Scottish champions Celtic kept alive their slim hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout phase with a 1-0 win against nine-man Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday. Alan Thompson crashed home a 25th-minute free kick awarded after visiting goalkeeper Jan Lastuvka was penalised for holding the ball too long.
Shakhtar captain Anatoly Tymoshchyuk was shown a red card shortly before halftime when he brought down a surging Henri Camara and Cosmin Barcauan also departed after 58 minutes when a late tackle on Stilian Petrov earned him a second yellow card.
Celtic failed to press home their numerical advantage and stay bottom of Group F with three points, behind Donetsk on goal difference after their 3-0 loss in the Ukraine last month. The Scottish club must now win their last two matches away to Barcelona and home against AC Milan, both of whom have nine points, but manager Martin O'Neill remains defiant.
"We will go to Barcelona and give it everything," he told reporters. "If Barcelona had drawn tonight they would have had seven points and we would have gone there hoping to take it into the final game. "They only need a point to make it and I think we will now go there with nothing to lose.
"Even if we lose, we still have a home match with AC Milan in our final game and I think six points from the group would give us a fighting chance of (finishing third and) being in the UEFA Cup."
TOUGH OPPONENTS: The Glasgow side had conceded six goals in losing at AC Milan and Shakhtar, but they continue to be tough opponents at Celtic Park where their 3-1 reverse to Barcelona in September remains their only home defeat in their last 21 European games. They could have been two goals up early on when Camara slipped an effort wide after speeding away and Joos Valgaeren headed straight at Lastuvka moments later.
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