Europa League
Dinamo ZagrebDinamo Zagreb4CelticCeltic3

Europa League: Dinamo Zagreb 4-3 Celtic

By Andrew SouthwickBBC Scotland
Dinamo Zagreb players congratulate goalscorer Marcelo Brozovic after he puts his side in front against Celtic.
Dinamo Zagreb players congratulate goalscorer Marcelo Brozovic after he puts his side in front against Celtic.
  • Marko Pjaca scores hat-trick for Dinamo
  • Kris Commons and Stefan Scepovic hit net for Celtic
  • Josip Pivaric's own goal gives Celtic late hope
  • Despite defeat, Celtic qualify for last 32 in second place

Poor defending cost Celtic away to Dinamo Zagreb as a Marko Pjaca hat-trick ensured they finished Europa League Group D with a defeat.

Kris Commons and Stefan Scepovic scored in-between two first-half Pjaca strikes, who netted again following Marcelo Brozovic's curling shot.

Josip Pivaric's late own goal gave Celtic hope of an equaliser.

They fell short of a fourth but took away the consolation of having already qualified for the last 32.

With a place in the knock-out stages already secured, Ronny Deila picked a makeshift team with captain Scott Brown and Scotland team-mate James Forrest both rested.

However, the defending will concern the Norwegian manager with Celtic continuing to ship goals in Europe.

With John Guidetti still cup-tied, Deila rearranged his front men with Wakaso, Commons and Scepovic all given rare starts in an eerily near-empty Stadion Maksimir.

The latter two linked up for an early Celtic chance that goalkeeper Eduardo had to parry clear, but Zagreb fired an early warning when Hillar Soudani slipped the ball into the near post from an offside position.

It only delayed the opening goal. Pjaca nipped into a similar position and collected Arijan Ademi's through ball, turned Adam Matthews inside out and picked his spot past Craig Gordon.

Dinamo Zagreb's Marko Pjaca celebrates scoring against Celtic.
Dinamo Zagreb's Marko Pjaca took advantage of poor defending against Celtic.

Celtic were not trailing for long, although the equaliser had a large touch of fortune about it.

Van Dijk's free-kick rattled off the back of Nir Bitton, deceiving the Zagreb defence and allowing Commons to head into the net.

Celtic were beginning to warm to the task and within six minutes were ahead.

Commons curled in another free-kick that this time cannoned off the bar. Bitton headed the rebound into the path of Scepovic who had his back to goal but turned and directed the ball in from close range.

However, just when it looked like Celtic were growing in confidence, they kicked themselves in the foot.

Matthews swiped fresh air allowing Pjaca to take the ball past him and finish via a deflection off Bitton.

Brozovic could have made it three moments from Pjaca's lay-off, but Gordon was equal to his shot.

The Celtic goalkeeper was busy again after the break, pulling off a double save to deny Soudani then Ademi, but he could do little about Zagreb's third.

Domagoj Antolic cut the ball back for Brozovic, whose curling shot inside the near post was out of the top drawer.

Before Celtic could settle, Zagreb had grabbed a fourth.

Pjaca was given too much space outside the box and he thumped a long-range shot well beyond the despairing dive of Gordon.

If Celtic were shipping goals for fun, so were Zagreb and Emilio Izaguirre gave the Scottish champions hope when his cut back was diverted into the net by Pivaric.

Celtic sensed an equaliser and went on the front foot.

Henderson had Eduardo scrambling back to tip his shot over the bar before Van Dijk headed across goal and Scepovic hit a post, but they could not find a fourth goal.

Dinamo Zagreb's Marko Pjaca celebrates putting his side infront.
Dinamo Zagreb's Marko Pjaca celebrates putting his side infront.
Kris Commons equalised after Nir Bitton directed Virgil Van Dijk's free-kick into his path.
Kris Commons equalised after Nir Bitton directed Virgil Van Dijk's free-kick into his path.
Stefan Scepovic put Celtic ahead briefly before Marko Pjaca pulled Zagreb back level.
Stefan Scepovic put Celtic ahead briefly before Marko Pjaca pulled Zagreb back level.
Celtic supporters saw their team score three times but still end up on the losing side.
Celtic supporters saw their team score three times but still end up on the losing side.

