But Celtic were unable to pick up a first win of the group that could have sent Fenerbahce out had Ajax beaten Molde – Pereira’s men wrapping up second place behind Molde in their 200th UEFA outing.
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“Our aim is to win tomorrow but I am sure Celtic will be fighting for their honour and they are going to try to prove that they don’t deserve to be in this position in this group”. “There’s a chance we could top the group if we beat them”. Two draws at home is simply not good enough and we are made to pay for it.
No one would say in the beginning of the group stage that Molde would be topping the table, leaving behind teams such as Fenerbahce, Ajax and Celtic.
But Celtic were left rueing keeper Gordon’s first-half error when he came out of his goal only for the ball to run through his legs to Markovic, who scored from a tight angle.
The Belgian side can still go through with a draw at home to newcomers Qarabag but should the Azerbaijani club win and Monaco not, they will snatch second spot having obtained more points in matches among the three teams in question.
The goal stunned Celtic, although they came close with seconds of the first half remaining when skipper Lustig’s hooked shot from 16 yards was deflected past for a corner, which was headed past by stopper Jozo Simunovic.
They came into their final group match needing to win and hoping Fenerbahce would slip up against Celtic, beginning with promise by taking the lead through Donny van de Beek’s looping header after 14 minutes.
“I have confidence. There are small things that we want to do”.
On the bench Deila can turn to Kris Commons and James Forrest if needed, while Gary Mackay-Steven is also one of the substitutes.
He told Press Association Sport: “It was good to get back”.
“I think we have a five per cent chance of making it through – that’s not a lot, but you never know in football”.
‘This year we conceded too many easy goals but we have scored goals, so it is small things that have to be better to get the results we want.
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He said: “We’ve done pretty well against the bigger names in the group”. The game turned on the red card and also because we brought on fresh legs and creative players. In defence we need to pressure better and keep concentration for 90 minutes.
