HARRY KANE stuck a dagger through the hearts of Celtic and left them needing a Champions League miracle at Bayern Munich.
It’s been centuries since an Englishman was handed as much freedom in Scotland as he was at Parkhead in the 49th minute.
And he ruthlessly pounced unmarked to volley home and follow Michael Olise’s opener, leaving Brendan Rodgers’ side with a mountain to climb next Tuesday.
But the Hoops managed to salvage a slither of hope as Daizen Maeda pulled one back late on.
It all started with another spine-tingling pre-match atmosphere that then exploded again 30 seconds after kick off.
Nicolas Kuhn slammed it past Manuel Neuer from 25 yards only for an offside flag to spoil the party with Adam Idah the guilty party.
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That denied the 25-year-old German a goal against his old club and hopes of repeating the trick legitimately soon ended.
Bayern took control and their probing passing finally got through and set alarms bells ringing on half hour when Leroy Sane failed to connect properly from close-range.
Kane then got his first sniff and should have finished only to instead head straight at Kasper Schmeichel’s legs, although his blushes were somewhat spared by a late offside flag.
The England captain, already on 28 this term going into this, got a second bite of the cherry in the closing stages of the opening period but this time headed into the side-netting.
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Luckily for Bayern Olise had his shooting boots on, and he broke the deadlock in thunderous fashion at a killer time for Celtic.
The ex-Crystal Palace winger cut brilliantly inside Greg Taylor and smashed it straight into the top corner from inside the box with the last kick of the half.
It was the first time in almost 17 years that Celtic had not recorded a shot, never mind on target, in the first half of a Champions League match.
The omens weren’t looking great for them either with Bayern going on to win 40 of the past 42 when they had led at the break in the competition and drawing the other two.
And Vincent Kompany’s boys were in no mood to break that run here.
They doubled their advantage just four minutes after the restart with Kane getting third time lucky.
He volleyed in from a corner at the back post from six yards out as both Alistair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers pointed the finger of blame at each other.
Celtic were fuming when a VAR check ruled Arne Engels had not been fouled by Dayot Upamecano.
Hope looked to be fading when Daizen Maeda fired wide from a tight angle after rounding Neuer but their was still a late twist.
But the Japanese international was perfectly placed to help the ball in late on after Yang Hyun-Jun’s turn and shot to set up a frantic finish.
Backed by a thunderous crowd, Celtic huffed and puffed for an equaliser, but Bayern held firm to escape Scotland with the first leg advantage.
Kane admitted it was a tough game afterwards. He said: “Whenever you win a game like this, you’re always pleased because it’s not an easy place to come.
“There were definitely areas in the game in which we could have done better and we’ll need to improve for next week, but overall we scored at the right times.
“They put us under pressure at the end and we had to stay strong, which we did.
“We knew the atmosphere would help them at the start of the game, and they nearly scored after a minute. We had to be patient, we knew we’d have more of the ball. Sometimes you need a bit of special quality to open a game like this up.”
Rodgers remains hopeful, despite the size of the task ahead next week.
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The Celtic boss said: “It’s still tight. The game is still in the balance. If you defend strong, we’ve shown that you can actually play football and be a threat.
“We’re still right in the tie. I’m looking forward already to next Tuesday. Let’s go and have no regrets.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
