Football 5g2n52
Aston Villa Qualify For Champions League Knockouts As Morgan Rogers Nets Hat-Trick In 4-2 Win Over Celtic 5s3n30
After graduating from Kingston University with an upper second-class Honours degree, I learned the ropes in sports journalism starting at Sports Mole before making my way through the ranks at the MailOnline. I started initially as a freelancer before going on to become an assistant sports editor in seven years at the company. Love football, cursed by Spurs and you can catch me watching/falling asleep to the F1 while hungover on a Sunday.
Get to know Sam McEvoy betterPublished29 Jan 2025
Aston Villa have qualified for the Champions League knockout stages after beating Celtic in their final league phase game – and you can watch the highlights below.
Aston Villa Beat Celtic To Qualify For The Last-16 x121u
It took Villa just four minutes to break the deadlock, with Morgan Rogers tapping in Jacob Ramsey’s low-driven cross into the net.
Then, 60 seconds later, Villa had doubled their lead in an electric start to the game. And it was that man Rogers again who doubled his own tally.
Picking up the ball from outside the box, Rogers fired a thumping strike into the top right of Celtic’s net, sealing a perfect start to the game.
But the Scottish champions showed true spirit to get back into the game. Like Villa, Celtic struck twice in quick concession to level the tie shortly before the break.
First came Adam Idah’s strike with a moment of quick thinking, getting his leg high to tap the ball in. Then, like Rogers, Idah scored his second soon after, tapping in Hatate’s cross to silence the Villa Park crowd.
Villa restored their lead on the hour-mark when Ollie Watkins tapped him Ramsey’s cross to make it 3-2. It is Watkins’ first Champions League goal and Watkins had the chance to restore their two-goal cushion soon after.
He had the chance to score his second from the spot but Watkins inexplicably slipped over when taking his spot-kick.
But the night was Rogers who completed his hat-trick in stoppage time to seal a thrilling six-goal victory over their British counterparts.
WATCH: Aston Villa 4-2 Celtic Highlights k3vo
Villa Round Off Stellar League Phase Campaign With A Win 6m1h5i
It’s been a fantastic league phase for Aston Villa. They’ve automatically qualified for the knockout stages in their first season back and have held their own.
Celtic have also performed irably, also qualifying for the playoffs, where they will need to win their playoff tie to book their spot in the last-16 alongside Villa.