Europa League:Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's early goal was enough to give Everton a vital 1-0 victory over AEK Athens which sealed their place in the last 32 of the Europa League but Celtic bowed out of the competition despite tonight's win against Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov raced on to Jo's brilliant throughball to slot past AEK goalkeeper Sebastian Saja with aplomb after just six minutes and the Russian midfielder's goal proved the difference on a rain-soaked evening at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.
The result, combined with Group I leaders Benfica's 2-1 win over BATE Borisov, means the Toffees have qualified for the knockout stage as section runners-up with a game to spare.
It remains to be seen at what cost Everton's return to winning ways after just one victory in 11 previous games has come at, however, as defenders Dan Gosling and Sylvain Distin, along with Jo, were all forced off due to injuries.
Meanwhile Celtic’s Europa League chances came to an end despite Tony Mowbray’s side securing their first victory of the campaign.
Hamburg’s 2-0 win over Rapid Vienna in the other Group C fixture took them top with 10 points, one more than Hapoel, and made Celtic’s trip to Vienna on December 17th a dead-rubber fixture.
Greece striker Georgios Samaras gave Celtic the lead midway through the first half, as he had when the two sides met in the first section game in Israel in September which Hapoel Tel Aviv ended up winning 2-1.
This time though, the home side added to their lead through a Barry Robson free-kick after the break to run out deserved winners.
However, after taking care of the Israeli side, and on the evidence of the first meeting between the two sides, boss Mowbray and the Celtic fans might wonder why they allowed tonight’s opponents to go to through to the knockout stages along with Hamburg.
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