Celtic secured Champions League progress with a Young Boys own goal in a night of disallowed goals, missed penalties and red card drama at Parkhead.
The Hoops knew a win against the bottom side would guarantee a place in the play-offs and Kyogo thought he had given them a dream start only to have his shot ruled out for offside.
Callum McGregor’s foul saw the Japanese striker denied again before his third goal was ruled out, again for offside, as they dominated against a side yet to pick up a point in this season’s Champions League.
Luck was not on Celtic’s side as Arne Engels made a poor penalty save after Greg Taylor was brought down in the box before half-time.
Auston Trusty hit the bar before Kasper Schmeichel pulled off a brilliant double save to keep the Young Boys at bay, but their fortunes turned when Loris Benito turned Adam Idaho’s ball into his own net to spark wild celebrations.
Celtic had Daizen Maeda sent off for a late, senseless challenge as they progressed to the knockout stages with a game to spare.
The hoops end a 12-year wait
A draw would have left Celtic potentially needing a result at Villa Park next Wednesday, but a late goal pushed them up to 18th, level on 12 points with Juventus, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
A win in Birmingham next week would likely see Celtic up to one of the play-off seeds, if not a top-eight finish and a direct place in the last 16.
The late bit of luck was no less than Celtic deserved for a performance that was full of verve for 60 minutes. Midfielders Callum McGregor, Engels and Hatate dominated the game, and Celtic found space in the visitors’ back line from the start.
Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn circled the outside regularly, but the deliveries weren’t exactly falling for Furuhashi.
The Japanese forward’s first offside goal came within six minutes of Engels’ pass, and Kuhn soon got in behind McGregor’s pass, but his shot was deflected after skipping three players.
Hatate and Furuhashi fired over from half-chances before Kasper Schmeichel made his only stop of the first half to beat Joel Monteiro’s 25-yard strike.
Furuhashi then got two goals within two minutes just after half an hour. The first was initially awarded after McGregor robbed Niasse and set up the centre-forward to foul the goalkeeper, but Norwegian referee Rohit Saggi booked the Celtic captain for the foul following a VAR review.
Furuhashi was then again flagged for offside after Maeda converted a cross from close range.
Engels’ weak penalty was saved in the 41st minute after Taylor was pulled down by his shirt, but the Belgian shook off the miss to create several chances from set pieces before the break. Furuhashi and Hatate – twice – came close.
The pressure continued after the break. Engels, Maeda and McGregor had shots saved and Trusty headed goalwards before Celtic were almost hit with a nasty strike only for Schmeichel to pull off a brilliant double save from Darian Males.
Celtic’s energy levels began to dip and Brendan Rodgers made some changes in an attempt to regain momentum, Alex Valle and Paulo Bernardo came on midway through the half before Idah replaced Furuhashi.
There was no direct kick and the visitors threatened from some set pieces, but Idaho’s surge from behind led to a goal and Schmeichel saved from Sandro Lauper in the dying seconds of stoppage time.
‘A bit of history’
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers:
“We didn’t score a penalty and that can shake you, but it never did.
“The winning goal, showing that level of composure in the 85th minute of the game, building the game from the ‘keeper through the team, out to the side of the pitch and then an absolutely incredible pass from Reo.
“We have that bit of luck for the winning goal, which we never had in the first half.
“I’ve been in a lot of games here where you end up with a draw and it’s a bit flat at the end, and even worse you lose a game when you shouldn’t have.
“For us to win, I think it shows the maturity and development of this team.
“A little bit of history is being made, we haven’t been in the knockout phase for a long time.
“If we look at the progress, we’ve won three games, drawn three, lost one. During the Champions League, that’s a really good constant.”
‘Great luck, who cares!’
Former Celtic defender Mark Wilson on Sky Sports News:
“They certainly deserved it because of the balance of the game and the chances they created. The three goals they scored were properly disallowed but you could see it coming and suddenly the game changed and it looked like they blew it.
“The manager is making changes at the right time and Adam Idah, who has had a tough time, is actually leading the line well and taking advantage of the opportunity. Huge luck to score but who cares?
“There have been many nights at Celtic Park that have gone the other way and Celtic have been knocked out of this tournament so I don’t think Brendan Rodgers will be too concerned that his team lost control in the second period, it’s just that they got the goal that mattered and that’s the one that leads them to the play-offs.”
The story of the match in statistics
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