Celtic kept their Europa League campaign alive with a deserved victory over winless Utrecht at Parkhead.
Goals from Benjamin Nygren and Arne Engels, either side of a Nick Viergever own-goal, put Martin O’Neill’s side 3-0 up inside 19 minutes before Dani de Wit pulled one back for the visitors with their first shot of the match.
Adrian Blake brought Utrecht back within one goal as his long-range strike beat Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, but Auston Trusty headed in Engels’ corner four minutes later to calm any nerves.
Having finished 21st in the league phase, Celtic will now face either Stuttgart or Ferencvaros in the knockout play-off round with the draw taking place on Friday (12:00 GMT).
O’Neill called for his players to go for it pre-match with qualification on the line and they flew out of the blocks against the Dutch outfit, who finish their European campaign with just one point.
Nygren tapped home Kieran Tierney’s cross from close range and they doubled their advantage when former Celtic goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas found Nygren with a slack pass.
The Swedish midfielder tried to square it for Daizen Maeda, but it was instead turned in by Viergever as the visitors compounded the initial error.
De Wit was then penalised for handball after a video assistant review (VAR) and Engels dispatched the penalty to put Celtic in total control.
Or so it seemed.
Schmeichel was unmoved as De Wit’s shot found the bottom corner and although he made an excellent save to tip Niklas Vesterlund’s header round the post, he was unable to keep out Blake’s shot down to his left and Celtic’s comfortable lead was suddenly nervy.
However, Trusty climbed highest to nod in a fourth and Celtic managed the remainder of the game to make sure their European campaign continues for two more matches at least.
Analysis: Job done for Celtic but question marks remain over Schmeichel
Celtic had one remit against Utrecht – win – and they did that comfortably in the end.
The fact that the scoreline could and should have been more will not bother O’Neill, and nor should it.
Progression was the be all and end all and could help attract much-needed recruits to the club before the transfer window closes on Monday.
One area of the squad they might be looking to strengthen is between the posts, given Schmeichel’s erratic form this season.
He made several excellent saves in last weekend’s Scottish Premiership draw against Hearts and the stop he made to deny Vesterlund on the stroke of half-time was quite superb.
However, the way he was rooted to the spot for De Wit’s goal was reminiscent of Bologna’s second goal in Celtic’s previous European outing and he will be disappointed to have been beaten by Blake’s strike from a good 30 yards out.
