Brazilian touch denies Celtic early passage in Romania

Astra Giurgiu 1 Celtic 1

A piece of Brazilian magic denied Celtic early qualification from the Europa League group stages as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Astra Giurgiu in Romania.

The game looked set to be postponed amid extremely poor visibility at the fog-bound Marin Anastasovici stadium.

As it was, officials gave the go-ahead and Celtic were heading for the last 32 following Stefan Johansen’s brilliant strike after 32 minutes.

Stefan Scepovic missed a good chance to double Celtic's lead and Charlie Mulgrew saw a shot pushed on to the post two minutes before William Amorim equalised in the 79th minute.

The Brazilian curled home from a difficult position, finding the brilliance that was needed to beat goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

Leigh Griffith had a goal disallowed in the 83rd minute, which, with Salzburg beating Dinamo Zagreb, would have sent Celtic through, but they remain in a strong position, five points ahead of the Croatians with two games left.

There was more drama in injury time when Vincent Laban was sent off for a late challenge on Mulgrew.