With an hour gone at Parkhead on Thursday, hope in the stands was in short supply.

Celtic were 1-0 down against Besiktas and heading towards a fourth straight defeat in this season’s Europa League.

Manager Martin O’Neill turned to his bench for a spark, bringing on Callum Osmand and Camilo Duran to replace Sebastian Tounekti and James Forrest out wide.

The impact was almost instantaneous.

Osmand’s first touch nestled in the bottom corner of Alexander Nubel’s goal, just 43 seconds after the 20-year-old attacker came on.

All of a sudden, Celtic had a threat in behind and Besiktas looked rattled.

Then, on 77 minutes, O’Neill withdrew Kasper Hogh after another underwhelming display from the club record signing and moved Duran through the middle.

Again it had the desired effect.

Osmand played Duran through with a delightful pass and the Colombian rounded Nubel before slotting Celtic into the lead.

Orkun Kokcu levelled for Besiktas with a fine strike, but Duran had the final say two minutes later, controlling Kieran Tierney’s scuffed shot and beating Nubel from close range to send the home support into ecstasy.



Source link