Martin O’Neill full of praise for Camilo Duran after Celtic defeat LASK

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill claimed Camilo Duran had already repaid his summer transfer fee after hitting a superb double in a 3-0 Champions League play-off win against LASK.

The striker took his tally to three goals in two games despite playing out wide as Celtic took control at the halfway stage of their tie against the Austrians.

Duran and Sweden midfielder Benjamin Nygren both netted volleys into the same top corner from the same spot just outside the box in the first hallf.

And the pair linked up to put Celtic three ahead as the Colombian found the top corner again midway through the second half.

Celtic fell at the same hurdle last year after failing to sign a proven striker following the departure of Kyogo Furuhashi six months earlier. But this time they appear to have reaped the benefit of their purchases of Duran from Qarabag and Kasper Hogh from Bodo/Glimt.

O’Neill said of his double goalscorer: “He was exceptional. Really exceptional. He’s been fantastic for us since he’s arrived at the football club.

“His goals were terrific, his play was great. His running back, helping full-backs, helping Colby (Donovan) out on a number of occasions. It was just a magnificent performance.

“And if he stays clear of injury, he’s going to be a really, really good player.

“Whatever we paid for Duran, I think he has paid his ticket by now. I don’t think it was an awful lot of money when you consider some of the fees that they’re talking about for the Premier League.

“I think he’s a real bargain – £4.5million or something like that there.

“The centre-forward (Hogh) has given us a bit of presence there, which I don’t think we had last year, despite Daizen (Maeda) probably winning the league for us single-handedly. It’s nice to have that.”

Although Celtic secured a commanding lead, there were plenty of scares including two LASK goals disallowed for offside.

The visitors also managed 20 shots at goal, eight of them saved by Viljami Sinisalo and five of them blocked.

O’Neill said: “I thought there were periods where we played some really fantastic stuff, there were periods where they played some fantastic stuff.

“It was really like a basketball game, particularly in the first half. We rode a little bit of luck.

“They had a great shot in the first minute, just marginally offside. They had a great chance just a moment or two after that, so they started the brighter.

“And it took us time to get going, but when we did we got a great goal by Nygren to take a bit of pressure off and then Duran’s two goals were fantastic.

“But they are a fine side. The goals were fantastic, good enough to win any football match, but we’ve got a long way to go yet.”