LASK 5-1 Celtic (aet) [5-4 agg]: Celtic’s Champions League dream ends after extraordinary LASK comeback | OneFootball

Celtic looked destined to reach the Champions League League Phase after taking a four-goal aggregate lead, but a remarkable LASK fightback saw the Scottish champions crash out after extra time.

Celtic took the lead in the first half to extend the aggregate lead to four goals after Callum McGregor’s deflected effort. The visitors looked well in control until Benjamin Nygren’s mistake teed up Moses Usor who was able to score to give LASK hope.

The Austrians produced a remarkable second half comeback as they scored three times without reply to bring the tie to extra time, courtesy of goals from Robert Ljubicic, Samuel Adeniran and Florian Flecker.

LASK completed the fightback in the second half of extra time as Adeniran scored his second to send his side into the Champions League league phase.

As it happened

Celtic were inches away from taking an early lead as Mika Baur got in behind the LASK defence and was picked out brilliantly by Yang Hyun-Jun. He was able to poke the ball towards goal but it was just out of reach for the lunging Kasper Høgh and trickled narrowly past the post.

With LASK starting to take control of the game, the visitors showed their threat on the counter. After a spell of LASK pressure, Høgh led the Celtic charge into the open space left by the hosts, but with options available to his right, he tried a curling finish into the bottom right-hand corner, but it was weak and kept out by the goalkeeper.

LASK started to really crank up the pressure after a relatively even opening 15 minutes. The Austrian champions were so close to opening the scoring on the night after a corner was flicked on, but it evaded everyone at the back post. Just a minute later, Andrés Andrade fired an effort from range which took a deflection before bouncing back off the post.

But just as LASK looked like the side in control, Celtic burst up the other end and got the crucial first goal. It came from more good work on the left from Yang, who carried the ball into the box before teeing up Callum McGregor, who fired a low, powerful effort, which took a huge deflection, wrong-footing Lukas Jungwrith and finding its way into the back of the net.

The visitors should have had a second to completely kill off the tie after a defensive mix-up from LASK allowed Høgh to run through on goal, but he couldn’t convert. At the other end, Samuel Adeniran passed up another good chance for the hosts as he dragged his effort wide after finding space inside the box.

LASK did get a goal back in the tie after a huge mistake from Benjamin Nygren. He played a blind pass back towards his goalkeeper without seeing Moses Usor, and the Nigerian striker was able to finish calmly to cut the deficit back down to three.

And two minutes into the second half, they scored a second. It was well worked down the right from LASK before Robert Ljubicic picked up the ball at the edge of the box and fired a low strike into the bottom corner, giving his side the lead on the night and cutting the deficit to two.

And there was very nearly just a single goal between the two sides almost straight after the restart, but Adeniran couldn’t quite get onto the end of a nice cross in from the left. The LASK crowd had come alive, and the players looked to be feeding off the atmosphere as they began to believe a remarkable turnaround was possible.

Things went from bad to worse for the Scottish champions as LASK got a third goal of the night. Adeniran received the ball at the edge of the box and unleashed a wonderful curling effort past Viljami Sinisalo in the Celtic goal. In a tie filled with quality finishes, that one was right up there.

LASK continued to throw everything at Celtic but passed up several huge chances. Usor fired a close-range effort that came back off the crossbar before hitting Sinisalo, but Kieran Tierney was on hand to clear as Celtic continued to ride their luck and stay in front on aggregate.

With 90 minutes on the clock, LASK got the goal they were desperate for, and the one that Celtic were dreading. Sinisalo pulled off a wonderful save to keep out the initial header, but substitute Florian Flecker was on hand to head into the empty net. A VAR check put it under threat, but it stood, sending the tie level on aggregate after a remarkable comeback from the Austrians.

The first half of extra time flew past with very little goalmouth action for either side, as the intensity in the game had clearly dipped.

But that didn’t last long. With 108 minutes on the clock, LASK completed the turnaround and went ahead on aggregate for the first time in the tie. It was that man Adeniran again with another lovely strike from outside of the box after Celtic had coughed up possession high up the pitch.

As Celtic tried to push forward and grab an equaliser to take the tie to penalties, LASK broke and won a penalty. Up stepped Adeniran to complete his hat-trick, but Sinisalo pulled out a brilliant save to thwart the American and keep Celtic alive.

The hosts held on to see out a truly remarkable fightback after looking down and out early in the first half. For Celtic, it is one of the darkest days in their recent history, as they are condemned to the Europa League after an extraordinary collapse in Austria.