Celtic were forced to come from behind in order to restore their two-goal aggregate advantage at the halfway stage of their Champions League qualifier second leg against Stjarnan this evening.
The hosts stunned their more illustrious visitors inside the opening 10 minutes when Olafur Finsen danced away from Nir Bitton inside the box before clipping the ball past Craig Gordon to halve Celtic's aggregate lead.
Ronny Deila's side immediately went looking for an away goal that would put them in complete control of the tie, but their best chance of the opening 20 minutes saw Nadir Ciftci miss the target from an impossible angle.
They thought they had the equaliser on the night midway through the half when Dedryck Boyata, who opened the scoring in the first leg, tucked the ball home following a deflected free kick, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
They wouldn't have to wait too much longer to restore their two-goal aggregate advantage, however, as some poor goalkeeping from Gunnar Nielsen allowed Bitton to glance home Stefan Johansen's delivery.
Celtic went in search of a lead on the night before the interval, and Stuart Armstrong almost provided it with a half-volley on the turn that flew narrowly wide of the target.
It was Stjarnan who came closest in the dying stages of the half, however, when Daniel Laxdal drilled an effort narrowly wide.
Barney Corkhill
