Celtic's Europa future suffers huge blow; Monaco salvage point
Celtic's Europa League hopes suffered another blow following a 2-1 home defeat by Molde - and the spotlight will surely turn back on boss Ronny Deila.
The offside flag deprived the Hoops of two goals in the first 12 minutes following the loss of Jozo Simunovic to injury before Mohamed Elyounoussi stunned Parkhead with a 20-yard drive.
Midfielder Kris Commons leveled five minutes later but Molde's 40-year-old skipper Daniel Hestad restored the Norwegian club's lead in the 37th minute to give them the interval advantage. The hapless home side's misery was compounded in the 77th minute when Nir Bitton, who had moved from midfield to defense in a reshuffle, was shown a straight red card by referee Slavko Vincic for a 'last man' tackle on Molde substitute Ola Kamara.
Defeat kept Deila's side bottom of Group A with two points from four games and with a home game against Ajax and a trip to Fenerbahce remaining, the Scottish champions require two wins to progress, an unlikely scenario on the evidence so far.
Monaco needed a fortunate equaliser from Ivan Cavaleiro to take a 1-1 draw at Europa League Group J opponents Qarabag.
The Azerbaijan side were on course to avenge their 1-0 home defeat in the Principality last month after Samuel Armenteros' 39th-minute goal. But Cavaleiro salvaged a draw when he charged for a 50-50 ball with goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic and somehow bundled home after 72 minutes.
Qarabag had kept three successive European clean sheets in Baku and it was visiting goalkeeper Danijel Subasic who was worked first, saving a smart early effort from Richard Almeida. Monaco came back but a handful of shooting opportunities failed to test Sehic. The hosts took the lead against the run of play shortly before the break, Rashad Sadygov playing a clever pass into the path of Armenteros.
Monaco appealed for offside but Andrea Raggi was playing the striker onside, Armenteros beating Subasic to the punch and lifting a first-time shot over the line. Fabinho was denied a penalty claim moments later, leaving the Ligue 1 side behind at the break.
Sehic was doing his utmost to keep it that way, denying Mario Pasalic, Wallace and twice saving from Lacina Traore. There were chances for 2-0 too, but Subasic was equally strong.
Ajax remain winless after four Europa League matches following a goalless draw at home to vulnerable Fenerbahce.
The Eredivisie side had the bulk of possession and captain Davy Klaassen wasted a couple of chances to put the ball in the net, but instead they had to make do with a third draw from four Group A outings.
Their Turkish opponents, two points better off, could not have complained had they been beaten but saw Fernandao spurn the best chance of the game in the closing minutes.
Napoli continued to cut a swathe through the Europa League, blowing away FC Midtjylland 5-0 to qualify from Group D with two games to spare.
The Serie A side made it four wins in a row, and took their goals scored to 16 with goals from Omar El Kaddouri, Manolo Gabbiadini (two), Christian Maggio and Jose Maria Callejon.
Rapid Vienna progressed to the knock-out stage from Group E after continuing their 100 percent record with a 2-1 win at Viktoria Plzen. Philipp Schobesberger scored both goals for the Austrians, with Jan Polenda having briefly equalised.
Roberto Soldado scored twice as Villarreal came from behind to take all three points with a 2-1 success at Dinamo Minsk, who have now lost all four.
In Group F, Marseille denied Braga the chance to guarantee a place in the next round, Georges N'Koudou on target in a 1-0 triumph.
Sergio Padt's own goal gave Liberec the win over Groningen by the same scoreline. Group H rivals Besiktas and Lokomotiv Moscow drew 1-1.
Schalke missed the chance to seal a spot in the next round, drawing 1-1 against Sparta Prague. Asteras Tripolis got their first win in Group K, 2-0 at home over APOEL Nicosia.
Two Group L games shared 11 goals, Athletic Bilbao and Augsburg firmly on the goal trail. Inaki Williams scored the first two in Athletic's 5-1 win over Partizan Belgrade, while Aritz Aduriz added his 100th career goal for the club.
Augsburg thrashed AZ Alkmaar 4-1, with Raul Bobadilla netting a hat-trick.
Marc Janko and Breel Embolo hit the target as Group I pace-setters Basle made it nine points from 12 with a 2-0 victory over Belenenses. Fiorentina jumped from fourth to second as Josip Ilicic scored both in a 2-0 away win at Lech Poznan.
Group H leaders Lokomotiv Moscow were held 1-1 at Besiktas and Sporting Lisbon went down 3-0 at Skenderbeu after a first-half red card for Rui Patricio.
Lazio and St. Etienne strengthened their hold on the top two spots in Group G, Filip Djordjevic with both in the Italians' 2-0 win over visiting Dnipro and the Ligue 1 outfit with a 3-0 defeat of Rosenborg.
