Celtic took one step toward the Champions League group stages as they eased past Linfield on Friday night, winning 2-0.
Brendan Rodgers’ men travelled to Northern Ireland to face Linfield in the Champions League second qualifying round first leg.
Scott Sinclair kicked off the scoring as he saw his deflected header drop into the back of the net.
Thomas Rogic added a second in style as he met Leigh Griffiths corner to finish emphatically into the bottom left corner.
Celtic failed to add to their lead in the second half as they bossed possession but could not make their dominance count.
Linfield ‘keeper Roy Carroll made a number of impressive saves, including a double save in the 90th minute when Celtic looked set to add a third.
Celtic will now look to seal their place in the next round when Linfield come to Scotland next week.
Here is how we rated the Celtic players after the win…
Craig Gordon: 7
Solid game. Had little to do, though. Not tested enough.
Mikael Lustig: 7
Comfortable at the back but lacked quality going into the final third.
Erik Sviatchenko: 8
Confident performance at the back from the Dane. Nothing got past him.
Jozo Simunovic: 8
Same as Sviatchenko, nothing was getting through him. Albeit, he was barely challenged.
Kieran Tierney: 8
Tierney was essentially a left-winger, he spent more time in the Linfield half than his own.
He put some good deliveries into the box and used the ball well.
Scott Brown: 8
Kept the play ticking over very nicely. Crisp passing; won the ball back in midfield. Competent display.
James Forrest: 7
Always looking to beat his man down the right but his final cross or shot was often poor.
Tom Rogic: 8
Strong on the ball and moved it quickly. Scored a good goal, but did little else in the Linfield penalty area.
Stuart Armstrong: 6
Not Armstrong’s best game in a Celtic shirt. Struggled to get into the game at times and did not have much of an impact on the result at all.
Scott Sinclair: 8
Like Forrest, Sinclair was always looking to beat his man and get a shot or cross off.
He scored a header to open the scoring and was a constant threat down the left.
Leigh Griffiths: 7
Was unable to get on the scoresheet and struggled to create himself any chances in front of goals.
He did, however, pick up an assist for the second goal with his corner.
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