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<\/p>\nCeltic salvaged some pride despite exiting the Europa League at the hands of Stuttgart 4-2 on aggregate as Luke McCowan’s first-minute strike earned them a first-ever victory in Germany.<\/p>\n
Trailing by three goals from the first leg and needing a minor miracle to progress to the last 16, Martin O’Neill decided to rest eight first-teamers against a side fourth in the Bundesliga ahead of a crunch Old Firm game on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.<\/p>\n
O’Neill’s players did not share his apparent willingness to throw in the towel and stunned the MHPArena with just 28 seconds on the clock as Junior Adamu’s slide-rule pass was fired home by McCowan for his first European goal.<\/p>\n
Celtic could have had a second when Daizen Maeda got the ball stuck under his feet from an Adamu cross with the home side struggling to settle.<\/p>\n
But once they did settle, there were few signs of an unlikely comeback and stand-in goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo, making his European debut for the Hoops, made a number of saves to keep the visitors ahead on the night.<\/p>\n
The one time the Finnish stopper was beaten by Deniz Undav, VAR intervened to rule Ermedin Demirovic offside in the build-up and keep Celtic’s lead alive and avoid a moment of potential controversy for the fourth official, who had let Demirovic back onto the pitch following an injury moments before receiving the ball.<\/p>\n
Following a first-leg hammering and an equally disappointing home defeat by Hibs at the weekend, Celtic’s narrow win provided a tonic for their delighted travelling support as they bowed out of Europe with a victory, and joined Bayern Munich as the only opposition sides to win in Stuttgart so far this season.<\/p>\n
O’Neill given ‘food for thought’ ahead of Old Firm game<\/p>\n
O’Neill admitted he was handed some selection dilemmas ahead of Sunday’s showdown with Rangers after goalkeeper Sinisalo shone and a much-changed side secured the historic if academic win over Stuttgart.<\/p>\n
Sinisalo made six saves in his sixth Celtic appearance of the season and several of them were impressive stops.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old Finland international looked assured throughout and put pressure on Kasper Schmeichel for a place at Ibrox after some inconsistent displays from the Dane in recent months.<\/p>\n
O’Neill said: “I thought he did really well, really well, in the game. I’m delighted for him, he’s a lovely lad.<\/p>\n
“Everybody did well in the match. It gives me food for thought. Of course it does, absolutely.<\/p>\n
“It’s not as if we’ve played some 16-year-olds. The players have all played, but some have played less football than others in recent times.<\/p>\n
“I thought everybody came out with flying colours.”<\/p>\n
O’Neill admitted McCowan’s early strike had him believing they could pull off a famous comeback.<\/p>\n
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Image:
\n McCowan was all smiles after scoring<\/p>\n
“I’m delighted with the effort and determination they put into the game,” added the Celtic manager.<\/p>\n
“We got off to a really great start. We felt as if we don’t concede in the first 20 minutes of the match, and maybe even nick a goal, we could still be in the tie.<\/p>\n
“I got carried away with myself [after the goal]. I thought, we’re going to do this here. Eventually, we have to create more chances and it wasn’t to be.<\/p>\n
“It might have been interesting if Seb (Tounekti) had scored towards the last couple of minutes. It might have been a bit nervy for Stuttgart.<\/p>\n
“I genuinely thought we could do it, but I might be asking a lot.<\/p>\n
“We’re playing a very, very good side. A side, from my viewpoint here, capable of winning the competition.<\/p>\n
“But I couldn’t be more pleased with the team, couldn’t be more pleased with attitude and desire.”<\/p>\n