M'gladbach vs Celtic. UEFA Champions League Group C.
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Wednesday 2 November 2016 09:05, UK
Moussa Dembele rescued a point for Celtic from the spot as they drew 1-1 with 10-man Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League group stage.
The Germans, who had beaten the Bhoys 2-0 at Celtic Park on October 19, took the lead through Lars Stindl and created ample opportunities to double it.
But the game-changing moment - one that keeps Brendan Rodgers' side mathematically in the competition - came on 76 minutes when Dembele was fouled by Julian Korb inside the area and the defender was given a straight red card.
Dembele, who missed from the spot against Barcelona, kept his nerve to set up a frantic last 14 minutes, but Callum McGregor missed a golden opportunity late on to steal maximum points.
The draw leaves Celtic bottom of Group C on two points but while their Champions League hopes are slim with Barcelona and Manchester City left to play, they can still overtake Gladbach - whom they trail by two points - in third to bag a Europa League spot.
With Kolo Toure and Jozo Simunovic unavailable, Brendan Rodgers decided to go with Mikael Lustig in central defence next to Erik Sviatchenko. Stuart Armstrong was given the nod in midfield after he impressed again in the victory over Aberdeen, while Dembele, Tom Rogic and Scott Sinclair were tasked with providing the attacking threat.
Gladbach started confidently and Stindl, who scored the opening goal in the reverse fixture, was denied by a brave block by Craig Gordon on 17 minutes.
Celtic rarely threatened as Dembele struggled to provide a reliable platform in attack, though Sinclair curled a magnificent effort from 22 yards off the post that had Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer beaten.
Celtic failed to heed the aforementioned warning of Stindl's late runs into the penalty area and paid the price on 31 minutes.
Thorgan Hazard slipped into space down the right flank and teed up Stindl to fire home from 12 yards.
Fabian Johnson skewed a presentable chance wide just after the break before Jannik Vestergaard tested Gordon with a stinging drive from a tight angle that the goalkeeper palmed away.
Celtic were struggling to deal with Gladbach's incisive attacking and Christoph Kramer smashed an effort off the crossbar on 65 minutes. From the following attack Korb fired wide from 20 yards - and it looked only a matter of time before the hosts doubled their lead.
However, the introduction of the tricky Patrick Roberts gave Celtic a boost.
The momentum was slowly swinging in Celtic's favour and Dembele won his team a penalty on 76 minutes.
He powered his way past Korb down the left edge of the area, and as he went to shoot from a tight angle, he was pulled back by the defender. As the ball trickled wide, the referee blew and awarded Celtic the penalty before sending the defender off.
Dembele dusted himself down and stayed cool to roll the ball into the corner.
A winning goal for Celtic looked on the cards as they pressed forward in numbers. Their chance came with three minutes remaining but McGregor, who latched onto a perfect ball from Roberts, couldn't hit the target with just the goalkeeper to beat.
Gladbach held on for a draw but the result does no favours for either team; it's advantage Manchester City and Barcelona in Group C.
