Celtic lose 4-1 to Benfica in Europa League setback

Summarised from BBC Sport's report · Updated 16 Oct, 03:32 · Archive

Celtic lost 4-1 to Benfica in a Europa League group game, their fourth defeat in five matches.

Celtic suffered a 4-1 Europa League defeat to Benfica in Lisbon on Thursday. Early defensive errors proved costly: Dane Murray conceded a penalty within four minutes, Sebastian Tounekti allowed Alexander Bah to score the second, and goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo was beaten for Benfica's third. Camilo Duran pulled one back after the break and Celtic improved markedly, creating several chances, but Vangelis Pavlidis scored late to secure Benfica's fourth.

Manager Martin O'Neill acknowledged the poor start but said the second-half performance was 'terrific' and insisted Celtic can still qualify for the knockout stages. Chris Sutton, however, labelled his former side 'flat-track bullies'. Celtic have now lost four of their past five games, including both meetings with Rangers and both of their Europa League outings so far.

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• O'Neill defiant in defeat but Celtic's 'flat-track bullies' fail another big testCeltic have now lost two Europa League group games, as well as two derbies - but Martin O'Neill is adamant he can see positive signs.BBC Sport · 16 Oct, 00:04

In this story: Celtic · Benfica · Martin O'Neill · Chris Sutton · Rangers

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