10-man Celtic finish well beaten in Austria

Forrest sent off as hosts recover from Edouard’s early goal

SALZBURG 3 CELTIC 1

Brendan Rodgers was left frustrated by the loss of disappointing goals after 10-man Celtic surrendered an early lead to lose to Salzburg in Austria.

French striker Odsonne Edouard put the visitors ahead in the Europa League Group B fixture at the Red Bull Arena after less than two minutes using his pace and power.

The Austrian champions, who reached the semi-finals of the tournament last season, dominated thereafter and two goals in six secondhalf minutes from Munas Dabbur and fellow attacker Takumi Minamino turned the tie around.

Celtic winger James Forrest was then sent off by referee Serhiy Boiko in the 72nd minute for denying skipper Andreas Ulmer an obvious goalscoring opportunity and Dabbur slotted home the consequent penalty.

Rodgers, who was dealt a blow before the game when skipper Scott Brown was forced to pull out with a hamstring strain, said: “I think the best team won.

“I thought in the first half we started well and by the end of the half we had frustrated Salzburg, you could see in their game and play and we carried a threat when we broke out of our shape.

“So the first half I was reasonably pleased with, the second half we gave away disappointing goals.

“And obviously when it gets to 3-1 it is a difficult game for us with 10 men.

“The positives from the first half – it was compact and tight and we gave them problems when we were positive going forward, didn’t concede too much from a defensive perspective but yes, it was a disappointing result in the end.”

While Salzburg top the group with six points from six, Celtic have three from their win over Rosenborg at Parkhead.

The Scottish champions now face a double-header with RB Leipzig, starting with a trip to Germany later this month.

Brown’s place was taken by Youssouf Mulumbu, who was making his European debut for the Hoops, while left-back Kieran Tierney captained a side which enjoyed an early boost.

There looked no immediate problem for the hosts when midfielder Callum McGregor helped Tierney’s pass forward but Edouard brushed aside the weak challenge of Andre Ramalho and calmly placed his right-footed shot past goalkeeper Alexander Walke.

The goal stung Salzburg but the Hoops rearguard stood firm under relentless pressure and a minute from the interval Edouard had the ball in the Salzburg net after Walke parried a Forrest shot but was ruled offside.

Salzburg started the second half at top speed and Gordon did well to block a close-range effort from Dabbur for another corner which was defended.

However, the equaliser arrived 10 minutes after the break when Hannes Wolf collected a Minamino head-flick and cut the ball back for Dabbur to squeeze his shot past Gordon.

Scott Sinclair replaced Leigh Griffiths on the hour-mark but a minute later the home side went ahead when Ulmer’s cut-back was tucked away by Minamino at the second attempt.

Salzburg swarmed all over the Scottish champions looking for a third which came after Forrest bundled Ulmer to the ground inside the box after being caught in possession, with Dabbur taking care of the spot-kick.

Salzburg: Walke, Lainer, Ramalho, Pongracic, Ulmer, Haidara, Samassekou, Wolf (Gulbrandsen 79), Schlager, Dabbur (Yabo 85), Minamino (Junuzovic 71). Subs not used: Stankovic, van der Werff, Prevljak, Todorovic.

Celtic: Gordon, Lustig, Boyata, Hendry, Tierney, Forrest, Mulumbu (Christie 78), Ntcham, McGregor, Griffiths (Sinclair 60), Edouard (Morgan 82). Subs not used: Bain, Izaguirre, Simunovic, Gamboa.

Referee: Serhiy Boiko (Ukraine).

I think the best team won. BRENDAN RODGERS

Picture: AP. Scott Sinclair is challenged by Marin Pongracic.