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Celtic fought back to claim their first ever Champions League group stage away win against Spartak Moscow on Tuesday.
Gary Hooper’s tidy finish gave the visitors a 12th-minute lead.
Tap-ins by Emmanuel Emenike either side of half-time
put Spartak in front before Juan Insaurralde’s red card for a
professional foul on Hooper.
Dmitri Kombarov’s own goal drew Celtic level before Georgios Samaras headed home Emilio Izaguirre’s cross in the 90th minute.
Neil Lennon’s side move onto four points in Group G with the Russians pointless after two matches.
And the first group stage win on the road after 19
attempts sets Celtic up for a double-header against Barcelona, starting
at Camp Nou on October 23.
Spartak set their stall out early on and tried to catch their visitors off guard with a series of crosses and corners.
But Celtic endured the pressure and moved into the
lead with their first attack of the game, started with Victor Wanyama’s
forceful play in midfield.
Mikael Lustig was released on the right and Hooper got in front of Nicolás Pareja to convert the Swede’s low cross.
Lennon’s side quickly found themselves defending in
numbers again and former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady’s drive was
diverted out for a corner.
But the Russians were leaving themselves vulnerable
to counter attacks with wide men Kris Commons and fit again Samaras able
to make ground on the artificial surface.
And Hooper had the ball in the net again with a header from a Samaras cross only to be left disappointed by the offside flag.
A free-kick around 25 yards out gave Spartak a chance
to level but Pareja’s curling effort was kept out by Fraser Forster’s
diving save.
However, the hosts’ next attack produced the
equaliser as Ari latched on to Kim Källström’s perfectly weighted ball
in behind Kelvin Wilson and the Brazilian’s one-touch cutback was tucked
in by strike partner Emenike.
