Elyounoussi brace not enough as Celtic held to draw in Lille

Celtic let slip a two-goal interval lead to draw 2-2 with Lille in their thrilling Europa League encounter at the Stade Pierre Mauroy last night.

Neil Lennon’s side were under the spotlight after losing to Rangers and AC Milan in their first Group H fixture before drawing 3- 3 with Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Sunday but they raced into a two-goal lead through attacker Mohamed Elyounoussi who scored twice in a four-minute spell in the first half.

Hoops keeper Scott Bain, preferred to Vasilis Barkas, saved a Jonathan David penalty five minutes before the break and it looked like it was going to be Celtic’s night but Lille dominated in the second half.

Defender Zeki Celik pulled a goal back in the 67 th minute and Jonathan Ikone levelled in the 75th minute with Celtic hanging on for a valuable point although they will feel it should have been more.

Lille dominated possession in the early stages with Bain making his first real save in the 13th minute following a corner, when he beat away a drive from Boubakary Soumare, before saving Yu s u f Yazici’s left-footed freekick from 25 yards two minutes later.

In the 19 th minute Albian Ajeti had the ball in the Lille net but was well offside then blazed an Elyounoussi cut back over the bar from eight yards.

The Parkhead side’s first goal in 28 minutes came after Lille full-back Celik lost possession and when Ajeti flicked the ball to Elyounoussi he sped towards goal and bent his shot past helpless keeper Mike Maignan.

Lille struggled to cope with the setback.

Four minutes later Ajeti and Jeremie Frimpong combined and when the Hoops wingback crossed into the box Elyounoussi swept the ball into the corner from 16 yards.

After Canada striker David’s unconvincing spot-kick was blocked by Bain, the second half was a slog for Lennon’s side.

Nir Bitton replaced the injured Kristoffer Ajer in the 51st minute, causing Celtic to wobble and the unmarked Celik prodded the ball in at the back post to make it 2-1.

Ikone then pounced on a loose ball and his deflected shot ended up behind Bain for the equaliser. Celtic might have snatched it near the end when Fr i m p o n g smashed a drive just over the bar.

Jo s e Mo u r i n h o’s Tottenham crashed to a shock 1-0 defeat to Royal Antwerp. Jamie Vardy inspired L eicester to victory at AEK Athens, netting from the penalty spot in a 2-1 win, and Arsenal were 3-0 winners at home to Irish minnows Dundalk.

Mohamed Elyounoussi goes up against Zeki Celik.