Florian Wirtz scores one of the goals for Leverkusen
Celtic are still without a point in Europa League Group G as Bayer Leverkusen produced an impressive display to come away with a 4-0 victory at Parkhead on Thursday night.
The German side, who sit second in the Bundesliga, raced into a two-goal lead at the break as Piero Hincapie’s opener following a slip by David Turnbull was added to by the exciting teenage prospect Florian Wirtz 10 minutes later as the visitors pounced on another mistake from Anthony Ralston.
Kyogo Furuhashi had seen two presentable opportunities pass him by with the game level as Lukas Hradecky kept out his effort while a piece of last-ditch defending from Jonathan Tah prevented a certain goal inside the opening minutes, but Leverkusen’s superiority and class eventually came to the fore.
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Referee Marco Di Bello awarded them a second-half penalty when he adjudged Cameron Carter-Vickers to have handled from Paulinho’s shot with Lucas Alario tucking home the ensuing spot-kick (58) and there was still time for substitute Amine Adli to complete a routine victory with an emphatic finish in stoppage time (90+4).
The result means Celtic already find themselves in a difficult position to reach the Europa League knockout stages after two defeats in Group G, as Postecoglou turns his focus towards a huge Scottish Premiership encounter away to Aberdeen on Sunday.