Temirlan Anarbekov saved three penalties to give Kairat a 3-2 shootout victory after a 0-0 draw with Celtic, sending Kairat into the Champions League for the first time. Neither side scored across two legs as both teams struggled to convert clear chances. Kairat threatened when Ricardinho raced behind Celtic's back line but was ruled offside, and James Forrest's header was tipped over. Celtic squandered openings including Maeda skied chance in the 86th and Schmeichel denied Arad. Extra time produced no breakthrough, and Anarbekov's penalty saves plus a Maeda miss decided the shootout.
Temirlan Anarbekov saved three penalties to clinch a 3-2 shootout win for Kairat after a 0-0 draw with Celtic, sending them into the Champions League for the first time. Neither side could find a breakthrough over the two legs, and Celtic's wastefulness was punished as the Kazakh side made history in the play-offs on Tuesday. It was a cagey start for both sides, though Kairat had the first clear opening when Ricardinho raced in behind Celtic's back line.
The Japan international then had the chance to win it in the 86th minute; he raced forward on a blistering counter-attack, but from the edge of the box, he skied his effort, sending it over the crossbar. Two minutes later, Ofri Arad rose high at the back post on a right-sided free-kick to nod an effort towards the bottom corner, but Schmeichel got down sharply to deny him.
Celtic tried and failed to find a way through in extra time, despite upping their level, and that would ultimately cost them. They stepped up first, but Adam Idah and Luke McCowan both saw their poor efforts saved by Anarbekov on either side of Valeri Gromyko's panenka crashing off the crossbar. The next five spot-kicks were perfect, but with the pressure on Maeda to keep Celtic in the shootout, he also sent his effort too close to Anarbekov.
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