Glasgow, Jan 23: Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi had a first-half hat-trick of disallowed goals against Young Boys, in an eventual 1-0 win that sent the 1967 European champion into the knockout rounds for the first time in 12 years.
Watched at Celtic Park by Rod Stewart, the Scottish champion’s most famous fan, a penalty kick by Arne Engels also was saved as it somehow stayed 0-0 at half time.
Celtic sorely needed to win to reach the knockout rounds for the first time since 2013 and the decisive goal finally arrived in the 86th minute – and it needed a gift from an unfortunate Young Boys player.
The ball ricocheted into the Swiss champion’s goal off defender Loris Benito when goalkeeper Marvin Keller saved a shot from Celtic forward Adam Idah.
It sent Young Boys to a seventh straight loss in the new Champions League format and last place in the 36-team standings with one round left.
Celtic started the game in 23rd place in the standings needing a victory ahead of traveling to face Aston Villa next Wednesday. The top 24 teams advance.
Furuhashi was judged offside after he found the net with shots in the sixth and 34th minutes, and another neat shot in the 31st was overturned on video review because of a foul by captain Callum McGregor before he passed to the Japan forward.
Keller dived to his left to save a spot-kick in the 41st from Engels, who did not deceive with a stutter-step run-up to the ball. (AP)
