Adam Idah was amongst the goals again in Europe with a brilliant brace away to Aston Villa but it was not enough for Celtic who must now play a knockout play-off in the UEFA Champions League.
The Bhoys fell behind to quick-fire finishes from Morgan Rogers but, despite fears of facing another drubbing in the competition, arrested the deficit thanks to the Corkman.
Idah got Celtic back in the game before half-time with an acrobatic reaction finish, extending his leg high around the ball instinctively to find the back of the net.
Adam Idah has scored twice in two minutes to get Celtic back level with Aston Villa! ☘️
His first goal was a brilliant reaction finish 👏pic.twitter.com/HOw1NzSCtX
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) January 29, 2025
He was at it again just two minutes and 25 seconds later, making a bee-line run into the six-yard box to power home from close range and bring the Glasgow club level.
Ultimately, a second-half strike from Ollie Watkins re-established the Villa advantage before Rogers completed his hat-trick in a 4-2 win for the Premier League side.
While Celtic's impressive group stage ended in defeat, they have Champions League knockout football to look forward to for the first time in over a decade.
Idah has played a key part, scoring earlier in the group stages in their win vs Slovan Bratislava before forcing the decisive own-goal in their key victory against Young Boys last week.
The Ireland striker has come in for criticism at Celtic Park since signing permanently, but he has now scored 10 goals this season by virtue of his brace at Villa Park.
Stat shows Adam Idah silencing doubters in UCL
The 23-year-old has saved his best for the Champions League, where he has impressively found the net three times this season.
In fact, he is remarkably now joint-third highest on the list on the all-time list of Irish goalscorers in Champions League history.
As pointed out by @IrishPropaganda and @irish_abroad on Twitter, the youngster has been doing himself proud on the biggest stage in European soccer.
Roy Keane leads the way on 14 goals, having played countless Champions League matches during his decorated career.
Fellow Corkonianand ex-teammate Denis Irwin trails him by 10 on four goals, with Idah now third in a tie with former Leeds United and Ireland full-back Ian Harte.
With his 3 Champions League goals this season, Adam Idah is now the joint 3rd highest scoring Irishman in the Champions League
Only Denis Irwin and Roy Keane are ahead of him
Cork really like’s its Champions League goal-scorers
🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/XFU0gIQtBN
— IrishPropaganda🇮🇪⚽️ (@IrishPropaganda) January 29, 2025
Harte, a set-piece specialist, scored three goals during Leeds' 2000/01 Champions League campaign having netted twice against Anderlecht and once vs Deportivo La Coruna.
3️⃣ Adam Idah is the first Republic of Ireland to score three goals in the Champions League(proper) in the same season since Ian Harte scored against against Anderlecht, both home and away, and Deportivo, in the 2000/01 season#COYBIG
— @irish_abroad@mastodon.ie (@irish_abroad) January 29, 2025
Idah is not the only young Irish striker making waves in Europe this season, with fellow international Troy Parrott setting records in the Europa League for AZ Alkmaar.