Samaras: Hoops fell short

Celtic striker Georgios Samaras admitted his side failed to do themselves justice in the 2-0 Champions League play-off defeat by Arsenal.

Although Arsenal had failed to seriously trouble Artur Boruc before William Gallas inadvertently diverted Cesc Fabregas’s 43rd-minute free-kick into the net, the Gunners went on to enjoy a comfortable second period.

Arsenal had chances for a second before Gary Caldwell turned a Gael Clichy cross into his own net and Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia was unperturbed during the second half.

Celtic have beaten the likes of AC Milan, Juventus and Manchester United at Parkhead in recent years but they could not sustain any attacking threat against the Gunners.

Samaras, who started up front alongside Aiden McGeady, said: “They scored lucky goals but I think in the end they deserved to win because we didn’t play so well. ”We didn’t play the ball forward to create chances, we lost a lot of simple passes.

“Up to the first goal we handled the game really well but I think after that we were a little bit sloppy.”