Benfica 4-1 Celtic: Bhoys still winless after Duran double

Celtic remain winless in the Europa League after they were comfortably beaten 4-1 by Benfica at Estadio da Luz.

Martin O’Neill’s bounced back from their defeat in the Old Firm game with Rangers prior to the international break by beating Motherwell 2-0 last weekend, but a trip to Lisbon always promised to be a difficult assignment.

And getting their first point of the league phase following an opening defeat to Ferencvaros proved a challenge beyond Celtic, with Jhon Duran’s penalty and Alexander Bah’s strike putting Benfica in command midway through the first half.

Jhon Duran’s second gave Celtic a mountain to climb and, though his namesake Camilo Duran gave the travelling fans something to cheer, Vangelis Pavlidis added gloss to the scoreline late on.

Former Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran impudently broke the deadlock with a Panenka from 12 yards after he was kicked in the back of the leg by Dane Murray.

Kasper Hogh was denied by Anatoliy Trubin as Celtic sought an instant response, but poor goalkeeping at the other end made their challenge more imposing as Gianluca Prestianni delivered to the far post for Bah, whose shot snuck under Viljami Sinisalo.

Hogh and Camilo Duran hit the post in quick succession as Celtic endured more frustration, which was heightened when Jhon Duran doubled his tally by somehow sneaking an effort from a tight angle beyond Sinisalo at the near post.

Celtic gave themselves a glimmer of hope shorty after the hour mark as Camilo Duran headed home from Haissem Hassan’s right-wing cross, and the Colombian was unfortunate not to double his tally and fuel dreams of a comeback when he became the latest visiting player to rattle the post.

Schjelderup then did the same at the other end as he spurned a chance to kill the game as a contest, before Camilo Duran was left furious at Callum Osmand’s failure to square the ball as he surged down the left, the forward’s eventual effort diverted behind for a corner.

Pavlidis ended any lingering hope of a fightback when he rolled home from the edge of the area after being played in by Tomas Araujo, who hit the underside of the crossbar in stoppage time, the woodwork preserving some respectability for a Celtic side who were comfortably outclassed.

The UEFA Europa League Table

Upcoming fixtures for Benfica and Celtic

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