Sporting Braga 3 - 0 Celtic: Lennon's side left with a mountain to climb to avoid an early European exit

Published on Wednesday 28 July 2010 21:26

NEIL LENNON may have avoided a catastrophe on the scale of Bratislava, but he will take little else in the way of consolation from a dispiriting defeat in his first European match as Celtic manager.

Lennon's reshaped side face a daunting assignment in Glasgow next Wednesday night after their hopes of reaching the group stage of the Champions League this season suffered a massive blow in northern Portugal last night.

The margin of their defeat to a Braga side who were unremarkable for long periods will be hard for Lennon to stomach but Celtic will require to find a hugely improved level of performance themselves if they are to turn this third qualifying round tie around.

A spectacular 35-yard free-kick from Braga substitute Matheus three minutes from time for the home side's third goal may just have put the task beyond Lennon's men who toiled for long periods on an exceptionally humid night, struggling to recover from the controversial first-half penalty kick which put their opponents in front.

Four of Lennon's six summer signings were included in a starting line-up few would have predicted. The omission of Aiden McGeady was especially surprising, and not a little intriguing, with the manager having insisted 24 hours earlier that the winger would be in his team unless he was informed of developments over the player's potential sale.

But McGeady, who had not featured in any of Celtic's pre-season fixtures because of a thigh injury, was not even named among the substitutes. There was also no place in the 18 for Andreas Hinkel, news having emerged earlier in the day that Celtic had neglected to register him with Uefa as a member of their squad for the tie. The German, who had travelled with the party to Portugal, had to settle for a seat in the stand as South Korean international Cha Du Ri made his debut at right-back.

Lennon deployed his side in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Efrain Juarez and Ki Sung Yeung as the holding players in midfield and Shaun Maloney, Scott Brown and Joe Ledley taking more advanced positions behind lone striker Georgios Samaras. It was Celtic who carved out the first threatening moment, Maloney's whipped cross from the right forcing Braga defender Moises into an acrobatic clearance on the edge of the six yard-box to prevent the ball reaching Samaras.

But Braga gradually began to display more purpose and ambition. Lukasz Zaluska's first save of the evening was less than convincing, the goalkeeper only managing to push Paulo Cesar's long range shot back out into the penalty area. Fortunately for Zaluska, the home side were unable to take advantage.

Zaluska was beaten, however, when Braga made their 26th minute breakthrough. Cesar found Miguel Garcia, whose foraging down the right was becoming increasingly problematic for Celtic, and his cross was blocked in the penalty area by Ki. Assistant referee Frank Bleyen raised his flag immediately, indicating that the South Korean was guilty of handball.

Referee Serge Gumienny, who not have seen the incident from his position, had no choice but to point to the spot. Ki appeared dumfounded, while his team-mates joined his protests in claiming the ball had struck him in the midriff.

After order had been restored, Alan showed great composure to send Zaluska the wrong way from the spot, although the Pole protested in vain that the Braga player had infringed the new Fifa regulation which outlaws checking your stride when taking a penalty. As Celtic struggled to recover their composure, they almost conceded a second goal a minute later, Zaluska relieved to see a low shot from Salino fly narrowly wide of his left-hand post. Jos Hooiveld was booked for a reckless challenge from behind on Lima, the big Dutchman joining Charlie Mulgrew, bizarrely cautioned for time-wasting after just four minutes, in the book as Celtic's sense of frustration intensified.

As the teams left the field at half-time, Lennon waited to angrily confront the match officials on the touchline before he was firmly ordered up the tunnel by Gumienny.

Although they secured greater dominance of possession, the home team generally lacked the guile to make the most of it in the attacking third of the field. Lennon attempted to spark his side with a tactical reorganisation, pushing Brown to a wide right role and withdrawing Maloney to a more central position. Celtic's biggest problem, however, was poor ball retention which prevented them from involving their wider players, including the peripheral Ledley, to any significant degree.

Braga seemed reasonably content with their single goal advantage, resisting the temptation to commit more players forward as the oppressive conditions began to sap the energy of both teams. Celtic had looked fairly comfortable at the back, although Glenn Loovens joined his central defensive partner Hooiveld in earning a yellow card for a foul on Lima.

There was a minor scare for Celtic in the 69th minute when Moises managed to steal a yard of space to get on the end of a Cesar free-kick but the big defender could only send his close range header wide of Zaluska's left-hand post. Celtic made their first change of the night two minutes later, replacing Maloney with Daryl Murphy. The 1.5 million signing from Sunderland moved into the central striker's role with Samaras moved to the left.

But before the alteration could have any positive effect, Celtic found themselves two behind. Alan eluded Mulgrew with considerable ease down the right and drove in a shot from a tight angle which Zaluska turned behind at his near post. Braga substitute Matheus curled in the corner from the right, the Celtic defence suddenly all at sea as they stopped en masse, allowing the ball to reach Elderson whose mishit shot was still powerful and accurate enough to trundle beyond the helpless Zaluska.

Celtic would not have regarded a two-goal deficit as irretrievable, but Braga put themselves firmly in the driving seat in the 87th minute.

Matheus, fouled by Brown some 35 yards from goal, took the free-kick himself and thundered a left foot shot high beyond the helpless Zaluska into the roof of the net.

BRAGA: Felgueiras, Garcia, Moises, Rodriguez, Elderson; Alan, Vandinho, Madrid, Cesar; Salino, Lima. Subs: Artur, Barbosa, Keita, Meyong, Silvio, Anibal, Matheus.

CELTIC: Zaluska, Cha, Hooiveld, Loovens, Mulgrew; Maloney, Juarez, Brown, Ki, Ledley; Samaras. Subs: Cervi, Fortune, Crosas, McCourt, Rogne, Murphy, Forrest...