'We stopped...': Celtic star laments key moment in Braga defeat and lands verdict on misfiring teammates

Celtic winger Sebastian Tounekti says his teammates have been left baffled by the decision to disallow Kelechi Iheanacho’s goal in their 2-0 Europa League loss to Braga, but believes they are ultimately responsible for the defeat at Celtic Park on Thursday.

The Nigerian’s 51st-minute strike looked to have cancelled out Ricardo Horta’s 21st-minute opener, levelling proceedings in Glasgow, only for VAR to deem that the striker had used his hand to control the ball before slotting home beyond Lukáš Horníček in the away goal, with referee Tobias Stieler chalking the goal off.

However, replays appeared to show that the ball had not struck Iheanacho’s arm, and instead had clearly deflected off his head, leaving the home crowd perplexed. Gabri Martinez sealed the win for the visitors when he tapped home in the final six minutes of the clash, but the Tunisian admits the dressing room remains confused by the decision to rule out their goal.

Celtic striker Kelechi Iheanacho is left perplexed by the decision to rule out his 51st strike against Braga. | SNS Group

“We watched the video over again,” said Tounekti. “I also spoke to Keli (Iheanacho) about it, and it was never a handball. It was his face. I'm really interested in what the referee saw on the video because that was never a handball. It's disappointing. Especially because I think we get the goal so early in the second half, and if that goal stays, then we will win the game 100.

“We were creating lots of chances, and we scored to make it 1-1. It was never a handball. I saw the video inside now. It's crazy that the referee is taking out that one because there's never a chance it's a handball. We have to learn from it and we have to move on."

Despite the game-changing moment, the 23-year-old also concedes his side are kicking themselves for how they reacted to Braga’s opener. The fifth time in the last nine games that they’ve drawn a blank, Tounekti also offered a strong defence of his teammates, saying there’s enough quality in the squad to be confident they’ll start firing again sooner rather than later.

“We have to analyse the game tomorrow and see what we can do better,” he said. "I feel like, especially the first half, after 20 minutes, we were on it, we were good. Then it felt like we stopped playing, especially after they scored. In the second half, we were much better.

“I feel like, as a group, we are confident in the players we have. I think there are a lot of goals from many of us. We just have to find the rhythm. I think when we start scoring, it will be more and more. We have to find the rhythm because we know there are a lot of players who have the quality to make goals and assists.

“We tried to change a little bit of the playing style, the system. I felt like it was working. He said only that we need to go for it. Also, after the game, we were angry with the result, of course, but we have to move on. We have an important game on Sunday, so we have to keep going."

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