CELTIC REACHED THE Europa League group stage after a 4-1 win at AIK on Thursday secured a 6-1 aggregate triumph.
Neil Lennonโs side boasted a healthy two-goal lead from the first leg and completed the job with a flurry of goals in Stockholm.
Three of the goals at the Friends Arena came in the first half as a James Forrest strike and an own goal from Oscar Linner, either side of Sebastian Larssonโs penalty, put Celtic in complete control.
Christopher Jullien and Lewis Morgan rounded off the scoring late on for the Scottish champions but their win may have come at a cost, having lost Kristoffer Ajer and Odsonne Edouard to injury ahead of their weekend showdown with Old Firm rivals Rangers.
The visitors were given an early scare when AIKโs Kolbeinn Sigthorsson sent a looping volley against the base of the post inside the opening few minutes.
AIK offered more of an attacking threat compared to last week, but they were three goals behind in the tie with 17 minutes played in Sweden, Forrest bringing down Edouardโs pass and firing past Linner.
After a couple of near misses AIK were briefly back in the game when Larsson converted a penalty he won, sending Craig Gordon the wrong way after being clattered in the box by Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo.
The tie was all but killed off less than a minute later, though, as Michael Johnston took the ball past two men and drilled in a cross that deflected off goalkeeper Linner and into the net.
Edouard hit the post and Linner produced a couple of good saves to keep out Ryan Christie and Forrest, but Jullien found a way through by bundling Christieโs cross over the line in the 87th minute and Morgan added another with a free header in added time.
Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey and Bernard Jackman try to identify how Ireland can get back on track after Twickenham.
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Great to get through but itโs not the one we wanted, Roll on the Huns on Sunday
@Alan Brazil: Jesus Alan. We have something in common. Big game for the hoops
@Alan Brazil: same craic every year , start to improve after getting knocked out of champions league..still though would have got some spanking in the group they would been in , Barca ,Dortmund, inter . Gone are the glory days when they could get a champions league result . .
I donโt know what has gone on with Lennon and Sinclair. Sinclair good for 20 goals a season and heโs been frozen out in favour of Lewis Morgan.. Lennon seems to make stupid decisions, Celtic clearly through with 20 mins to go and he leaves all his star players on with an important game on Sunday. Edwaurd then goes off injured..
@David Garland: Stop your whinging, they won 4-1 what more do you want? Get behind Lennon and the team rather than complain
An away win in Europe is rare. A score line of 4-1 is unheard of. Good to see the holy goalie back in Glasgow.
A nice double on Sunday would be nice. Starting with the Celts and finishing with 5 in a row.
Hail Hail.
Up the Dubs.
Itโs not whining wanting to know why one of our better players is not even making the bench. As I said Sinclair contributes around 20 goals a season and by the looks of Rangers this season Celtic could do with his goals, heโs a far better option that Morgan who shouldnโt be near a Celtic jersey..
Very poor performance but still put 4 goals on the board. Great going forward but my good God the backline is woeful. Whoever scouted Boli needs sacking, that lad is a bomb scare. Hopefully Lennon can get it right before the transfer window closes and get in a few decent signings for a change.
Played well, can they meet rangers in group?
@Dougal67: not until the knock out stages, teams from the same country are kept apart