All to play for after Celtic and Inter thriller
Thursday, February 19, 2015
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Celtic FC 3-3 FC Internazionale Milano
John Guidetti slammed into the top corner deep into added time to leave this tie in the balance after a pulsating encounter in Glasgow.
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• Inter denied first ever win over 90 minutes in Glasgow by late John Guidetti effort
• Xherdan Shaqiri and Rodrigo Palacio give Nerazzuri an early two-goal lead
• Stuart Armstrong and a Hugo Campagnaro own goal draw Celtic level
• Palacio adds third just before half-time before Guidetti's added-time goal
• The second leg is next Thursday in Italy, with the last 16 draw the following day
An added-time strike from John Guidetti earned Celtic FC a dramatic 3-3 draw in a pulsating encounter at Celtic Park that leaves this tie on a knife edge ahead of next week's return against FC Internazionale Milano.
The visitors got off to the perfect start after just four minutes when Xherdan Shaqiri fired in a left-footed shot from outside the area. Craig Gordon could only parry the ball back into the path of the Swiss international, who drilled it into the opposite corner. The Nerazzurri then doubled their lead nine minutes later when an attempted clearance from a corner broke off Virgil van Dijk to the unguarded Rodrigo Palacio, who slotted home from an angle.
The game looked beyond the hosts at that stage, but incredibly Celtic were level in the space of a couple of minutes midway through the first half. First, Stuart Armstrong – making his European debut – converted Adam Matthews' cutback, and then within a minute the midfielder forced a mistake from Hugo Campagnaro, who turned Stefan Johansen's flick across the box past Juan Pablo Carrizo.
Inter were not done yet, and on the stroke of half-time Gordon misjudged a long ball from Gary Medel, leaving Palacio with a simple tap-in. The second half continued in the same vein with chances at both ends, and Gary Mackay-Steven would have levelled but for the onrushing Carrizo. The goalkeeper was also at his best again minutes later to deny Leigh Griffiths.
However, the Hoops carved out a late equaliser, Guidetti latching on to Liam Henderson's looped ball over the defence to rattle into the top corner, leaving everything to play for next week at San Siro.
