Celtic 3 LASK 0: Duran's Double Leads Hoops Closer to Champions League

Celtic have one hand on a place in the Champions League league phase after dismantling LASK 3-0 on a raucous night at Celtic Park – but Martin O’Neill is having none of the talk that the job is already done.

This was a statement European performance, the kind supporters have been craving. It was also a reminder of how quickly these nights can turn if focus slips, a point O’Neill hammered home even as the crowd basked in a three-goal cushion.

Early scare, ruthless response

LASK thought they had silenced the stadium inside the opening minute. A sharp move ended with the ball in Joe Hart’s net and the Austrian side wheeling away in celebration, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.

The warning was loud. And it was real.

LASK flew out of the blocks, snapping into challenges and breaking with pace that backed up everything O’Neill had flagged before kick-off. Celtic took a good 10 to 15 minutes to find any rhythm, their manager later admitting it had been “a really tough evening” despite the scoreline.

Once they settled, the whole mood changed.

Nygren lights the fuse

Benjamin Nygren delivered the moment that swung the tie. Picking up possession outside the box, he stepped into space and whipped a brilliant strike beyond the goalkeeper to break the deadlock. It was the sort of goal that not only lifts a team, it tilts a whole tie.

Celtic suddenly played with a different swagger. Passes zipped, runners appeared between the lines, and LASK’s early aggression began to look more like desperation than control.

Duran steals the show

Then came Camilo Duran.

Shortly before half-time, the forward produced the kind of volley that lives in European highlight reels. Timing, technique, power – all of it perfect. The ball crashed into the net, Celtic Park erupted, and the tie felt as if it had lurched decisively in the home side’s favour.

Chris Sutton, watching on duty, was among those blown away by the finish, and he was far from alone. It was a goal that summed up Celtic’s growing authority as the first leg wore on.

Duran wasn’t finished. After the interval he struck again, adding his second of the night to make it 3-0 and cap a performance that will only increase his standing among the support. By then, LASK’s threat had dulled, their bright opening a distant memory as Celtic turned the screw.

O’Neill’s warning shot

The scoreline suggests comfort. O’Neill’s assessment did not.

“I thought it was a really tough evening for us. Yeah. Really tough evening,” he told TNT Sports. “We won 3-0, and they’re a really good side.”

He pointed straight back to that chaotic first minute and LASK’s explosive start as proof that this tie is still alive.

“I said to the players beforehand that they’ve got plenty of pace up front as well too, and they’re a very, very, very fine, talented team. And we still have our work cut out, but we’ve given ourselves a chance, let me put it that way.”

That line – “we’ve given ourselves a chance” – felt telling. No talk of being almost there. No complacency. Just a recognition that a commanding position has been earned, not completed.

Ninety minutes from the “proper” stage

Celtic now head to Austria with a three-goal advantage and the knowledge they are potentially just 90 minutes away from the Champions League proper. The margin is big enough to inspire confidence, not big enough to invite arrogance.

LASK showed at Celtic Park that they carry real danger, particularly on the break. O’Neill saw it up close and made sure his players heard it again in the aftermath.

Celtic have taken a giant step. The question now is simple: can they finish the job on foreign soil and turn a powerful first leg into a full-scale return to Europe’s top table?