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Camilo Duran struck twice off the bench, including an 87th-minute winner, as Celtic came from behind to beat Besiktas 3-2 at Celtic Park in Glasgow on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League league phase.
A crowd of 44,394 watched Celtic trail after 54 minutes, then equalize, take the lead and lose it again before Duran decided the match late on.
The first half ended 0-0, with Besiktas creating most of the early chances. Oh Hyeon-Gyu, Leandro Trossard, Junior Olaitan and Vaclav Cerny all tried their luck, though none of the efforts troubled the scoreboard. Celtic’s one recorded attempt of the half came from Benjamin Nygren, whose right-footed shot from the centre of the box went wide in the eighth minute.
The match turned shortly after the break. In the 52nd minute, Celtic defender Jordan Lotomba conceded a penalty for a foul on Ernest Poku in the area. Olaitan took the spot kick, but Celtic goalkeeper Sam Johnstone saved it low to his right. The ball stayed in play, and Olaitan scored from close range in the same minute to put Besiktas 1-0 ahead after 54 minutes.
Celtic made three substitutions in the 61st minute, bringing on Duran, Callum Osmand and Colby Donovan. The changes paid off within a minute. Osmand, set up by Callum McGregor, hit a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner to level the score at 1-1 in the 62nd minute.
Celtic moved ahead in the 78th minute. Osmand supplied a through ball for Duran, who shot left-footed from the left side of the box and found the centre of the goal, making it 2-1.
Besiktas responded through a substitute of its own. Orkun Kokcu, who had replaced Salih Ozcan in the 76th minute, collected a pass from Poku and drove a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner in the 85th minute. The score was 2-2.
The equalizer did not last. Two minutes later, Duran shot left-footed from the centre of the box and put Celtic back in front at 3-2 in the 87th minute. It was his second goal of the evening, and both had come within 26 minutes of his arrival as a substitute.
The fourth official signaled five minutes of added time, and Besiktas pushed for another equalizer. Dusan Vlahovic, a substitute, was flagged offside in the 90th minute. Olaitan then fired a right-footed shot from outside the box too high from a Trossard pass in the third minute of stoppage time. Amir Murillo and Emirhan Topcu were both shown yellow cards for Besiktas in the closing minutes, and the final whistle came after six minutes of added time.
Celtic’s Nygren had been booked earlier, in the 60th minute, for a bad foul.
The Europa League league phase uses a single table in which each club plays a set number of matches against different opponents, rather than the traditional group format.
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