Fortune favours the brave. With five minutes of this game to play Celtic were in precisely the position they had not wanted to be in, glancing anxiously at other Champions League scorelines and potentially heading to Villa Park needing some reward to continue involvement in the competition. An own goal altered the scene here entirely. If that winner was freakish, nobody could reasonably deny the hosts deserved it. Even Daizen Maeda’s subsequent red card could not halt wild celebration.
Brendan Rodgers returned to Celtic with a stated aim of making the Champions League knockout stage. He can tick that one off and, impressively, with a game to spare. Celtic will miss Maeda’s relentlessness against Aston Villa but the outcome for the Scottish champions next Wednesday is basically irrelevant. Celtic are worthy of their further opportunity against the elite of Europe, which Rodgers is entitled to relish.
