Martin O’Neill made the perfect return to Celtic as he led them to a much-needed 4-0 victory against Falkirk in the wake of Brendan Rodgers’ shock departure.
The veteran manager was back in the Parkhead dugout after 20 years with “nervous excitement” as he and interim assistant Shaun Maloney looked to get the Hoops back to winning ways after a tumultuous few days.
Johnny Kenny kept his place up front and repaid O’Neill with a first-half double, ramming in on the rebound before heading to make it 2-0.
Martin O’Neill won his first game back at Celtic in interim charge
Falkirk, who were unbeaten in their last three Premiership games, struggled to threaten with Benjamin Nygren turning the ball in before Sebastian Tounetki netted his first Parkhead goal to put the game out of reach.
They are now six points behind leaders Hearts, Falkirk are seventh.
Celtic return to winning as protests continue
Major Celtic shareholder Dermot Desmond was watching at Parkhead
The fans continued their protests against the Celtic board pre-match and major shareholder Dermot Desmond made a rare Parkhead appearance after his statement blaming Rodgers for the negativity at the club.
After back-to-back defeats, O’Neill went with experience, with three changes in defence and James Forrest brought into the starting XI.
Celtic started with intent, but initially struggled to trouble Bairns goalkeeper Scott Bain.
The breakthrough came when Nygren’s strike bounced off the post with Kenny firing in the rebound.
Falkirk almost equalised immediately but Trey Samuel-Ogunsuyi was denied by Kasper Schmeichel and Celtic then took control.
Nygren and Kenny combined against for his second before Nygren capitalised on Bain’s poor parry and Tounekti slotted in from close range.
A much-needed boost for the Hoops ahead of a crucial League Cup semi-final against Rangers on Sunday.
‘Restoration of confidence’
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Celtic interim boss Martin O’Neill says his side restored confidence with their 4-0 win over Falkirk
Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill speaking to Sky Sports News:
“I’m delighted to have won the game. I don’t think I’ve been as nervous since I did the 11-plus!
“We played some great stuff as well, too. The goal was obviously very, very important for us and it was nice, just a restoration of confidence.
“I got great help from the backroom staff, really, really great help, all the lads were really terrific.
“I was really pleased, pleased with the performance and pleased with the way that we went about it.”
‘Not season defining’
Falkirk manager John McGlynn
Falkirk boss John McGlynn on Sky Sports:
“It’s not going to define our season, that one.
“When they’re at that level, we’re not at that level, unfortunately. They’re just too quick and too sharp in the attacking sense.
“Coming here with two really, really good wins, back-to-back wins, getting our first home win as well, the boys were confident coming here.
“We’ve caught them [Celtic] twice when they’ve been really good. We need Celtic to be below par and us to be at the top of our game and tonight Celtic were at the top of their game and we just can’t compete when it’s like that.”
