Atletico beat Celtic and continued in Europe League

sport live europa league bettingAtletico Madrid won 1-0 at Celtic away in Glasgow and qualified for the knockout phase of the Europa League.

In the penultimate group game of the continental competition, the Spanish side took the lead from Turkish international Arda Turan whose strike from outside the box was too powerful for Bhoys goalkeeper Fraser Forster to keep out.

The Glaswegian club had won all five November matches but left their home stadium empty-handed; they now have to win their final Group I game away to Udinese to qualify for final-32 knockout round.

Los Colchoneros manager, Gregorio Manzano, will be delighted to see his side leave Celtic Park with three points as the La Liga club have underperformed away from home all season.

The Bhoys boss, Neil Lennon, made one change from the team which thrashed St Mirren in the SPL on Saturday, Ki Sung-Yeung replacing weekend hat-trick hero Gary Hooper.

Star striker Radamel Falcao had to settle for a place on the Atletico Madrid bench as the Colombia international was deemed not fully recovered from injury.

The first clear-cut chance of the match came immediately when Eduardo Salvio put a simple header wide of the right post from only a few yards out, stooping low when unmarked in front of goal only a minute into the game.

The Argentine continued to be instrumental in causing problems, and nearly pounced on a cross from the left wing, causing Forster to spill the ball before it was hoofed out the area.

Twelve minutes in and it was Celtic’s turn to pressurise their opponents box. Georgios Samaras, a tireless worker on the night, forced a reaction save from Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

From the resultant corner, Hoops striker Anthony Stokes headed the whipped ball goal-bound but Chelsea loanee Courtois saved before the referee called play back for an infringement in the penalty area.

Despite Celtic enjoying long periods of possession it was the visitors who took the lead on 30 minutes.

Diego's corner was half-cleared by Daniel Majstorovic before Arda Turan struck the ball low and hard into the back of net via the palm of Forster.

The Hoops keeper did not see the long range effort until late as Beram Kayal was stood in his line of sight – the stand-in skipper inexplicably ducked to avoid the shot at the last second.

Lennon, sensing the game could so easily slip out of the hosts' grasp if they conceded again, sent striker Hooper on at half-time for defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama.

The La Liga club continued to see the lion’s share of possession as the final 45 minutes got underway, peppering the home side with corners and crosses.

Midfielder Sung-Yeung had looked out of his depth for much of the match but nearly levelled the scoreline with a dipping right-footed free-kick on 65 minutes, which was tipped over intelligently by Courtois.

Moments later, an out-swinging corner was headed back towards the goalmouth by Charlie Mulgrew and Hooper knocked the ball into the back of the net, but the goal was ruled wrongly by the official as offside.

Celtic club captain Scott Brown made his return to action off the bench with little over 20 minutes remaining, as did former Porto forward Falcao, but neither player had a major impact on the match.

The Hoops, desperate for an equaliser, survived a late barrage from Atletico Madrid who tried to exploit the gaps in the Celtic defence created by a desire to attack from Lennon’s side.

Substitute Brown had a stoppage time opportunity but Courtois pulled off another low save and the score ultimately remained 1-0.

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