It was a gutting night for Celtic in the UEFA Champions League as we fell to a horrible 2-1 loss to Lazio.
The Hoops were the better side for long spells of the match and led through an early Kyogo Furuhashi strike. But we were pegged back by Matias Vecino’s goal before Pedro netted a winner with virtually the last kick of the match.
Luis Palma also had a goal disallowed for a very tight offside call ten minutes from time.
It was a performance that deserved so much. But a result that makes our chances in Group E very difficult.
Absolute gutter
We were on the end of a real gutter near the end of the match when former Barcelona man Pedro nodded in a winner.
It was the sucker punch to end all sucker punches as we tried to win the game at the other end. Pedro looked like he could possibly have been offside but no VAR check took place.
Ten minutes earlier, our Honduran winger Luis Palma looked to have given us the lead at the most crucial of times. However, he was called offside after a VAR check following the slightest of touches from Daizen Maeda. It was a very close thing, but Palma had been offside and the call was correct.
The moment was a real sucker punch for the atmosphere at Celtic Park. Celtic didn’t really regain their impetus in the closing stages of the match and Lazio struck.
Kyogo’s moment
We’d all been waiting for Kyogo Furuhashi’s big moment in the Champions League and it arrived very early on.
The goal was made by the run from Daizen Maeda and the first-time pass from Matt O’Riley. The Danish youth international’s cushioned pass was perfectly in the path of Kyogo and he slotted past Ivan Provedel. It was as good a goal as Celtic have scored at this level in a long time.
Even apart from the goal, our talismanic forward was more involved at this level than he has been before. He nearly repaid the favour for O’Riley later on but the midfielder’s effort was tame.
Kyogo has now arrived at this level and we can hope for many more goals.
Slim chances
We had all built this game up as the perfect opportunity for the team to end a ten-year wait for a home UEFA Champions League victory. Lazio’s domestic struggles had everyone believing that it could be the night.
The performance was pretty good. We were the better team for vast swathes of the match but we came up short in the end. Again, that came down to some defensive issues.
Our goal was a piece of magic as already outlined. Lazio’s really weren’t. It was another reminder of the very fine margins at the top level. We’re now bottom of the group with no points from our first two matches. Our hopes of even making the Europa League look slim.
In other news, Charlie Mulgrew shares social media post after recent visit to Celtic training
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