Martin O’Neill watched his Celtic side smash four goals past Dundee United to reach the last eight of the Premier Sports Cup – and warned them they had better tidy up their act for Wednesday night’s Champions League crunch with LASK.
The Parkhead outfit won by a distance at Tannadice thanks to goals from Auston Trusty, Camilo Duran, Sebastian Tounekti and Benjamin Nygren, but it was not lost on manager O’Neill that United hit the woodwork an astonishing five times during the 90 minutes.
And while admitting there was much to be pleased about in the performance, he knows there will have to be improvements when the Austrian league and cup double-winners come calling in the first leg of their Champions League qualifying play-off.
‘Four-nil suggests we were comfortable and I thought there were moments when we played really well. There were also moments when we were very untidy,’ said O’Neill, who handed debuts as substitutes to new arrivals Haissem Hassan and Mika Baur.
‘I felt up until maybe the third goal that United were never really out of it. They hit the bar and post four or five times, so that might tell you something.
‘In some moments we were terrific and, in other moments I felt we were just a bit untidy. We’ll have to straighten that out before Wednesday.
Martin O’Neill expects more from his Celtic side despite a 4-0 victory at Tannadice
Sebastian Tounekti fires home Celtic’s third goal in the Premier Sports Cup last-16 win
‘There is a really big task ahead. LASK are a very fine side. They’re very, very strong.
‘It would be great if some of the lads who have come in now had a bit more practice with the team in that sense, but it is what it is. We have to be ready regardless.
‘It is a big week for us. We’ve got the game on Wednesday and then the second match the following Tuesday. They are big games in every aspect. Champions League qualification matches, everything to go for. Prestige, finance, all that type of stuff. We’re trying to be as ready as we possibly can.’
O’Neill was delighted to see Duran net his first goal for the club at Tannadice and praised his overall display.
‘I thought Duran was exceptional. He’s a really good player and he was terrific,’ he stated.
O’Neill admits he is encouraged by the increased firepower in his side ahead of the showdown with LASK thanks to the addition of several attacking talents and takes great heart from finally having a bona-fide centre-forward in the shape of Kasper Hogh.
‘It does give you encouragement, yeah,’ he said. ‘I think the centre-forward, he’s linked up well, he obviously wants to get into the penalty area, but he’s a very fine centre-forward.
‘He’ll thrive on goals like any centre-forward, but overall, yeah, that’s something that I felt we missed last season. He’s strong, and his hold-up play, he wants to improve that and I think he’s doing fine.
‘I think we’ve got goalscorers in the side. That was always a concern last season. We conjured goals, and we won big games. But Daizen (Maeda) almost single-handedly took it upon himself to score the goals.
‘Now I think that there are goals from different areas.’
Benjamin Nygren rounds off the scoring at Tannadice as Celtic reached the last eight
Winger Yang Hyun-jun was left out of the squad for last night’s trip to Tayside, but O’Neill is optimistic he will be available again midweek.
‘Yang was very, very stiff after training on Thursday and missed Friday’s training, but we’re hoping he should be OK for Wednesday,’ he reported.
Arne Engels was also posted missing with his big-money move to West Ham United on the verge of being confirmed.
‘I think he was doing a medical yesterday. Maybe it’s the longest medical in history,’ quipped O’Neill.
Meanwhile, United manager Jim Goodwin has begged for common sense after seeing Celtic being given one of their goals in a 4-0 Premier Sports Cup hosing in the wake of a clear handball from Hogh.
Duran made it 2-0 at Tannadice after the ball had clearly struck Hogh’s hand following a tussle in the area with home defender Bert Esselink.
The rules state the goal can stand as a result of Hogh’s handball being accidental, but Goodwin remains disappointed that referee Steven McLean gave the strike after it had been reviewed by VAR Greg Aitken and feels the rules need reviewed.
‘We certainly didn’t get the rub of the green and, in games like this, you need that little bit of good fortune. At 0-0, we’ve hit the upright twice,’ he said.
‘The second goal, for me, the timing of it and the nature of it, is extremely frustrating when you consider that VAR has been brought in to help the officials.
‘I know people will say it was an accidental handball and will also say that the rule is if the goalscorer handles it before in the build-up then it’s disallowed, but I think common sense needs to prevail in a situation like that. It’s such an important game.
‘Had the ball not hit the Celtic forward player’s hand then it wouldn’t have dropped to the feet of his team-mate and probably would have went into the opposite side of the pitch towards my full-back.
‘At 1-0, we’re still very much in the game but, at 2-0, of course we’ve got a mountain to climb.’
United also felt Celtic midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain handled inside his own area during the first half from a cross from Zac Sapsford.
Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin felt Celtic’s second goal should have been ruled out
Goalscorers Tounekti and Nygren celebrate in front of Celtic fans at Tannadice
‘I was asking Steven McLean at half-time if he saw the handball and he said he didn’t. I was disappointed to hear that because he wasn’t too far away from it,’ said Goodwin.
‘I know how reluctant referees are now to make decisions in the moment because of the VAR situation and maybe hoping that the VAR guys will make a decision for them.
‘That second goal for me, the timing of that goal so quickly after the first one and the manner of it, it baffles me sometimes. I don’t think there’s a manager in the country that would want those types of goals going against them.
‘It’s the whole reason why we pay for VAR, to come and assist the referees in situations like that where they don’t see the big moments.
’We were told if an arm goes in the direction of the ball to try and prevent it from going in the box, or if it’s in an unnatural position, then VAR would look at it. I think everybody can see that the Celtic player does raise his arm towards the ball.
‘For me, it’s another decision that could go in your favour, but VAR obviously didn’t think it was worth looking at and didn’t think it was worth bringing a referee to the monitor for. These decisions, sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t. Tonight, certainly, we got no favours from VAR.’
