O. Ntcham has scored a goal for Celtic! Assist by O. Édouard.
GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!!! CELTIC HAVE WON IT AT THE DEATH!! Careless from Berisha inside his own half as he gives the ball away to Edouard who goes forward with purpose and plays in the unmarked Ntcham, and the substitute dinks it over Strakosha and into the back of the net! It’s now 2-1 to the Hoops, and they are well on their way to a historic win in Rome!
Edouard is rewarded for an industrious display up front with an excellent assist, possessing the wherewithal to find Ntcham on the other end of the box for the substitute to lob it home from close range!
90' +3
Lulic’s cross from deep is headed away by Jullien with authority. Lazio are frantically pushing bodies upfield, but Celtic are also camped in their own half and have thwarted their opponents’ efforts each time they get close to entering the box.
90' +2
Bauer takes a long throw-in which ends up at Elyounoussi’s feet, but the midfielder is unable to conjure up anything from out on the other wing. Celtic do win another couple of throw-ins, but Milinkovic-Savic is alert at the second attempt and clears the ball away.
90'
Elyounoussi wins a corner for Celtic just as we enter the full 90 minutes, but Ntcham’s header is mistimed following the set-piece. There will be five minutes of added time to be played, and both sides will see this as a chance to nick a late winner.
89'
M. Bauer enters the game and replaces J. Forrest.
Bauer comes on for goalscorer Forrest as Lennon looks to shut up shop and hold on for a vital point in Rome.
83'
N. Bitton enters the game and replaces H. Elhamed.
The impressive Elhamed, who looks to have pulled his groin a minute or two ago, comes off for Bitton in Lennon's second change of the match.
82'
V. Berisha enters the game and replaces D. Vavro.
And, as expected, Vavro comes off for Berisha in what is not only an enforced change but Inzaghi's final throw of the dice in an attempt to win this contest.
81'
Vavro pulls up and signals to the bench after clutching his hamstring. It’s unlikely that he will carry on for the final 10 minutes of the game.
80'
Forster adopts the classic formula of route one and finds Edouard inside the Lazio penalty area, but the busy forward runs out of ideas and his cross eventually comes to nothing.
Minute
Description
78'
Edouard wins a free-kick in a dangerous area after getting fouled by Felipe. However, the forward’s effort blazes high over Strakosha’s goal.
77'
O. Ntcham enters the game and replaces R. Christie.
Christie, who has run himself ragged today, earns an early rest and comes off for Ntcham.
73'
Lazzari whips in a low cross but the Celtic rearguard remain firm. The hosts retain possession and Immobile finds Milinkovic-Savic with a quick pass, but the Serbia midfielder’s shot is blocked and goes behind for a corner.
71'
What a vital tackle from Vavro there to deny Edouard who was clear on goal following Acerbi’s careless backpass! 20 minutes left of this enthralling match, and it’s still all to play for!
66'
Jullien stands firm yet again, this time stopping Immobile from placing a shot at Forster’s goal following another foray into the visitors’ half by the home side.
64'
The dangerous McGregor finds Edouard yet again in space, but the forward’s touch is poor and Felipe manages to sweep up the danger away.
63'
Caicedo is thwarted in the air by Jullien following Milinkovic-Savic’s knockdown after a lovely ball from substitute Lulic, but referee Stieler waves away any protests for a penalty from the home side. More stout defending from the impressive Celtic centre-back.
60'
With their main defensive midfielder Lucas off, Parolo drops back into a deeper role, leaving Milinkovic-Savic and Alberto with playmaking duties in the middle. However, they’re getting little joy with Brown and McGregor stopping them at every opportunity.
58'
S. Lulić enters the game and replaces Jony.
Luis Alberto enters the game and replaces Lucas Leiva.
Knowing the importance of this match, Inzaghi goes for broke with a double substitution. Out goes Jony and in comes Lulic for his first change.
Lucas also comes off for Alberto in what is a clear statement of attacking intent from Inzaghi.
57'
Elyounoussi gets into a duel with Felipe near the edge of the box, and the latter wins the battle with a deft tackle. Celtic continue to pile on the pressure against a dumbstruck Lazio side!
