Barca profit as Celtic made pay for indiscipline

Celtic 0 Barcelona 1

Cesc Fabregas scored the winner for Barca on 76 minutes after the home side were reduced to 10 men in the 58th minute when Brown was red carded by referee Stephane Lannoy after a kick at Neymar following his original foul on the Brazilian.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon was upset by the red card shown to Brown, insisting his side had been better up to that point.

“I’m not convinced,” he said. “Any contact that was made was minimal. It’s in front of the referee but there’s a lot else going on out there. It changed the game.”

The Hoops came close to opening the scoring moments after the dismissal when substitute James Forrest, on for Mikael Lustig, had a powerful volley saved by Victor Valdes before Charlie Mulgrew came within inches with a back post header.

Mulgrew admitted afterwards he should have scored with his header. “It was an unbelievable chance,” Mulgrew said. “You can see that on the TV. I should have scored.”

However, the Scottish champions were dealt another blow in the 76th minute when Cesc Fabregas headed Barcelona into the lead.

Celtic keeper Fraser Forster denied Neymar twice and also substitute Alexis Sanchez, who had set up the goal, in the closing stages as gaps opened up in the Parkhead defence.

But it was a spirited performance by Neil Lennon’s side who, as expected, chased the ball for most of the game.

Celtic play Ajax in their next group fixture on October 22 and after losing 2-0 to AC Milan in their Group H opener, they will have to fight for Champions League survival without the Scotland midfielder who let his side down.

The ‘Tifosi’ display inside Celtic Park before the game — where coloured cards were held up by fans all around the packed stadium — set the mood for another night of European excitement in the east end of Glasgow.

Lennon kept changes to a minimum. Lustig replaced striker Teemu Pukki, who started on the bench where he was joined by Forrest, who had recovered from a virus, and midfielder Beram Kayal, back from a groin injury.

Barcelona were without Lionel Messi as well as Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba and Carles Puyol but the Catalans still had a host of big names including Fabregas, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Neymar. Barca dominated possession almost from the start and pulled the home side all over the park.

However, in the fifth minute Celtic cut their way through the visiting defence and Barca keeper Valdes had to be vigilant to deny Georgios Samaras.

However, the Catalans, playing in an unfamiliar all-black kit and without an out-and-out centre forward, kept a tight grip on the match. Neymar had a drive from 25 yards in the 17th minute which went wide of the post before Iniesta drove over the bar.

Five minutes from the break Neymar got a flick to a Dani Alves’ cross only to see the ball zip past the near post.

The second period began with Tata Martino’s side again monopolising possession without looking like scoring.

Brown’s dramatic sending-off, for foolishly aiming a boot at Neymar after tripping the Barca forward from behind, gave an edge to the atmosphere with the home fans clearly unhappy at the way the fleet-footed Brazilian had made the most of minimal contact.

Lennon replaced Anthony Stokes with Kayal and Lustig with Forrest in the 68th minute. Four minutes later Celtic, fuelled by a sense of injustice, almost took the lead when Forrest fired in from the edge of the box with Valdes having to make a great save.

From Kris Commons’ corner Mulgrew headed past the post.

But moments after he had replaced Pedro Rodriguez, Alexis Sanchez raced down the right and crossed for the unmarked Fabregas to head across Forster and in to the net.

With four minutes remaining Forster then made a great double save, first from Neymar’s drive and then from Alexis Sanchez. In the dying seconds of normal time Forster had another great save from Neymar when he raced clear of the fatigued Hoops’ rearguard.

Celtic now desperately need something from the forthcoming double-header with Ajax to keep their Champions League hopes alive.

Mulgrew insists the fight to reach the next round will go on, however.

“We’ve got to keep believing and putting in performances,” he said. “If we can take our chances we can definitely qualify.”

CELTIC: Forster, Lustig (Forrest 69), van Dijk, Ambrose, Izaguirre, Matthews, Brown, Mulgrew, Samaras, Commons (Pukki 86), Stokes (Kayal 70).

BARCELONA: Valdes ,Dani Alves, Pique, Bartra, Adriano, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta (Song 89), Fabregas (Tello 78), Pedro (Alexis 75), Neymar.

Referee: Stephane Lannoy (France).