Line-ups

Dinamo Zagreb

Formation 4-5-1

  • 34Dos Reis Carvalho
  • 6Pinto
  • 22Sigali
  • 87TaravelSubstituted forSimunovicat 11'minutes
  • 19Pivaric
  • 2SoudaniSubstituted forFernandes da Silva Vitoriaat 82'minutes
  • 77Brozovic
  • 16Ademi
  • 8Antolic
  • 20Pjaca
  • 9Henríquez IturraSubstituted forCopat 65'minutes

Substitutes

  • 5Simunovic
  • 10Machado
  • 11Fernandes da Silva Vitoria
  • 23Gonçalves Dos Santos
  • 33Mikulic
  • 55Vukojevic
  • 90Cop

Celtic

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 26Gordon
  • 2MatthewsSubstituted forFisherat 56'minutes
  • 4Ambrose
  • 5van Dijk
  • 3IzaguirreBooked at 35mins
  • 6Bitton
  • 25Johansen
  • 42McGregorSubstituted forHendersonat 63'minutes
  • 15Commons
  • 32WakasoSubstituted forStokesat 77'minutes
  • 12ScepovicBooked at 30mins

Substitutes

  • 10Stokes
  • 24Zaluska
  • 27Tonev
  • 28Griffiths
  • 34O'Connell
  • 41Fisher
  • 53Henderson
Referee:
Gediminas Mazeika

Match Stats

Home TeamDinamo ZagrebAway TeamCeltic
Possession
Home51%
Away49%
Shots
Home20
Away16
Shots on Target
Home10
Away6
Corners
Home4
Away6
Fouls
Home10
Away13

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Dinamo Zagreb 4, Celtic 3.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Dinamo Zagreb 4, Celtic 3.

  3. Post update

    Corner, Dinamo Zagreb. Conceded by Efe Ambrose.

  4. Post update

    Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  5. Post update

    Foul by Liam Henderson (Celtic).

  6. Post update

    Foul by Kris Commons (Celtic).

  7. Post update

    Leonardo Sigali (Dinamo Zagreb) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  8. Post update

    Attempt missed. Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.

  9. Post update

    Attempt missed. Stefan Johansen (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.

  10. Post update

    Attempt missed. Stefan Johansen (Celtic) left footed shot from more than 35 yards misses to the right. Assisted by Nir Bitton.

  11. Post update

    Stefan Scepovic (Celtic) hits the right post with a header from the left side of the six yard box. Assisted by Anthony Stokes with a cross following a corner.

  12. Post update

    Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Eduardo.

  13. Post update

    Attempt saved. Liam Henderson (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Virgil van Dijk.

  14. Post update

    Foul by Josip Pivaric (Dinamo Zagreb).

  15. Post update

    Liam Henderson (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  16. Post update

    Attempt missed. Duje Cop (Dinamo Zagreb) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top left corner from a direct free kick.

  17. Post update

    Marko Pjaca (Dinamo Zagreb) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  18. Post update

    Foul by Darnell Fisher (Celtic).

  19. Post update

    Attempt missed. Marko Pjaca (Dinamo Zagreb) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Junior Fernandes.

  20. Post update

    Attempt saved. Anthony Stokes (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Kris Commons.

Scores, Results & Fixtures

Thursday 11th December 2014

As It Stood

A

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1B Mgladbach63301441012
2Villarreal6321157811
3FC Zürich62131014-47
4Apollon Limassol6105418-143

B

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Club Bruges6330102812
2Torino632193611
3HJK Helsinki6204511-66
4FC Copenhagen6114513-84

C

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Besiktas6330115612
2Tottenham632194511
3Asteras Tripolis6132710-36
4Partizan Belgrade602419-82

D

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1RB Salzburg65102181316
2Celtic62221011-18
3Dinamo Zagreb62041215-36
4Astra Giurgiu6114615-94

E

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Dinamo Moscow660093618
2PSV Eindhoven62228808
3Estoril Praia612378-15
4Panathinaikos6024611-52

F

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Inter Milan633062412
2Dnipropetrovsk621345-17
3FK Qarabag613235-26
4Saint-Étienne605123-15

G

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Feyenoord6402106412
2Sevilla632185311
3HNK Rijeka621378-17
4Standard Liege6114410-64

H

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Everton6321103711
2Wolfsburg63121410410
3FK Krasnodar6132712-56
4Lille604239-64

I

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Napoli6411113813
2BSC Young Boys6402137612
3Sparta Prague6312116510
4Slovan Bratislava6006120-190

J

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Dynamo Kyiv6501124815
2Aalborg BK6303510-59
3FCSB621311927
4Rio Ave6114510-54

K

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Fiorentina6411114713
2Guingamp631276110
3PAOK Salonika621310737
4Dinamo Minsk6114314-114

L

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Legia Warsaw650172515
2Trabzonspor631286210
3KSC Lokeren631244010
4Metalist Kharkiv6006310-70
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