56'
Celtic are pinning Lazio back in their own half with some enterprising play, and the visiting support are clearly making their appreciation heard!
54'
Not far from Elyounoussi, whose attempt at a half-volley from distance goes just wide of Strakosha’s goal! Lazzari’s slight deflection gifts Celtic another corner. Jullien's header just about misses the Lazio goal, and the hosts escape yet again!
53'
Christie does well to head away Lazzari’s free-kick and kick-starts a quick Celtic break with Forrest driving forward only for his cross-cum-shot to be deflected by Felipe and away for a corner.
51'
S. Brown gets yellow.
Brown catches Jony with a stray arm, and Stieler immediately gets the yellow card out for the Celtic skipper.
48'
Celtic are piling on the pressure on the Lazio defence, who continue to casually attempt to play the ball out from the back.
46'
Celtic get play restarted as the second half gets underway!
No changes for either side as Lennon retains the 5-3-2 shape with Forrest and Hayes as their attacking options from out wide while Lazio will expect more service for Immobile from their underperforming midfield.
45' +2
HALF-TIME: LAZIO 1-1 CELTIC
45' +1
Caicedo commits another foul, this time on Ajer! The Lazio forward is already on a booking, and needs to be careful, which Stieler has reminded him of.
45'
There will be two minutes of added time to be played.
42'
F. Caicedo gets yellow.
Caicedo gets himself booked following a rough challenge on Christie.
38'
J. Forrest has scored a goal for Celtic! Assist by M. Elyounoussi.
GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!! CELTIC EQUALISE!! Lazio’s carelessness in their own half has proved to be their undoing, with Edouard pressuring Felipe into awkwardly playing the ball out only for him to lose possession and Elyounoussi then releases the onrushing Forrest with the deftest of passes, and the winger can do no wrong from close range, firing it past Strakosha! It’s now 1-1 at the Stadio Olimpico, and game on indeed!
Elyounoussi continues his run of form with a cute throughball towards Forrest that contributed to a key equaliser for the Hoops!
36'
Edouard’s frustration is evident after failing to get on the end of McGregor’s excellent throughball. Strakosha takes his time with the goal kick though, and receives a stern warning from referee Stieler.
34'
Lazzari tests Hayes once again, jinking and weaving past the makeshift left-back only for the Lazio winger’s cross to be comfortably collected by Forster.
32'
Elyounoussi is stopped by Lucas at the last moment following another Celtic counter, with the winger electing to go alone instead of spotting McGregor’s run inside the Lazio box!
28'
Jullien leaps highest to get on the end of Christie’s free-kick following Immobile’s foul on Hayes, but it comes to nothing and Lazio eventually get the goal kick.
26'
Excellent defending from Christie there, as he blocks Immobile with a great sliding challenge just as the red-hot striker was lining up to shoot on goal!
24'
Safety first from Elhamed who calmly heads the ball behind for another Lazio corner after Lazzari had the beating of Hayes and swung in a tantalising cross.
23'
Milinkovic-Savic get on the end of an excellent pass from Acerbi from deep, but the Serbia midfielder’s first touch is too heavy and drags the ball away from goal at the vital moment!
22'
Lucas takes down Christie with a crunching challenge near the centre circle, but referee Stieler elects to not wave a card on this occasion.
21'
Ajer has to step in to thwart Immbobile at the last second just as the forward found space in the Hoops’ penalty area, and the Celtic centre-back vents his fury at his teammates for not stopping the in-form striker sooner!
19'
McGregor tries to get on the end of Edouard’s smart return pass, but the Celtic midfielder is crowded out by a sea of sky blue shirts in the box and eventually loses the ball.
18'
Edouard tries to get past Felipe with a sly step-over, but the Lazio defender is having none of it and even wins the foul off of the Celtic forward.
17'
Celtic are growing more confident as they seek out opportunities in the Lazio half, but Inzaghi’s side are well-organised and have thwarted the final ball on numerous occasions.
15'
Ajer gets in the way of Caicedo who goes down in an attempt to get on the end of Parolo’s pass, but the referee waves away any protests for a foul.
