Javi Rodriguez celebrates scoring for Celta VigoImage source, Reuters
Image caption,

Javi Rodriguez scored twice in three second-half minutes for Celta Vigo

ByAndy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland at Celtic Park

Celta Vigo scored twice in three second-half minutes to come from behind, beat Celtic and leave the Scottish champions' Europa League hopes hanging by a thread.

Javi Rodriguez first headed in a free-kick from close range, then lashed in a stunning second to leave Martin O'Neill's side pointless after three matches following defeats by Ferencvaros and Benfica.

Spanish side Celta enjoyed spells when they dominated the ball in the first half without really opening Celtic up.

Ferran Jutgla fired an effort just wide and also forced Sam Johnstone into a smart save just before the break.

The Celtic fans were screaming for a penalty when Callum Osmond went down on the edge of the box from a push from Javi Rueda.

Replays showed the incident was just outside the penalty area, but the referee saw no infringement at all and waved play on.

The Scottish Premiership side had made little impression in the final third, but barely a minute into the second half they took the lead.

Haissem Hassan had had little change out of Marcos Alonso, but he ghosted by the former Chelsea man and delivered a cross into the box. It was only half-cleared to Mika Baur, who swept home a smart side-foot finish low past Ionut Radu.

Liam Scales saw a header hit the crossbar, but Celta turned the game on its head with two goals in three minutes.

Rodriguez met a terrific free-kick delivery with a bullet header to level things up, and then unleashed a rocket from 20 yards which flew past Johnstone and into the net for what proved to be the winning goal.

'Celtic are just not good enough at this level'

Scottish Football Podcast

22/11/26

Graphic

Celtic analysis: O'Neill's side wilt under pressure

After the 7-1 Premiership dismantling of Hearts on Sunday, hopes were raised amongst the Celtic fans that, with the attacking trio of Hassan, Osmand and Camilo Duran dovetailing nicely, the Scottish champions had rediscovered their mojo.

Unsurpisingly, Celta were nowhere near as accommodating as Hearts had been and Celtic found chances hard to come by.

The Spaniards dominated the ball without really creating any clear-cut chances in the first half, with Liam Scales and Dane Murray blocking just about everything that came near their box.

Figure caption,

"A bit of adversity and the lights go out"

Celtic ramped up the tempo for a brief spell Baur's opening goal, but after Scales struck the woodwork, they lost whatever control they had of the game.

Celta stepped it up to a level Celtic seemed incapable of handling, and has happened far too often in recent times, the visitors looked like they were enjoying their evening at Celtic Park.

If anything, they could have had added to their lead as they came on strong late in the game.

O'Neill was irate that what looked a clear foul on Duran went unpunished in the lead up to Celta's equaliser.

The bigger frustration for the Celtic manager will be the fashion in which his team, once again, lost their way on a big European night, and the perilous state this result leaves their Europa League campaign in.

What they said

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill: "We conceded a free-kick and I thought a second before that we should have had a foul for us. They score from the free-kick and it knocks us a little bit. It gave them a bit of momentum.

"I think if [Liam] Scales' header goes in to make it 2-0, we get the three points. We've lost three matches now, remarkably we're still in with a chance [of progressing]. We've got to win here and got to win away from home.

"We take the lead in the game, if we get the second goal we win the match and it changes the whole dynamic.

"It didn't happen, that's it - we need to try to find a way to win European games."

Figure caption,

'We have what we have' - O'Neill speaks after Celta Vigo collapse

Celtic midfielder Mika Baur: "How we played second half, last 30 minutes, we deserved it in the end.

"It can happen that you get a goal, they can score too, good team - you should then get control back, hold the ball a bit longer to take the momentum away from them. You should break that."

Player of the match

Number: 20 Javi Rodríguez
Average rating 7.34
Number: 22 M. Baur
Average Rating: 3.96
Number: 19 C. Osmand
Average Rating: 3.82
Number: 63 K. Tierney
Average Rating: 3.76
Number: 47 D. Murray
Average Rating: 3.69
Number: 26 S. Johnstone
Average Rating: 3.62
Number: 51 C. Donovan
Average Rating: 3.53
Number: 11 C. Durán
Average Rating: 3.49
Number: 23 Haissem Hassan
Average Rating: 3.41
Number: 5 L. Scales
Average Rating: 3.34
Number: 8 B. Nygren
Average Rating: 3.29
Number: 49 J. Forrest
Average Rating: 3.27
Number: 42 C. McGregor
Average Rating: 2.91
Number: 9 K. Høgh
Average Rating: 2.75
Number: 17 S. Tounekti
Average Rating: 2.69
Number: 18 O. Sørensen
Average Rating: 2.67

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.