Celtic out despite win

Samaras: Set Celtic on their way

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Celtic put in a solid display to defeat Hapoel Tel-Aviv 2-0 at Celtic Park, but they were knocked out of the Europa League after other results went against them.

The home side had to win and hope Rapid Vienna could beat Hamburg in Germany, but the Austrians were defeated 2-0 to send Tony Mowbray's side crashing out.

The Bhoys started the game brightly and dominated the opening exchanges, Aidan McGeady teeing up Georgios Samaras to head Celtic into a deserved lead.

Tel Aviv, top of Group C going into the match, offered little and Samaras nearly doubled the lead when his flick clipped the bottom of the post.

Celtic needed a second goal to make win safe, and that came on 67 when Barry Robson curled a free-kick past Vincent Enyeama into the bottom corner.

They went into the match knowing the odds were stacked against them if they were to progress, but from the outset they looked fired up and ready to seize the chance should it come their way.

Boosted by their return to the top of the SPL after a win over St Mirren, the Bhoys came out of the traps flying, looking to catch their visitor's off-guard.

Catalyst

Their catalyst was McGeady, who had an inspired first-half and gave Tel-Aviv full-back Dani Bondar a torrid time.

As early as the second minute the Republic of Ireland international threatened, but his header was weak and Enyeama was left untroubled.

Hapoel, cheered on by a couple of hundred supporters, had scored in all of their away ties in Europe going into the clash and their quality showed, keeping possession neatly.

But they rarely threatened and they were nearly behind as early as the fourth minute when Scott McDonald had the ball in the net, but his neat finish was ruled out for offside.

Tel-Aviv hit back and broke dangerously, Etey Shechter going down under a clumsy challenge from Landry N'Guemo after the Cameroonian had gifted possession to the striker.

Referee Tony Asumaa waved play on though, and replays showed the midfielder got the slightest of touches on the ball.

McGeady was once again involved as Celtic threatened, the winger pulling the ball back to McDonald, who stung the fingertips of Enyeama with a fierce shot.

The Celtic crowd sensed a goal and they didn't have to wait long for the break-through.

With 22 minutes played, McGeady came rampaging down the left, beating Bondrav with ease before hanging a delightful ball into the box.

Striker Samaras was the welcome recipient of the cross as he came darting into the box to plant the ball firmly into the bottom-corner.

The lead was thoroughly deserved and Samaras nearly doubled the advantage after linking up with McGeady, only to see his flick trickle off the post.

Robson fired in the rebound as the ball fell to the midfielder, but Enyeama recovered to make a smart save.

Robson, operating as a left-footed winger down the right-hand side, came close again when his free-kick took a slight deflection to go just over the bar.

Hapoel made it to half-time without conceding again, and they made changes at the interval to try shake things up, Maaran Lala and Nemanja Vucicevic coming on to offer some much-needed attacking threat.

The pair did improve their side's performance massively, but they lacked the intensity to seriously threaten Lukasz Zaluska in the Celtic goal.

The Polish stopper was forced into a save later in the night as Shechter stole the ball off Danny Fox and made his way goal ward, but the keeper made a good smothering save.

Vain

At the other end Celtic lacked inspiration and brought on Marc Antoine Fortune to liven proceedings.

The big striker made an immediate impact as he was fouled on the edge of the box by Bebars Natcho, allowing Robson to step-up and curl home the free-kick into the bottom corner.

That goal made the game safe as a contest, and Mowbray brought on Lee Naylor for the excellent McGeady to close out the match.

But news of Hamburg's lead over Vienna in Germany filtered through to the Celtic Park crowd, who knew their side's efforts were in vain.

They still pressed for a third goal, however, and Fortune should have done better from close-range when he wriggled free.

McDonald should have scored as Celtic broke from a Tel-Aviv corner, but the striker skewed his shot horribly wide.

It mattered little as Mowbray's side closed out the match, the Old Firm club now turning their attention to the clash with Aberdeen as they focus on regaining the SPL title from rivals Rangers.