Chris Sutton Named Celtic Star who Martin O’Neill ‘ WON’T PLAY AGAIN ‘ and he’s been Proven right
Celtic’s Europa League campaign began with a night of frustration as Ferencvaros claimed a 3-1 victory at Celtic Park, leaving Martin O’Neill’s side to mull over another difficult result just days after their defeat to Rangers.
The hosts made a lively start, enjoying plenty of possession and threatening down both flanks, but the Hungerian champions soon demonstrated their danger on the counter-attack. Celtic fell behind in the 19th minute when Bamidele Yusuf’s low effort took a deflection off Liam Scales and wrong-footed goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo.
The Hoops continued to press and eventually found their reward just before half-time. The lively James Forrest created space down the left before finding Kieran Tierney, whose cut-back allowed Mika Baur to finish from close range and restore parity.
James Forrest’s expression says it all after a bad night for Celtic.placeholder image
James Forrest’s expression says it all after a bad night for Celtic. | SNS Group
The momentum, however, lasted barely a minute. Ferencvaros responded in stoppage time at the end of the first half, with captain Kristoffer Zachariassen turning Yusuf’s clever work into a second goal for the visitors.
Celtic made a change at the interval in an attempt to alter the course of the match by introducing Kasper Hogh in place of the ineffective Oliver Sorensen as O’Neill switched formation from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2.
But their hopes of a comeback suffered a major blow just two minutes after the restart when former Celtic winger Daniel Arzani collected the ball outside the area before producing a superb strike into the top corner to make it 3-1.
The home side struggled to muster up a response. Ferencvaros defended their advantage without ever looking like conceding, while Celtic’s attempts to create clear openings repeatedly broke down around the visitors’ penalty area.
Substitute Benjamin Nygren came close to reducing the deficit with a curling effort that drifted narrowly wide, while substitute Sebastian Tounekti forced a save from the Ferencvaros goalkeeper soon afterwards.
