The Champions League match which everyone was focusing on after the first round draw took place this evening.
Celtic made the trip to Windsor Park for a 5pm kickoff. Earlier in the day, we found out that the winners of the tie would come up against Dundalk or Rosenborg in the second leg.
They were heavy favourites to be victorious (some bookmakers offered odds of 1/10 before the game started) and they came away with a comfortable 2-0 victory.
Scott Sinclair would open the scoring after 17 minutes, with his header sneaking over the line past Roy Carroll.
Celtic Linfield Goals - Scott Sinclair
GOAL! 1-0 v linfield @Scotty_Sinclair pic.twitter.com/NqkqzSK8X1
— CelticGoals ???☘ (@CelticGoals) July 14, 2017
Celtic Linfield Goals - Tom Rogic
It would be another set piece that would undo Linfield five minutes later. Leigh Griffith's cross was tapped home Tom Rogic in what was clearly a training ground routine.
GOAL! 2-0 v linfield @Tom_Rogic pic.twitter.com/6jKUIaXTFu
— CelticGoals ???☘ (@CelticGoals) July 14, 2017
Griffiths would put the ball in the net just after half time, only for the offside flag to go up. He would later be booked for having what appeared to be a bottle of Buckfast thrown at him as he lined up a corner.
The second leg is next Wednesday at Celtic Park. It would require one of the biggest shocks in Irish and overall football history for there to be a reversal and the Blues to progress. While the Hoops didn't exactly have it all their own way in Belfast, you'd expect them to put another couple of goals past Carroll next week.
At the same time as that second leg, Dundalk will be kicking off in Trondheim, aiming to complete the second part of a tasty clash.
