By the time the Celtic players had reacquainted themselves with the concept of a lap of honour on a European night, those who had come to decry the club’s hierarchy had shuffled off into the night.
This somewhat unexpected outcome saved Martin O’Neill from the ignominy of being the first manager in the history of the Parkhead club to suffer five straight losses in European competition.
It should also lower the temperature in the ongoing feud between the directors and the fanbase for a few days at least.
After a diabolical start to their Europa League campaign, O’Neill’s men are belatedly up and running. The task of accruing sufficient points to reach the knock-out round again is still enormous although it is not yet beyond them. There’s life in this yet.
Of the four sides who Celtic were drawn to play in Glasgow in this phase, Besiktas looked the most imposing. In taking their scalp, O’Neill’s side will have received a much-needed infusion of self-belief. An inexorable slide towards a full-blown crisis has been avoided, for now.
This was quite the night. A drab and goalless first half was no indication of what was to come.
Camilo Duran squeezes home the winner in the 87th minute for Celtic
Substitutes Callum Osmand (left) and Camilo Duran turned the tide for Celtic
O’Neill’s men fell behind through a penalty but, to their enormous credit, they did not wilt.
So much of the credit for a famous triumph belonged to two players who, oddly, didn’t start the match.
Callum Osmand levelled with his first touch and was scintillating in everything he did from that point on.
Camilo Duran, another who’d started the night clad in a tracksuit, edged O’Neill’s side in front following a majestic ball from Osmand.
When Besiktas levelled with five minutes remaining, many of the home supporters would probably have settled for a draw. Not a bit of it. Duran’s second of the night, two minutes later, secured a magnificent victory, one which might just prove to be a turning point.
For those arriving in the stadium and checking their phones, O’Neill’s team selection required a second take. After playing just 31 minutes across three substitute appearances, Jordan Lotomba was handed his first start at right back ahead of Colby Donovan.
James Forrest and Sebastian Tounekti were deployed on the flanks with Kasper Hogh selected in place of Duran at centre-forward. So much for a must-win game.
There was familiarity in the Besiktas side in the shape of former Rangers winger Vaclav Cerny and Oh Hyeon-gyu, formerly a striker in this parish.
Although the Turks controlled the first half, Celtic did fashion the first real opening. Mika Baur fed Tounekti who squared the ball to Benjamin Nygren. The Swede ought to have done much better than fire wildly over.
Celtic’s attempt to press high was admirable. All too often, though, the men in black just played through it.
Forrest did well to move the ball on and invited Lotomba to attack it. He was easily brushed aside.
Duran celebrates making it 2-1 in a thrilling second half at Parkhead
It became a recurring theme. Not only were Besiktas technically superior to Celtic in the opening half, collectively, they were physically stronger. If there was a 50/50 to be won, invariably, they won it.
The upshot was that O’Neill’s men made little headway when they got into promising positions.
It said much that the biggest roar of the first half from the home supporters came when Liam Scales took ball then man – that man being Cerny.
You had to wonder what instructions Sam Johnstone had been given. His tactic of launching the ball long to Hogh was, to say the least, optimistic. With next to nothing coming from the flanks, the Dane was again starved of service.
The encouraging thing for O’Neill at the break was the fact that Besiktas’ possession hadn’t translated into too many chances. Cerny fired over. Leandro Trossard forced Johnstone into a good stop, although the offside flag had been raised.
Tounekti contributed another uninspiring display. Time and again, he gathered the ball on the flank. If there was an easy option to take, he took it.
The Tunisian had a chance to play Forrest in after creeping infield. Remarkably, he managed to stumble on the ball and Besiktas sprang another attack.
Although Celtic were level at the break, they’d been feckless. A chance to fashion something from a free-kick saw Tounekti pick out Nygren. The Swede completely lost his footing and the chance was gone.
Callum McGregor was the most relieved man in the ground in the opening seconds of the second period. He turned into trouble on the edge of his own box in the shape of Junior Olaitan and watched as Trossard’s curler flew just over.
Another old head in Forrest came close at the other end, his slalom from right to centre ending with a low shot which the keeper fielded.
Lotomba’s display throughout was poor, entirely in keeping with a player with so little football under his belt.
Osmand made an instant impact in rifling home for 1-1 from the edge of the box
It was no surprise that the error which led to Besiktas’ opener came from him. Johnstone created the initial problem by needlessly smashing a clearance off the frame of Trossard. It broke kindly to Ernest Poku. With no need to panic, Lotomba did exactly that. His scything of his opponent was a clear penalty.
Johnstone stood up to block Olaitan’s initial effort but couldn’t recover in time. The Besiktas man smashed home the rebound once the ball had fallen from the night sky. It was scarcely ill-deserved at that point.
O’Neill threw on Duran, Osmand and Donovan. The changes yielded an immediate return.
Advanced on the left of the box, McGregor showed composure to square the ball to Osmand. Any fears of ring-rust from the substitute were misplaced. A crisp right-foot shot flew into the bottom corner to level.
Credit where it’s due. Having hardly worried the Turks up to that stage, Celtic found something. Scales had his head in his hands after being denied a headed goal from a corner by a smart save by Alexander Nobel in the Besiktas goal.
With Osmand’s work rate giving the home fans something to get behind, Celtic improved. Another surge by the forward brought Hogh into the game. Duran’s pace took him into a dangerous position but the Dane couldn’t find him.
Osmand then fed the advanced Nygren. Again, the normally dependable Swede didn’t have his shooting boots on.
The former Fulham player seemed to be everywhere. It was his brilliantly measured pass which cut the Turkish defence wide open as Celtic turned the game on its head with 78 minutes remaining.
Perfectly weighted and angled, it still asked a lot of Duran. The Colombian did brilliantly, gathering and rounding the keeper in the blink of an eye then rolling the ball into an empty net.
As Celtic Park rejoiced, substitute Haissem Hassan fizzed one into the keeper’s arms.
How O’Neill’s men would come to rue that moment. There didn’t appear to be much on when substitute Orkun Kokcu took aim 25 yards out and thundered the ball low past Johnstone.
A slow burner of a game had certainly sprang into life. And we weren’t done yet.
Celtic dusted themselves down and came again. Donovan motored across the field and found Tierney. The full-back’s strike didn’t have the power to trouble the keeper but fell kindly for Duran. At the second attempt, he bundled the ball home.
