One could witness an exciting victory in Celtic Park last Sunday, where home won the right for Scottish League Cup semifinal spot with an impressive win over Falkirk. It was not an easy win, though-the game was full of twists and turns, where a team needed to reinvent itself in order to secure the win. Brendan Rodgers made key substitutions, and the team responded in style.
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Surprise for Falkirk, but Celtic strikes back
Falkirk was fearless from the beginning as they surprised everyone early. It got across that the visiting team wasn't there to sit back and defend. They opened the scoring on the 10 minute mark with a low strike coming from Ross MacIver. The away crowd erupted in feeling something special was on. Falkirk almost doubled their lead when Alfredo Agyeman had a chance, but his shot went wide.
It didn't take Celtic that long to make things even. At 20 minutes, Reo Hatate made a long pass to Alex Valle, who headed it in towards Paulo Bernardo inside the box. Without overthinking, the Portuguese leveled it for his side. That was indeed an important moment, as it restored confidence in Brendan Rodgers' team.
First half wide open
The tie was contested from first to last like all good cup clashes. Both sides looked for goals and openings. Valle, aside from his work in offence, was excellent defensively, making two crucial tackles in the space of a minute around the 25-minute mark. On the stroke of half-time, Finn Yeats headed Falkirk back in front, placing his header with real composure to make it 2-1. The lead Falkirk took in at halftime suggested this would indeed be more difficult for Celtic than many had anticipated.
Rodgers' substitutions illuminate the comeback
The Hoops started the second half with venom, as they began to push to grab the equalizer. Substitutions by Rodgers, after the hour-mark replacements, proved to be a turning point in this match. On came Arne Engels, Yang, Greg Taylor, and Nicolas Kuhn for some fresh legs. That's where the match really flipped over.
On 68 minutes, Yang was able to force a great save out of Hogarth, but the pressure didn't let up as a minute later, Nicolas Kuhn, already getting in some great work, crossed the ball low for Adam Idah to tie the game once more. Celtic wasn't finished yet. In less than a minute, Kuhn found Idah again, this time on the right, and the Irishman made no mistake as Celtic took the lead in the match for the first time.
Nicolas Kuhn: man of the match
Kuhn was the obvious Man of the Match. After two assists, he wanted to score some goals himself. Minute 81, Engels played him through against Hogarth one-on-one as Kuhn calmly chipped over the goalkeeper for 4-2. A few minutes later, he topped off his great performance with a long-range strike as it became 5-2. This finally sealed it for a Falkirk side that, up until then, still harbored thoughts of the comeback.
Semifinals ahead and challenges to come
With this result tucked away, Celtic turn their attention to the Scottish League Cup semifinal, with Aberdeen lying in wait. Rodgers reflected in his post-match interview on the difference the substitutions made, which was important to change in the dynamic in the team. He admitted the first 60 minutes were not great, but gave credit to those players who came on and changed the game.
We need the whole squad for moments like this, said the coach to Celtic TV. The players coming in made the difference, and that's what we need in big games like these.