Softfootball understands that Wilfried Nancy’s start as Celtic manager has not really gone as planned, after his team got swept aside 3-0 by a very sharp Roma in the Europa League.
It’s already his second home loss in just two games, and Roma walked away with their third away win of the league phase without breaking too much sweat. Softfootball predicted a draw in the pre-match report.
After the game, Roma posted a video of their players celebrating this victory via their official X account.
Watch the video below:
Celtic’s night basically fell apart right from the start. Just six minutes in, Liam Scales had a moment he’ll really not want to watch back; he rose for Matías Soulé’s corner and somehow headed the ball past his own keeper, Kasper Schmeichel. From there, the whole team looked shaky, while Roma slowly grew more comfy.
El Shaarawy and Çelik had a couple of wild efforts that didn’t hit the target, which, honestly, was the only thing keeping the score down early on.
Celtic trying to play out the back didn’t help either. One sloppy giveaway deep in their own half gifted Evan Ferguson a big chance, and he smacked the post with a shot that had Schmeichel beaten.
The keeper later stopped Soulé, but Roma kept pushing, and nine minutes before the break, they finally doubled the lead. A slick move down the right ended with Çelik sliding the ball across for Ferguson, who tapped in his first UEL goal like it was nothing.
Celtic did show a spark eventually. Reo Hatate had a massive chance to make it 2-1 but blasted the ball way over. And of course, Roma punished them again. Soulé zipped a pass into Ferguson in stoppage time, and the striker spun so quick the defenders barely blinked before he smashed in his second. 3-0 at halftime.
Even when Celtic got a penalty, Arne Engels hit the post, which kind of told the whole story of the night.
Nancy threw on three subs at the break, including Kelechi Iheanacho, but even he missed a huge chance early in the second half, dragging his shot wide. He thought he’d redeemed himself when he finished Engels’ cross later on, but VAR chopped it off for offside.
Roma weren’t done threatening either. Leon Bailey curled one into the net and started to celebrate before VAR cancelled the goal again. Another shot from him got saved by Schmeichel, Celtic never really looked like coming back.
Roma’s dominance in this game, following a recent 2-1 victory against Midtjylland, puts them just a point away from the top eight and also makes them the first side to beat both Celtic and Rangers away in the same season since 2012/13. Celtic still sits in the last qualifying spot, but honestly, their control on it is slipping pretty quickly.
