Celtic faced off against København at Celtic Park earlier tonight hoping to pick up a win that would see them through to the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League. Both teams played out a 1-1 draw at Telia Parken earlier this month heading into this showdown in Europe. The Hoops made a strong start to the game but were wasteful with their chances in the first 45 minutes.
København stuck to their game plan and took the lead in the 51st minute via Michael Santos’ goal. However, the Glaswegian giants refused to give up without a fight and equalised courtesy of Odsonne Edouard’s penalty in the 83rd minute. Despite Celtic’s best efforts, Pep Biel scored the decisive second goal for his team just two minutes later to silence the home supporters. Dame N’Doye joined in on the Danish party as he put the icing on the cake with his clinical finish before the full-time whistle.
The contest ended with Ståle Solbakken’s men coming away with a 3-1 victory from Glasgow and thus, knocked Neil Lennon’s side out of the Europa League with a 4-2 win on aggregate.
Let’s take a look at how each Celtic player performed during the contest against København.
GK: Fraser Forster – 5/10
The Hoops shot-stopper had to pick up the ball from the back of his net three times, much to the nightmare of the Celtic Park faithful. He did not make a save in the game and was mostly let down by his teammates in front of him.
RB: Kristoffer Ajer – 5/10
He was not responsible for conceding the first two goals but could have done better to prevent København’s third.
CB: Christopher Jullien – 5/10
The French centre-back coped well with Dame N’Doye’s threat in the first 45 but crumbled under pressure in the latter stages of the encounter. He will be hoping for better nights in a Celtic shirt.
CB: Jozo Simunovic – 3/10
The Croatian defender made a horrible mistake early in the second half which put the visitors ahead. He looked nervy when defending inside his own half and threw away possession several times during the match. It was a concerning display from him tonight in front of the home supporters
LB: Greg Taylor – 6/10
He was bright and energetic down the left flank in the early stages of the game. However, his impact on the field faded after the half-time break.
RM: James Forrest – 5/10
The Scottish talent missed a great opportunity to open the goal-scoring in the first half. He was a constant threat down the right-wing but failed to find a telling ball in the final third.
CM: Scott Brown – 5/10
The veteran midfielder put in a lacklustre display throughout the 90 minutes and was far from convincing with his ball-distribution tonight.
CM: Callum McGregor – 6/10
He went close to giving Celtic the lead with a fine effort after the half-time break. McGregor combined well with Taylor and Elyounoussi in the opposition half but struggled to carve open the København defence.
LM: Mohamed Elyounoussi – 6/10
Elyounoussi looked a significant threat in the first half but was guilty of missing a couple of decent chances in the second. He needs to improve his productivity in the attacking third of the pitch.
CAM: Tom Rogic – 5/10
The Australian put in a lively performance early on but was quite disappointing in the second. Rogic has to find some consistency if he wants more playing time in the future.
ST: Odsonne Edouard – 6/10
The Hoops centre-forward kept his calm to slot home the penalty, but it was not enough in the end.
Substitutes:
ST: Leigh Griffiths – 5/10
He saw his one effort get saved by Karl-Johan Johnsson after coming off the bench.
