Celtic blow away Slovan Bratislava in Champions League opener
Following a superb start to their domestic campaign which has seen them win all five league games without conceding, Brendan Rodgers’ men turned their attention to the UCL, where the Scottish outfit have failed to make it out of the group stage in their last seven attempts since 2012/13.
Under the lights at Celtic Park, the home side got off to a frantic start as Daizen Maeda raced onto a ball over the top but fired his effort over the bar.
That positive play continued for Celtic and the opening goal arrived just after the quarter-hour mark as Liam Scales powered home at the near post from Arne Engels’ corner kick – making him the first Republic of Ireland international to score in the competition since 2011.
One almost became two minutes later after Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn picked out Kyogo Furuhashi in the box, but after taking a touch, the Japanese international hit his effort straight at Dominik Takáč.
UCL debutants Slovan thought they were going to be awarded a penalty on 30 minutes after Vladimír Weiss’ shot struck the arm of Scales but Danny Makkelie waved away the appeals.
Despite going into the break with a one-goal lead, Rodgers would have been disappointed his side didn’t add to their advantage despite having eight shots, four of which were on target.
Celtic picked up right where they left off immediately after the restart, doubling their lead less than 2 minutes into the second half when a swift team move was finished by Furuhashi, who tapped in from Kühn’s ball across the face of goal.
The home crowd were in a jubilant mood and were celebrating again less than 10 minutes later when Alistair Johnston was fouled in the Slovan box, with Engels slotting home the spot-kick and putting Celtic three goals to the good.
Slovan then pulled a goal back on the hour mark after the hosts failed to clear their lines, allowing Kevin Wimmer to clinically finish into the far corner.
However, any hint of a comeback was quickly dashed as Maeda finally added his name to the scoresheet with his fourth attempt, finishing with aplomb after being slipped in by Reo Hatate.
With victory in sight, Rodgers made a triple change to see out the final 15 minutes, and one of those introduced, Adam Idah, netted a fifth after being played in by James Forrest, wrapping up a seventh win on the bounce this season.
Celtic kickstart their campaign in a perfect manner and travel to Borussia Dortmund next time, while things don’t get any easier for the Slovakian side who host Manchester City next.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Arne Engels (Celtic)
