Celtic Vs Vfb Stuttgart: Schmeichel in spotlight after 4-1 Parkhead defeat
In the Europa League play-off first leg, celtic vs vfb stuttgart finished 4-1 at Parkhead, leaving Celtic facing an uphill task ahead of next Thursday's salvage mission in Germany. The defeat put goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel squarely under scrutiny after errors that led directly to three of Stuttgart's goals.
Celtic Vs Vfb Stuttgart
Schmeichel was at fault for two of Stuttgart's four goals at Parkhead, beaten down to his left by a tame Bilal El Khannouss shot for the visitors' opening goal and then beaten again when a free header from seven yards found the net for a second. Jamie Leweling's powerful strike from range then went straight through the 39-year-old goalkeeper for Stuttgart's third, and Tiago Tomas added a fourth in the closing stages to complete the 4-1 scoreline.
Spotlight on the goalkeeper after a difficult night
Former Scotland forward James McFadden said, "It looks to me as if he is not expecting shots, which is strange for a goalkeeper. He's expecting defenders to stop every shot. Teams will be saying there appears to be a weakness to his left-hand side. " The criticism followed a night in which Schmeichel's errors were highly visible and Celtic conceded some goals described by interim manager Martin O'Neill as "poor goals. " O'Neill added: "It's a tough evening for us. On paper, 4-1 looks pretty poor. We were masters of our own downfall in many respects, conceded some poor goals. "
Fans, club reaction and recent context
Fans protested against the club's board at the start of the game and later ironically cheered Schmeichel when he made a save, making the atmosphere at Parkhead far from harmonious. Former Celtic captain and manager Neil Lennon said of the jeers directed at Schmeichel: "He had a bad night but it still doesn't warrant that kind of treatment. " Thursday's match was the latest in a string of perceived errors cited for Schmeichel after Joe Hugill's looping header for Kilmarnock last weekend and Jonathan Rowe's effort for Bologna last month.
Next fixtures and the immediate outlook
Celtic now head into a domestic run that sees them host Hibernian and then travel to Rangers in the Scottish Premiership, with next Thursday's trip to Germany scheduled between those matches as the club seeks an unlikely turnaround in the Europa League play-off. Managers and players have acknowledged the result as a collective setback, and the immediate focus for Celtic is the next confirmed fixture: the salvage mission in Germany next Thursday.
