McGowan seals the comeback for Celtic in Vienna
Great fightback from the slow starting Bumblebees
It doesn’t seem to matter who the manager is, who the opposition is or even what the tournament is, Celtic have a terrible habit of starting badly away in Europe. The club’s home form in the Champions League has masked their dismal away form and you wonder what they can do to change it?
Given the squad and systems have changed over the years, it is hard to pinpoint the reason why Celtic so often shoot themselves in the foot.
One frequent reason is Stephen McManus.
The club captain was restored the starting line-up and he was largely responsible for the opening goal inside the opening minute. Two more followed before 18 minutes and things looked the stuff of nightmares for Celtic.
Two goals for Marc Antoine Fortune sees the player carrying on from his wonder winner at Fir Park and Tony Mowbray now looks to have three forwards in a reasonable vein of form. It can go as quickly as it comes so no one will be getting carried away but if Samaras, McDonald and Fortune can maintain their scoring rate, Celtic will be in with a shout.
With 15 minutes to go and 3-2 down, if you were taking the game seriously, you don’t take off your best player, Niall McGinn. One thought may have been that he was being preserved for SPL action but if the player has picked up an injury, it would be a cruel blow to the club.
With Shaun Maloney injured and Paddy McCourt missing in action again, Celtic are relying heavily on Aiden McGeady for creativity and heaven help the Glasgow side if the Irish internationalist gets injured or suspended.
The final hour saw Celtic being the far better team but if you are going to throw cheap goals away so easily, you will find it nigh on impossible to claw it back.
In a way, it shows the gulf in class between Champions League and Europa League football.
In the main European tournament, when Celtic do their early disappearing act, the opposition manages to shut the game down with no scares.
In the Europa League, Celtic still give their opponents the early helping hand but are able to strike back with some potency.
And the comeback was complete when Paul McGowan controlled the ball in the box and smashed the ball home to tie the game at 3-3. This point ensured Rapid Vienna would be bottom of the table. Given the Rapid player’s history of hitting the deck for no need, it was an apt and just place for them to finish the group.
Celtic will be thinking what might have been? If they had started the game stronger, they would have won the match. If they had started the group stronger, they’d still be in the Europa League in February.
Still, Celtic fans, what do you focus on? The bad start of the great finish?
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