Many Celtic fans have seen a striking similarity between two goals – scored by Henrik Larsson and Olivier Ntcham – 17 years apart.
The Swede’s terrific chipped finish in a UEFA Cup tie at the start of the 21st century has been brought back into focus due to a famous anniversary. It’s exactly 17 years to the day since Celtic beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at Ewood Park – and Larsson dinked the opening goal.
And as the videos of that glorious night rained down, some fans couldn’t help but notice the similarity to Ntcham’s winner against Lazio last week.
https://twitter.com/GerryFulton87/status/1192550396671275019
Ntcham goal will be remembered just as fondly as Larsson strike
The wins over Blackburn and Lazio do actually share some similarities despite the gap in time. Along with Liverpool (also in season 2002/2003) they are the only times we’ve won at the home of a team in a top five European league this century.
The wins were built on strong defensive performances but also bits of quality in attack. Larsson’s chipped finish is remembered fondly to this day – hence the reaction on social media – and it would be no surprise to see Ntcham’s goal honoured in a similar manner.
The euphoria of the Frenchman’s goal is arguably greater. It arrived in the 95th minute of a game that we were destined to draw, and sent us into the last 32 of the Europa League with two games to spare.
The goals are undoubtedly very alike. Both featured heavy first touches and then delicate chips into the back of the net. Celtic fans will just hope that there are some more European memories getting ready to be made this season.
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