Nomme Kalju 0-2 Celtic (Agg: 0-7): Neil Lennon’s side take a step closer to Champions League group stages
Celtic eased past Nomme Kalju with a 2-0 victory to move a step closer to the group stages of the Champions League.
A first-half own goal and a stunning debut strike from Marian Shved ensured the Hoops avoided any bother in the Baltics, running out second-leg winners over the Estonian champions and completing a thumping 7-0 aggregate victory.
It was a professional display, albeit one understandably lacking in intensity, which set up a meeting with Romanian side Cluj in the third round of qualifying.
Boss Neil Lennon was able to rest six of his players following last week’s 5-0 first-leg win, with Saturday’s Ladbrokes Premiership opener against St Johnstone in mind.
Christopher Jullien, the £7m signing from Toulouse, enjoyed a comfortable debut at the back while keeper Craig Gordon kept a clean sheet on his first appearance since December. Olivier Ntcham was also back in the starting line-up for the first time since intimating he wanted to leave the club.
Ntcham went some way to making amends by linking up with Mikey Johnston as the Hoops took the lead, and stretched their advantage to six, after only 10 minutes. Johnston drilled the ball across goal and Kalju defender Aleksandr Kulinits, with Leigh Griffiths breathing down his neck, sliced the ball into his own net.
Maryan Shved celebrates making it 2-0 to Celtic
The hosts almost gave their extra fans something to cheer midway through the first half but midfielder Deniss Tjapkin fired wide from the edge of the box.
Griffiths almost fashioned a second but no one was on hand to meet his cross.
Ntcham then fired over before Johnston spurned a golden chance, volleying off target from 12 yards out just before the interval.
A slow start to the second half from the visitors saw Gordon called into action for the first time with a point-blank save to deny Kaspar Paur.
Jullien missed out on a first Celtic goal when he headed a free-kick over, before another debutant took to the field in the shape of Shved. The Ukrainian winger almost made an instant impact but his effort was bravely blocked by home keeper Pavel Londak.
But as the game moved into stoppage time Shved took aim from 20 yards out and pinged a superb shot into the top corner.
Lennon: We are in a good place
Celtic now have two more rounds to negotiate, starting with another step up in class against Cluj next week, if they are to reach the group stages.
„I thought we had a tough first-round tie against Sarajevo, we negotiated that well and negotiated this one brilliantly, so we are in a good place,“ said Lennon.
„The quality does get stronger as you go along, but we’ll cross that bridge and be well prepared.
„Winning tonight keeps the momentum going into Saturday and, judging by the dressing room, we’ve come through unscathed.“
Lennon pleased with debutants
„I was very pleased with Christopher [Julien], it was important he got 90 minutes,“ added Lennon.
„And then Marian [Shved] comes on – he’s had a frustrating time with a groin injury – he got a good 25 minutes and scored a great goal to wrap up the tie.
„You could see what the goal meant to him and it will give him a huge shot in the arm.“
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
.
