Ten-man Well slump to defeat

Mohamed Elyounoussi’s last-gasp strike ensured Celtic avoided another European nightmare as they scraped to a 1-0 win over Riga last night.

The Hoops were looking to recover some continental pride in Latvia following last month’s humiliating Champions League exit at the hands of Ferencvaros.

Yet it was another frustrating night for Neil Lennon as his team again laboured through the motions before edging their way into the Europa League play-offs.

Odsonne Edouard was back on duty after sitting out the weekend win over Livingston but the Frenchman showed little enthusiasm for the task of spearheading Celtic’s attack.

And it was the man who replaced him with eight minutes left, Elyounoussi, who grabbed the all-important lastminute goal to seal victory and set up a clash with FK Sarajevo or Budugnost Podgorica next week.

The Scottish champions are well used to teams parking the bus, but Riga took it one step further after positioning a pair of double-deckers behind one of the goals so a couple dozen home supporters could cheer on their side.

Declan Gallagher was booked twice inside 60 seconds as Motherwell fell to a 3-0 Europa League defeat against Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Israel.

Motherwell looked comfortable for the vast majority of the first half and Christopher Long forced a good save before Miguel Vitor opened the scoring with a free header from a set-piece two minutes before the interval.

Former Dundee defender Gallagher headed over from a good chance before he was penalised while competing in the air at a free-kick he had just given away.

Gallagher then conceded a penalty, which earned him his marching orders and saw Josue slot home to make it 2-0. Hapoel’s man advantage told and Elton Acolatse added a third with seven minutes left.

The defeat came as a real blow to Well who travelled to locked-down Israel with confidence.

They were off their seats after 21 minutes as Celtic got themselves so out of shape that the Latvians raced clear on a three-on-one.

Nir Bitton rescued the Hoops with a vital block before Vladimirs Kamess could roll in a team-mate but Lennon could be forgiven for having worrying flashbacks to last month’s Champions League catastrophe.

The Parkhead manager had yet more to fret over when James Forrest went down with a calf injury after 32 minutes and had to be replaced by Jeremy Frimpong.

But at least by that stage his side were starting to create. Olivier Ntcham had a 25-yard drive tipped over by Roberts Ozols while a better connection might have seen Bitton net after Shane Duffy climbed high to nod down Christie’s up-and-under into the box.

Edouard shrugged himself into action as he slid McGregor in behind the Riga defence but Ritvars Rugins covered up well to deny Frimpong a tap-in at the back post.

The half-time break offered Lennon the opportunity to remind his team they had little margin for error in this one-off tie.

Albian Ajeti had made a clinical start to his Hoops career with a goal every 40 minutes so far, yet he someone failed to convert from a yard out just moments after replacing Ntcham.

Frimpong got to the byline and fired the ball across goal but the Swiss striker got the ball stuck between his feet and Ozols pounced to smother.

Frimpong was increasingly looking like the man who would make the difference and he swept another cross into the box for Norwegian Elyounoussi to angle home a precious winner.