Celtic 4-2 Utrecht: Hoops progress to Europa League play-offs
Report as Celtic beat Utrecht 4-2 in the Europa League; Scottish Premiership champions qualify for February's play-offs; strikes from Benjamin Nygren, a Nick Viergever OG, an Arne Engels penalty and Auston Trusty were enough for victory; Celtic will now face Stuttgart or Ferencvaros
Thursday 29 January 2026 22:38, UK
Celtic beat Utrecht 4-2 at Parkhead to earn a place in February's Europa League play-offs.
The Scottish Premiership champions did the job early as Martin O'Neill's side went 3-0 up inside only 19 minutes thanks to strikes from Benjamin Nygren, a Nick Viergever own goal and an Arne Engels penalty, the club's earliest-ever three-goal lead in a major European game.
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The opener came after a well-worked goal following a short corner as Kieran Tierney got to the byline and pulled the ball back for Nygren to score from close range, the Swede's 14th goal of the campaign.
The hosts soon doubled their lead after a catalogue of errors at the back from Utrecht. Former Celtic goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas's under-hit pass was intercepted by Nygren, whose low ball into the box was turned into his own net by the unfortunate Nick Viergever as the visitor's skipper stretched to intercept.
It then went from bad to worse for the Eredivisie side when Dani de Wit was harshly adjudged to have handled Auston Trusty's close-range header from a corner, with Engels doing the rest from the spot.
However, Celtic lost their way before half-time, perhaps thinking the game was over, with De Wit sweeping home from the edge of the box - and when Adrian Blake also found the net from distance after a swift counter just past the hour mark, home nerves began to jangle.
Not for long, though, with the hosts, who ended up in 21st place in the standings, soon restoring their two-goal cushion as Trusty rose highest in the six-yard box to nod home Engels's inviting ball in from a corner to confirm their place in the play-offs on February 19 and 26.
Friday's draw will confirm their opponents - either Stuttgart or Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros.
The key numbers from Parkhead
- Celtic have now won five of their last six home games in European competition (incl. qualifiers) against sides from the Netherlands (L1), scoring 2+ goals in each of those victories.
- FC Utrecht have failed to win any of their last 19 major European matches (D6 L13), since a 4-0 UEFA Cup victory over Djurgården in September 2004. It's the longest ever run by a Dutch side in major European action and the longest overall in UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League history.
- Thanks to Benjamin Nygren's 6th minute strike, Nick Viergever's 10th minute own goal and Arne Engels's 19th minute penalty, Celtic registered the 10th quickest UEFA Europa League 3-0 lead and their fastest in any major European match.
- Benjamin Nygren has 20 goal contributions across all competitions for Celtic this season (14 goals, six assists), the most by any Scottish Premiership player.
- With his goal tonight, Celtic's Aaron Trusty became the first American defender to net multiple goals in the same major European campaign.
O'Neill: We deserved to win
Celtic boss Martin O'Neill to TNT Sports:
"It was really nice. We played really strongly in the first 10 or 20 minutes and a couple of great goals from our viewpoint.
"Then it got a little nervy for a while when it goes to 3-2 but Trusty scores a great header and we win the game.
"I think we deserved to win it. We pressed strongly, we got a little bit tired which isn't surprising but overall, a brilliant effort.
"Over the last couple of weeks, we've shown great resilience. If you consider that this time last week, we were down to ten men for 60 minutes and then again on Sunday.
"They've shown that. Tonight, we didn't make that many changes in the team, they've gone again... we got our rewards and we're in the hat."
On if he has a preference for playoff opponent: "No, we're just genuinely pleased to be in it. After a number of games, we would've got long odds about us being there, but the players have done brilliantly."
McGregor: Under pressure, we delivered results
Celtic captain Callum McGregor to TNT Sports:
"We knew the objective tonight was to win the game. The pressure was on us to get through and overall, it was a decent campaign.
"There were one or two games that put us up against it, but when the pressure was on, we delivered results and it was a very good performance.
"The mentality in the group has been amazing over Martin's first and second time [this season].
"The boys were hungry to dig ourselves out of the hole we were in and you can see that again. There's a calmness and confidence in what we're trying to do, even when it gets to 3-2... but for the first 25 to 30 minutes, we were really good.
"We trust the club to get the players the manager and the staff wants, but the players that are here are working ever so hard and we're all together.
"In every window, we want to strengthen the club and the team so the players welcome that as well."
