UEL: Celtic's European Woes Continue With Heavy Defeat to Benfica

Duran at the double as Benfica put four past Celtic in Europa League thrashing

Benfica beat Celtic 4-1 in the UEFA Europa League as Jhon Duran's double and goals from Alexander Bah and Vangelis Pavlidis end Celtic's unbeaten away run.

Celtic still looked vulnerable at the back and had the post to thank once more as...

Celtic's miserable European campaign continued as they were beaten 4-1 by Benfica at the Estadio da Luz. The result brought an end to the Hoops' three-game unbeaten away run in the competition, while Benfica extended their unbeaten home record to 12 games in the UEFA Europa League group/league phase.

The visitors found themselves on the back foot early on and, while attempting to clear inside his own box, Dane Murray instead caught Jhon Duran, with a penalty awarded after just five minutes.

Duran picked himself up and calmly dinked his spot-kick down the middle to open the scoring.

To their credit, Martin O'Neill's side responded well at first, with Mika Biereth forcing a smart save from Anatoliy Trubin just two minutes later, but the reprieve was short-lived as Benfica pushed forward again.

Gianluca Prestianni curled over from inside the area on 20 minutes but, just two minutes later, turned provider for Alexander Bah, who was left unmarked at the back post to side-foot home on the volley.

Once again the visitors responded with an opportunity of their own, and they struck the woodwork twice in quick succession through Kasper Dolberg and a follow-up effort from Camilo Duran.

Despite coming close to getting back into the contest, the Scottish champions were being exposed at the back with alarming regularity, and Duran capitalised with just under 10 minutes remaining until half-time.

Prestianni was the provider once more, picking out Duran, who held off Auston Trusty before firing through the legs of Viljami Sinisalo from a tight angle.

O'Neill made a double change at the break and both substitutes made an impact within 10 minutes of the restart.

Haissem Hassan beat his man down the right with a neat piece of skill, but his effort left much to be desired, while Callum Osmand stabbed over at the back post.

The travelling support finally had something to cheer soon after, though, as more positive play from Hassan saw him pick out Duran with a cross and the Colombian headed home.

With three of the four goals now scored by a Duran, Camilo almost joined his namesake Jhon on a double, only to rattle the woodwork again with just under 20 minutes remaining.

Celtic still looked vulnerable at the back and had the post to thank once more as, moments after Duran's effort, substitute Andreas Schjelderup crashed his shot off Sinisalo's right-hand post.

Game Momentum 

Despite an improved second-half showing, the away side had left themselves with too much to do after the first half, and there was still time for substitute Vangelis Pavlidis to add a late fourth.

The Hoops will aim to end their run of three straight European defeats when they host Celta Vigo next week, while Benfica will look to make it three consecutive Europa League wins when they travel to Cyprus to face Omonia in seven days' time.

Match Statistics