CELTIC MANAGER Neil Lennon insisted he was satisfied with a point in the Europa League clash against Rennes after a strong second-half performance in France last night.
Rennes went in front thanks to a Cha Du-ri own-goal after half an hour just as Celtic looked to be starting to dominate.
However, Jo Ledley equalised in the 70th minute to hand Celtic a lifeline in Group I.
“It would have been a real shame having played so well to lose a game with the goal we conceded,” Lennon told ESPN.
“But credit to the players in the second half, we weathered a wee bit of a storm.
“Fraser Forster showed his character, tremendous saves, but we created some good chances and I felt on the balance of play we should have won the game.
“It’s a testament to the team after the weekend. They come and show the quality. I’m very very proud of them tonight.”
Lennon praised goalscorer Ledley, who played the game out of position at left back.
“He’s a terrific player and no matter where you ask him to play he does a great job for the team,” the manager said.
Chris Wood scored a stunning winner in the 10th minute of stoppage time to secure Birmingham a thrilling Group H away win against Club Brugge.
The Championship side had trailed to Joseph Akpala’s third-minute opener but, roared on by more than 5,400 travelling fans, they equalised through David Murphy’s slick finish in the 26th minute.
Then, following more than six minutes of treatment for defender Pablo Ibanez after he was knocked unconscious in worrying fashion, Wood stole in at the near post to score a dramatic winner.
The win saw City draw level with their hosts at the top of the group and fuel hopes of reaching the knockout stage.
Moussa Dembele’s red card turned a difficult night for Fulham into a frustrating defeat in Poland against Wisla Krakow.
The Belgium international’s harsh-looking sending off paved the way for the Polish champions to secure their first Group K points, with David Biton striking the all-important goal at Stadion Miejski.
Wisla were fortunate not to lose a man themselves in the opening two minutes after Ivica Iliev planted his foot in Brede Hangeland’s chest.
Fulham’s feeling of injustice was strengthened just before the half-hour mark when Dembele was harshly sent off for a push on Gervasio Nunez.
The man advantage gave Wisla the emphasis and, after a 13-minute delay to the second period due to a power failure, Biton’s 22-yard effort condemned Fulham to defeat on their 20th competitive match of the season.
The visitors’ disappointment was compounded shortly before the Israeli’s goal when target man Orlando Sa hobbled off with what looked to be a hamstring injury, before Wisla’s Osman Chavez was sent off late on.
Cameron Jerome was controversially sent off as Stoke strolled to a comfortable 3-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv at the Britannia Stadium to consolidate their position at the top of Group E.
First-half headers from Kenwyne Jones and Jerome and a finish from Ryan Shotton had put them firmly in the driving seat. But they were reduced to 10 men in the 43rd minute as Jerome collected a second yellow card having been – somewhat harshly – adjudged to have elbowed Yoav Ziv,
The Maccabi player was then shown red himself early in the second half.
Roman Pavlyuchenko gave Harry Redknapp a timely reminder of his talents by firing in a brilliant 20-yard free-kick to hand Tottenham an important 1-0 win over Rubin Kazan at White Hart Lane.
Pavlyuchenko blasted home an early contender for goal of the season with a powerful strike that flew in off the bar, just 24 hours after Redknapp admitted he would consider selling the striker in the January transfer window.
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