Early goals dent Celtic's qualification hopes
Gordon Strachan ponders another away defeat in Europe
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Tuesday, 18, Sep 2007 11:43
Scottish champions Celtic slumped to a 2-0 defeat away to Shaktar Donetsk as they failed to recover from conceding a brace of early goals in their opening Champions League group game.
Just five minutes into the encounter Brazilian Evaeverson Brandao swept a finish beyond Artur Boruc to put the Ukranian outfit ahead and the advantage was doubled on eight minutes by Cristiano Lucarelli who dived in to meet Razvan Rat's inviting cross.
Although Gordon Strachan's side improved in the second half, they still looked vulnerable at the back.
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink saw a header fly narrowly wide for the visitors but Brandao was guilty of a far more glaring miss shortly after the interval that would have settled the tie.
Elsewhere in the competition holders AC Milan proved too strong for Benfica as they cruised to a 2-1 win thanks to first-half goals from Andrea Pirlo and Filippo Inzaghi.
Portuguese international Nuno Gomes snatched an injury-time consolation for the away side but it was too little too late.
In the other game in Chelsea's group Valencia came away from Schalke with a 1-0 win thanks to a David Villa winner, while Liverpool old boy Djibril Cisse scored as his new Marseilles side secured a 2-0 win over Besiktas to send them on their way to Anfield in two weeks time.
Olympiakos and Lazio fought out a 1-1 draw in Athens as Real Madrid overcame Werder Bremen 2-1 with goals from Raul and Ruud van Nistlerooy.