Nigerian defender finally makes debut for Celtic in five-goal thriller vs Real Betis

Published: December 09, 2021

Nigerian defender Osaze Urhoghide finally made his long-awaited debut for Glasgow Celtic as they defeated La Liga side Real Betis 3-2 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.

Prior to the visit of Real Betis to Scotland, the 2019 Dream Team VII invitee was a non-playing substitute in seventeen matches distributed as follows : Europa League (5), Europa League qualifying rounds (4), Champions League qualifying rounds (2), Scottish Premiership (3) and Premier Sports Cup (3).

Celtic already knew what their final position in Group G was going to be even before a ball was kicked tonight so manager Ange Postecoglou opted to hand minutes to several fringe players.

One hundred and sixty one days after his signing was announced, former Sheffield Wednesday starlet Urhoghide finally made his competitive debut for Celtic wearing the number 26 on the back of his jersey.

Three minutes in, the Hoops opened the scoring through Stephen Welsh who steered his header into the bottom right corner after a delivery from Abada.

Betis came close to grabbing an equaliser in first half stoppage time when Paul Akouokou hit the woodwork from the edge of the area.

An own goal by goalkeeper Scott Bain made it 1-1 at minute 69 but parity was restored for less than three minutes as Ewan Henderson poked home from close range for 2-1.

Real Betis equalized again in the 75th minute only for Celtic to reclaim the lead after David Turnbull converted a spot kick awarded after Abada was fouled in the box on 78 minutes.

Urhoghide was among the six Celtic players who put in a full shift in the five-goal thriller against the team from Andalusia.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : uefa.com

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