13'
Lucas releases Immobile with a raking pass, but the forward unsuccessfully attempts to play in Parolo and loses the ball. However, the hosts regain possession and are still trying to find a way through a tight Celtic half.
11'
Acerbi heads away the Hoops’ set-piece with authority though, and Immobile is almost in the clear but for Hayes to get ahead of him and comfortably clear.
9'
Celtic are now enjoying their first spell of extended possession, and McGregor manages to release Forrest down the wing only for Jony to intervene and concede Celtic’s first corner.
7'
C. Immobile has scored a goal for Lazio!
GOOOOOAAAALLLL!!! LAZIO GET THE LEAD! Immobile continues his rich vein of form and breaks the deadlock with a smooth first-time finish past Forster following a brilliant cross from Lazzari! 1-0 to Inzaghi’s side, who have deserved it after a bright start!
5'
The hosts are looking comfortable playing keep-ball camped in the Celtic half at such an early stage of the game.
3'
Caicedo is flagged for offside just as he was about to latch on to the loose ball following Jony's powerful effort from distance!
2'
Forrest concedes the first corner of the match in an attempt to prevent the ball from getting to Jony. The early set-piece comes to nothing though, and Celtic get the goal kick.
1'
The hosts are out in their home colours of sky blue and white, while the visitors are decked in their yellow away kits.
Referee Tobias Stieler blows his whistle, and Lazio get us underway at the Stadio Olimpico!
Hello, and welcome to our LIVE coverage of this Europa League match as Lazio host Celtic at the Stadio Olimpico!
Since losing to today’s opponents a fortnight ago in Glasgow, Lazio have gone on a three-game winning streak in Serie A which propelled the Rome side to fourth in the league, with their last victory coming at the San Siro against a struggling Milan side. While head coach Simone Inzaghi’s side occupy third in Group E with three points, they have a shot at closing the gap on the group leaders with a win on home turf.
And without further ado, let’s take a look at how both sides line up, starting with the hosts.
Despite having never won a competitive match on Italian soil, Celtic will still aim for a sixth successive European away game without defeat as the Scottish champions look to consolidate top spot in Group E. Should CFR Cluj avoid defeat to bottom-of-the-group Rennes, Neil Lennon’s side will qualify for the knockout stages with a win against their hosts, who they had already defeated two weeks ago after coming back from behind in a 2-1 win.
SUBSTITUTES: Senad Lulic, Valon Berisha, Bobby Adekanye, Bastos, Luis Alberto, Guido Guerrieri, Patric.
LAZIO XI (3-5-2): Thomas Strakosha; Luiz Felipe, Denis Vavro, Francesco Acerbi; Manuel Lazzari, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva, Marco Parolo (c), Jony; Felipe Caicedo, Ciro Immobile.
SUBSTITUTES: Lewis Morgan, Nir Bitton, Greg Taylor, Craig Gordon, Moritz Bauer, Olivier Ntcham, Scott Sinclair.
The players are out and kick-off is drawing near.
With Cluj currently drawing to Rennes, Inzaghi will expect more from his charges as he and his side seek that vital win which will put them in pole position for the other qualification spot. As for Lennon’s Hoops, it won’t be a surprise whatsoever if he sticks with the 5-3-2 formation that he set out midway through the first half, for it has caused plenty of trouble for their hosts.
CELTIC XI (4-2-3-1): Fraser Forster; Hatem Elhamed, Christopher Jullien, Kristoffer Ajer, Jonny Hayes; Scott Brown (c), Callum McGregor; James Forrest, Ryan Christie, Mohamed Elyounoussi, Odsonne Edouard.
And that wraps up our coverage. We hope you enjoyed our commentary, and until next time, goodbye!
Inzaghi’s Lazio will look to recover against Lecce on Sunday as they seek to continue their impressive Serie A form, while Celtic travel back to Scotland to host Motherwell on the same day. Both sides don’t return to Europa League action until the 28th of November, with the Italians facing Cluj in a must-win game for the Romans, while the Scottish champions can rubber-stamp their position as Group E leaders against an already-eliminated Rennes.
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