Celtic 1 Udinese 1NEIL LENNON is not known for holding back when he feels his team have been on the wrong end of an unjust decision. Celtic's manager reverted to type here, and understandably so after Udinese had salvaged a point courtesy of a penalty kick which was, at best, dubiously awarded.
“It’s a disgraceful decision,” said Lennon of the incident in which Gary Hooper was accused of blocking Neuton. “We wanted to make the most of home advantage and would have done, but for a shocking decision. Gary is very upset, very angry, all the players are. If the referee does his job properly, we win the game.”
Celtic seized the initiative within two minutes. After being spun by Hooper, Joel Ekstrand hauled down the centre-forward. The decision seemed straightforward enough, although the referee looked for advice from one of his assistants before confirming it.
Celtic have been woeful from the spot all year, missing six of nine penalties, but the latest nominated taker, Ki Sung-yueng, blasted his shot into the top right-hand corner of Samir Handanovic’s net.
The Udinese goalkeeper was seriously tested by Charlie Mulgrew seven minutes after the restart. The defender’s curling free-kick forced Handanovic into a one-handed save.
The Italians quickly had the ball in the Celtic net when the substitute Mehdi Benatia apparently scored from a smartly-worked free-kick, only for it to be disallowed for offside.
But Udinese’s break came eventually when Neuton tumbled dramatically in an incident which hardly appeared worthy of the officials’ attention. Crucially, the Turkish referee Bulent Yildirim thought otherwise and Almen Abdi slotted home.
CELTIC: Zaluska, Matthews, Majstorovic, Ledley (Mark Wilson 46), Mulgrew, Ki, Wanyama, Kayal,Forrest (Samaras 72), Hooper, Bangura. Subs not used: Forster, Stokes, McCourt, Loovens, Filip Twardzik. Booked: Kayal, Wanyama, Samaras.
UDINESE: Handanovic, Danilo,Basta (Benatia 46), Ekstrand, Neuton, Battocchio, Agyemang-Badu, Doubai, Pereyra (Isla 46), Fabbrini (Armero 67), Abdi. Subs not used: Padelli, Asamoah, Marsura, Pinzi. Booked: Agyemang-Badu, Ekstrand.
Referee: B Yildirim (Turkey).
