CELTIC may have escaped the drudgery of election week with the trip to Cluj, but like the majority of the country, you got the feeling they just couldn’t wait until Thursday night was over.
Neil Lennon had said he could have done without this final game in Romania as he tried to juggle his squad with top place in the section already secured, but there were a few candidates in his ranks that were given an opportunity to impress. Some took their chance, like young Scott Robertson, Mikey Johnston and Leigh Griffiths, given his first start since August 17th. Others, such as Scott Sinclair in particular, did not.
Not that it particularly mattered in the grand scheme of things for Celtic, but Cluj cruised to the three points that ensured their own progression to the last 32 with second half goals from Andrei Burca and Damjan Djokovic.
READ MORE: Watch: Highlights from Celtic's 2-0 defeat against Cluj
Robertson was given a competitive debut as one of nine changes to the Celtic side, and as a place to take your bow into senior football, the Constantin Radulescu Stadium isn’t the most daunting. The locals didn’t exactly pack out the ramshackle old stadium, but they did make a decent din as the stands shook to the stamps of their feet.
One of the experienced heads in the line-up, defender Christopher Jullien, didn’t exactly set the tone for his younger teammates, playing a shocker of a pass across his own box that he was lucky to get away with in the first minute. He followed it up with another terrible attempt at a cross-field pass soon after.
If anything, Jullien gives the impression that the less pressure is on him in a game, the less effective he is. It was a strange decision to play the big defender at all, given he was on a booking and the amnesty doesn’t kick in until after the quarter-final stage.
Celtic’s sloppiness almost cost them, as Jullien’s short free-kick put Lewis Morgan under pressure, allowing Cluj to nick the ball back and drive towards goal, but Craig Gordon produced a very decent save to deny Billel Omrani from 18 yards.
There were some promising signs from Celtic though, with Robertson neat, tidy and completely undaunted, Ntcham looking classy, Mikey Johnston showing some craft in a central attacking role and Leigh Griffiths showing some nice touches and a decent turn of pace up front.
READ MORE: Celtic 0, Cluj 2: How the Celtic players rated in Europa League defeat
The latter two linked up brilliantly to give Celtic their best opening of the match just before half-time, with Johnston jinking past two challenges before his swerving shot was deflected just wide of the top corner.
In the heart of Transylvania though, there was very little for the locals to get their teeth into in the opening 45.
It was no surprise to see Kristoffer Ajer stripped to come on for the second half, with probably the best thing to be said for Jullien’s contribution that he avoided that costly yellow card. Back to his best, he will be crucial in the knockout stage.
Ironically enough, the Celtic defence crumbled soon after he took his leave, as a corner from Ciprian Deac was met by Burca, who had run off Boli Bolingoli, and the defender planted a free header past Gordon and in off the post.
The visitors were suddenly all over the place, and Gordon gave the ball away as he tried to play it out from the back, having to redeem himself with a diving stop from Deac’s shot.
Griffiths tried to hit back for Celtic, getting his head on Moritz Bauer’s cross to force Giedrius Arlauskis into a save.
READ MORE: Neil Lennon hails prospects as Karamoko Dembele becomes youngest Celt in Europe
The result was put beyond doubt with 20 minutes to go though, as Deac salvaged a ball that was drifting out, with his cutback tucked away on the volley by Djokovic. Game, set and match.
Karamoko Dembele was given a run-out in place of the impressive Johnston, but it was another substitute in Vakoun Issouf Bayo that almost dragged Celtic back into it as nice work from Griffiths saw his cross just skim the top of his strike partner’s head from close range.
The reaction from the locals at the end told you though who this night had mattered to, as in truth, had the action on the pitch.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here