Celtic secured a crucial victory on matchday three of the UEFA Europa League group stage, overcoming Sturm Graz 2-1 at home. The Hoops displayed a commanding performance, with second-half goals from Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren overturning an early deficit to claim all three points.
Sturm Graz initially took the lead with a impressive strike from Tomi Horvat in the first half. However, Celtic responded emphatically after the break.Liam Scales leveled the score with a well-taken goal, and Benjamin nygren then netted the winner just three minutes later, sealing a vital win for Brendan Rodgers’ squad.
Scales, who was later named Man of the Match, shared his thoughts on the pivotal moment: I was coming up for the corner and they took it fast so I just decided to continue my run and it fell to me.
He added, I was delighted to get the goal and itS what we needed at that stage of the game.
Reflecting on the team’s overall performance, Scales noted the manager’s satisfaction: The manager said he was delighted with the level of performance. It was a great result but the level of performance was there that was missing in the last couple of weeks.
He elaborated on the team’s improved play, stating, We created a lot of chances, we played at a good tempo, we won our duels and, it was a lot better than it has been.
He concluded,I’m just happy with the result. Those little things (Man of the Match) are a nice touch but the result was what we needed.
Benjamin Nygren, deployed in a wider, less familiar role on the right, proved instrumental in securing the victory. Despite facing a challenging start, including early substitutions of key players Iheanacho and Johnston, Nygren expressed the team’s resilience: It was a challenging start tonight as well with two key players going off so early (iheanacho and Johnston), and going 1-0 down, but I think the team showed a very good mentality, we just kept on going and created chances, and in the end we got the two goals to win.
Nygren acknowledged his own missed opportunities but emphasized his determination: I had a lot of chances tonight that I think I should have scored, but that’s how it is – you need to stay in the game and keep on going and, I got us the goal to win the game so I’ve very pleased.
The match between Celtic and SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz took place on thursday, October 23rd, 2025, with kickoff at 8:00 PM. The final score was 2-1 in favor of Celtic.
