2 weeks Ago By Vincent Whelan
LIAM SCALES admitted that he was over the moon to get on the scoresheet for Celtic after having a ‘frustrating time’ on Ireland duty. The former Shamrock Rovers defender set the Hoops on their way to an emphatic opening-night Champions League victory as they routed Slovan Bratislava 5-1 on Wednesday. Kyogo Furuhashi, Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah also netted to secure their biggest ever win at this stage.
And the Wicklow man was equally as delighted for his Boys in Green team-mate Idah. Scales said: “We went away with Ireland last week and it was a frustrating time, so to come back and both do what we did is amazing.” The pair were in Heimir Hallgrimsson’s squad for the recent Nations League defeats by England and Greece but Scales did not play a minute.
But he was over the moon when Idah also scored against Slovan — even if it robbed him of his new-found status as a pub-quiz teaser. For 70 or minutes or so, he was the answer to ‘Who was the last Irishman to score in the Champions League?’. The answer until 16 minutes in on Wednesday was Darron Gibson for Manchester United way back in 2011.
But Scales, 26, beamed: “I’m delighted for Adam, it was a great goal. "I’m just as happy for Adam as I am for myself.”.
