FA Cup fifth round

Celtic re-opened a four-point lead over Aberdeen at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership with a 2-1 win over Partick Thistle at Firhill as Leigh Griffiths once again got on the scoresheet.

Liverpool striker Christian Benteke is one of a number of big names rested by Brendan Rodgers for tonight’s Europa League opener in Bordeaux.

Charlie Mulgrew will miss Celtic’s Europe League group opener with Ajax on Thursday night because of a thigh injury, Hoops assistant manager John Collins has announced.

Scotland 2 Germany 3: Scotland would probably have settled for two goals against the world champions before this Euro 2016 Group D qualifier kicked off but, crucially, the three they conceded leaves them behind Ireland in the playoff hunt.

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan felt his players were short of the accuracy needed to break down a stubborn Georgia defence as his team fell to a 1-0 European Championship qualifying defeat.

Malmo 2 Celtic 0 (Malmo win 4-3 on aggregate): Celtic’s Champions League hopes ended amid some controversy as a 2-0 defeat by Malmo at the Swedbank Stadion put the Swedish side through to the group stages on a 4-3 aggregate victory.

With Gibraltar v Ireland on September 4 regarded by many – if not Martin O’Neill – as a foregone conclusion, there will almost be as much interest from Irish supporters in the Georgia v Scotland and Germany v Poland games which also take place in European Championship Group D on the same day.

Celtic new boy Scott Allan checked in as the Hoops marred a fine performance in their 4-2 Ladbrokes Premiership win over Inverness with some late slackness.

Complacency should be a major concern for Dublin on Sunday, warns former Fermanagh manager Charlie Mulgrew.

On A lonely bench at Belgrave Park in Rathmines he sat one night. All night long.

Complacency should be a major concern for Dublin on Sunday, warns former Fermanagh manager Charlie Mulgrew.

With no hard and fast payments to show for all their years of work and commitment, then inter-county players are entitled to expect a medal or two by way of compensation.

Few faces do instant scorn as well as Gordon Strachan’s so there were some with bated breath at the Aviva Stadium last night when the Scotland manager was asked if his side was in Dublin with the aim of playing for a draw.

Charlie Mulgrew admits Scott Brown may not get the credit he deserves from all quarters, but he warned the Republic of Ireland they are about to discover how good the Scotland skipper really is.

Celtic began their Scottish Premiership title-winning party after a Stefan Scepovic double helped them to an easy 5-0 win over a weakened Inverness side at Parkhead.

Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths and Dundee ‘keeper Scott Bain have been called up to the Scotland squad for their Euro 2016 qualifier against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on June 13.

Dinamo Zagreb 4 Celtic 3

Celtic 1 Salzburg 3

International Friendly

Scotland 1 England 3

Scotland 1 Republic of Ireland 0

Martin O’Neill has postponed finalising his Ireland squad until later today, pending updates on major injury worries concerning James McCarthy and Marc Wilson.

Virgil van Dijk’s last-minute goal earned 10-man Celtic a 2-1 victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie in a Scottish Premiership contest that was laced with controversy.

Ronny Deila wants his Celtic side to maintain a lead with a lot more conviction.

Everton took a major step towards the knockout stages of the Europa League as goals from Leon Osman, Phil Jagielka and Steven Naismith saw them claim a comfortable 3-0 victory over Lille at Goodison Park last night.

A piece of Brazilian magic denied Celtic early qualification for the Europa League group stages as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Astra Giurgiu in a fog-bound stadium in Romania.

Rangers midielder Lewis Macleod has been given a first Scotland call-up by Gordon Strachan for the European Championship qualifier against Republic of Ireland and the friendly against England, both at Celtic Park.

Celtic and Rangers will resume hostilities after a hiatus of almost three years after being paired together in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals.

Celtic 2 Kilmarnock 0

Celtic 2 Astra Giurgiu 1

John Collins has no worries over race row Celtic player Aleksandar Tonev ahead of their opening Europa League clash with Salzburg in Austria tonight (6pm, live on Setanta Ireland).

On the same night a Glaswegian gave Scotland’s Euro 2016 Group D play-off rivals a boost in Tbilisi, how Gordon Strachan could have done with Aiden McGeady’s wizardry against World champions Germany.

Scotland put up a spirited show in their first Euro 2016 qualifying match, going down 2-1 to world champions Germany.

Celtic dramatically crashed out of the Champions League for the second time this season with a 1-0 play-off defeat by Maribor at Parkhead taking the visitors through 2-1 on aggregate.

Ronny Deila brought back his big guns as expected for Celtic’s Champions League play-off clash with Maribor at Parkhead.

An own goal edged a spirited Inverness past league champions Celtic in the Scottish Premiership clash in the Highland capital.

Celtic appear to have taken advantage of their European reprieve with a well-deserved 1-1 draw against Maribor in the first leg of their Champions League play-off in Slovenia.

Celtic ran riot on their Scottish Premiership flag day with a 6-1 thrashing of hapless Dundee United at Parkhead.

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has failed in his appeal to have a four-month ban completely overturned but a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) means he can now feature in friendlies for club and country.

Celtic began the defence of their Scottish Premiership title with a 3-0 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park but not without some help and some controversy.

Celtic 0 Legia Warsaw 2 (Aggregate 1- 6)