Celtic lose out in Rome against Lazio | OneFootball

UEFA Champions League

Group Stages, Group E

Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy

LAZIO… 2

(Immobile 82 & 85)

CELTIC… 0

Celtic’s mission for European football post-Christmas came to an end after falling to a 2-0 defeat to Lazio in the Champions League in Rome.

Ciro Immobile came off the bench to score two late goals in the final eight minutes after what was a promising display in the Stadio Olimpico where the Hoops had clear chances to win the match and looked the more likely to seal the three points in the second-half.

It was an edgy opening 45 minutes as both teams tried to strangle control of the match, but neither created any clear-cut chances of note.

The first opportunity did fall Celtic’s way on the fifth minute through Kyogo. After winning back possession deep in Lazio’s half, the Japanese striker received the ball just over 20 yards out but his turn and shot was tame and Ivan Provedel got down to clutch onto it.

Lazio’s best opportunity came five minutes later through former West Ham winger Filipe Anderson. Matteo Guendouzi was the provider, chipping the ball towards the back post from the right of the pitch for Anderson who had raced past Hyunjun Yang and Alistair Johnston before heading into the ground and just over the bar from a good position.

At times, Celtic did play the ball over the top of the defence for the run of Kyogo and it almost paid off on the 15th minute as the goalkeeper raced out of his goal to try and clear Johnston’s through ball but missed, leaving an unmarked goal for Kyogo but the ball bounced to Patric who just managed to clear.

It was cagey from that point until half-time, with the hosts looking the slightly more dangerous side but they failed to test Joe Hart and the Hoops went into the break with the tie still all to play for.

Celtic came out into the second period full of intent and they were almost in dreamland just three minutes in with Kyogo missing a huge opportunity to take the lead.

Matt O’Riley pinched a loose ball close to the Lazio penalty area and found Kyogo in space on the right. About 12 yards out from a slightly tight angle, Kyogo worked room for the shot and when he did release he just pulled the effort wide of the left post.

Another big chance came and went three minutes later. Paulo Bernardo’s back-heel played Greg Taylor in down the left wing and he picked out the perfect cross for Yang at the back post who was in acres of space, but instead of going for goal, the South Korean tried to lay it across for Kyogo and the ball drifted away.

Lazio was still a threat in the game and Gustaf Isaksen went close on the hour mark after being slipped behind the defence by Anderson but he pulled his left-footed shot across goal and wide to the right.

Celtic were growing in confidence in the second-half the longer the game stayed 0-0, with the manager looking to his bench and bringing on Mikey Johnston and Hyeongyu Oh to try and grab the winner.

On the 70th minute, Cameron Carter-Vickers threatened Provedel from a corner as he headed O’Riley’s delivery towards the top-right corner from 10 yards out. Still, Provedel got across his goal to stop it hitting the back of the net.

Kyogo and Oh were on the park together with the South Korean taking the more advanced position and he was involved straight after coming on as he lashed a shot from distance right down the keeper’s through on 71 minutes.

Lazio knew victory would all but secure their passage into the knockout rounds and they got their goal with eight minutes remaining through their captain Ciro Immobile who latched onto a defelcted Isaksen shot that bounced across the box, sliding in and putting it into the top right corner.

On the 85th minute, Immobile doubled the lead and his tally after shrugging Liam Scales off the ball, turning past Carter-Vickers and sliding a shot under Hart to bring the tie to an end.

The Hoops thought they had won a penalty in stoppage time when the referee pointed to the spot for a foul by the goalkeeper on Oh, but after consulting with the monitor he overturned his decision and brought the game to a close.

Fixtures

Lazio Vs. Celtic - Tue, Nov 28th 2023, 17:45 Final score: 2 - 0 Match Report