Celtic 4-2 Utrecht, UEFA Europa League: Hoops Survive Scare To Reach UEL Play-offs

Celtic survived a scare to cement their place in the Europa League play-offs after beating Utrecht 4-2 on Thursday to finish 21st in the 36-team standings. 

Martin O'Neill's side had been cruising after netting three goals in 19 minutes, but Utrecht struck twice without reply to threaten a nervy conclusion, only for Auston Trusty's 66th-minute header to halt any chance of a comeback. 

Celtic made the ideal start in the sixth minute, when a short corner saw Kieran Tierney cross for Benjamin Nygren to finish past Vasilios Barkas from inside the six-yard box. 

The hosts doubled their lead four minutes later when Utrecht goalkeeper Barkas saw his pass intercepted by Nygren, whose cross was turned into his own net by Nick Viergever.

The Hoops pulled further clear soon afterwards, when they were awarded a penalty for Trusty's header striking the arm of Dani de Wit, with Arne Engels stepping up to ruthlessly dispatch from 12 yards. 

Utrecht had barely threatened in the first half, but they pulled a goal back a minute before the break, with De Wit taking a touch before curling the ball into the bottom-left corner. 

And the visitors increased the anxiety around Celtic Park just after the hour as Adrian Blake rounded off a fine counter-attack with a curling effort past Kasper Schmeichel. 

But Celtic settled things down four minutes later through Trusty, who brilliantly glanced Engels' delivery into the top-right corner as they held on to seal a huge three points. 

Data Debrief: Celtic's fast start makes Utrecht pay the penalty

Celtic would have thought they had one foot in the next round after their blistering start to the contest, and though Utrecht showed heart, their poor opening proved too much of a mountain to climb. 

Indeed, after 19 minutes, it was the third-earliest a Dutch side had ever trailed 3-0 in a European game, after DOS Utrecht against Barcelona in 1965 (within 17 minutes) and PSV against St. Etienne in 1979 (within five minutes).

And though they were perhaps fortunate to receive their 19th-minute penalty, it was the third time Celtic have been awarded a spot-kick in the competition in 2025-26. Only Nottingham Forest (five) have been awarded more. 

Celtic were worthy victors here, though, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 2.09 from their 10 shots, five of which were on target, compared to Utrecht's 0.43 from their six attempts.