Soccer: Bhoys must now tame Lyon

Celtic 0 Bayern Munich 0

Celtic could have booked their place in the knock-out stages and sent Ottmar Hitzfeld’s stars crashing out had they won and Lyon beat Anderlecht.

But the group remains poised on a knife-edge and Bayern lived to fight another day after surviving another gallant performance from the ever-improving Scottish side.

Celtic, Anderlecht and Lyon all have seven points and Bayern six, but O’Neill will be without Thompson after he picked up another booking while Agathe faces a race against time after hobbling off with injury.

The Celtic players were fired up and John Hartson had an early chance to test Oliver Khan in the second minute. Henrik Larsson and Chris Sutton linked up well to create some space in the box for the Welshman, but his shot from 18 yards was too weak to trouble the goalkeeper.

The home side had a glorious opportunity to go ahead just two minutes later. Stanislav Varga flicked Stilian Petrov’s corner on and from only five yards, Larsson headed inches past the post. Hartson looked lively after his rest at the weekend and he chipped the ball just over the bar from the edge of the box in the seventh minute.

But Bayern looked dangerous on the break and went close twice soon after. First Varga did well to divert Hasan Salihamidzic’s cross behind for a corner and from Owen Hargreaves’ cross Samuel Kuffour’s header was looking destined for the top corner until Neil Lennon cleared off the line.

The crowd were starting to go quiet which was ominous but Larsson brought them back to life in the 19th minute.

He skipped past a couple of tackles outside the box and then pulled back his left foot but Khan was equal to it and made a comfortable save. His opposite number was given a test two minutes later by Bixente Lizarazu’s long-range blast but the Swede got down well to gather.

With Celtic seemingly under no pressure he launched an audacious shot which seemed to be dropping under the bar but the keeper was alert to touch it over the bar at full stretch.

But Khan was the next goalkeeper called into action as he first failed to hold a cross, under pressure from Hartson, but he made amends by blocking Petrov’s powerful drive.

That sparked a siege to the Bayern goal which should have paid off six minutes before the break. Alan Thompson whipped the ball into the danger area and Hartson rose above the crowded box but he somehow headed wide from inside the six-yard box.

Referee Rene Temmink eventually took action against some of the antics of the Germans by booking Willy Sagnol, Kuffour and Lizarazu. But Thompson was also booked for a desperate challenge in his own half which meant that the Englishman would miss the next match in Lyon.

Celtic were dealt another blow in the 63rd minute when Agathe hobbled off with what appeared to be a hamstring pull and he was replaced by fans’ favourite Miller.

The tension began to show on the Celtic bench as O’Neill had his head in his hands as Sutton and then Larsson went to ground in the box but both times nothing was given. Part of the ground thought Celtic had scored as Sutton headed Miller’s corner into the side-netting after Hartson’s effort had been deflected behind.

The home defence were stretched in the 74th minute but they survived when the usually ruthless Ballack fired wide from the edge of the area.

CELTIC: Hedman, Varga, Balde, McNamara, Agathe (Miller 63), Lennon, Petrov, Sutton, Thompson, Larsson, Hartson (Sylla 86).

BAYERN MUNICH: Kahn, Sagnol, Kuffour, Kovac, Lizarazu, Salihamidzic, Jeremies, Ballack, Hargreaves, Makaay, Santa Cruz (Pizarro 73).

Referee: Rene Temmink (Holland).