There must be something about playing in Europe for Celtic which brings out the best in Fraser Forster. In both of his spells with the club, he has excelled when the Hoops have played some of the best teams in Europe.
He was at the heart of Celtic’s now legendary 2-1 win over Barcelona in 2012 as he denied the Spanish side with a series of tremendous saves.
Now, in his second spell at Celtic, he has impressed in Europe all over again. His injury time wonder save from Danilo Catadi helped the Hoops secure a 2-1 win over Lazio at Celtic Park, whilst in the return game his saves helped the Hoops record their first ever win in Italy.
Spectacular double save
He was at it again in the recent 3-1 win over Rennes. By his standards, Forster had a quiet night, but he still managed to pull off one spectacular double save in the second-half.
Forster denied Diafra Sakho from close range, then somehow deflected Theoson Siebatcheu’s effort onto the post. It really was an incredible piece of goalkeeping.
The only thing that will have irked Forster is the late goal Celtic conceded thanks to an Adrian Hunou header, which he had no chance of saving.
Bizarre lack of clean sheets
Bizarrely enough, is Celtic’s triumphant Europa League Group E campaign, Forster has kept only one clean sheet. That hasn’t stopped Celtic from winning the group thankfully. Forster’s brilliant performances have played a big part in helping Celtic win their Europa League group.
It could even by argued that had Forster been at Celtic for the start of the season, the Hoops might well have qualified for the Champions League. That’s how good he is in Europe. He might not have made the errors that Scott Bain made which contributed to Cluj defeating Celtic 4-3 at Celtic Park.
That is just hypothetical though. For now Forster’s aim will be to help the Hoops go on a run to the later stages of the Europa League. The way he is playing, he could help the Hoops go far.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
