressed Chelsea’s game-winning arithmetic tactics and Ken Muir wrote: "Who cares if the other side score nine, we’ll score 10, seemed to be the mindset. As for Chelsea against the rest of the Premier League, for the sake of my fantasy team, I’ll love it if they beat them" – Ken Muir. Readers were invited to send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com and informed that Football Weekly Live shows will take place in Dublin on 1 September and in London on 9 September.
Celtic face a home match against Falkirk on Saturday, a fixture the coverage said is unlikely to erase the pain of this defeat on its own; John Brewin will provide goal updates from the second round of the Milk Cup at 7.45pm (BST).
