Celtic defeat Young Boys to reach Champions League knock-out round

Celtic have reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League after a narrow win over Young Boys.

An own goal by Loris Benito settled a dramatic contest and ensure that Celtic qualify from the league phase of the competition with a game to spare.

Celtic now travel to Birmingham for their final league phase game knowing that they have already sealed progress to the next stage but they could even move directly into the last 16 of the competition if they can defeat Aston Villa.

The Scottish champions dominated the first half against Young Boys but couldn’t find a breakthrough, with Kyogo Furuhashi putting the ball in the net three times only to see the goals chopped off for offside twice and a foul in the build-up.

Arne Engels then had a penalty saved after Greg Taylor had his shirt pulled in the box, as Celtic failed to make their superiority count.

Young Boys improved after the break, though Celtic still had plenty of opportunities, and as the clock ticked down, Idah came off the bench to replace Kyogo. The Irish striker played his part in the decisive moment with four minutes left, when he raced on to a through ball and got his shot away, only for the rebound to come off Young Boys defender Benito and into the empty net.

Daizen Maeda was shown a red card for kicking out at Mohamed Ali Camara in the 89th minute but Celtic saw out the last few nervy moments, with Kasper Schmiechel making a last-gasp save from Sandro Lauper, to claim a precious three points.