Celtic 1 Molde 2
Ronny Deila remains confident of his Celtic future and the club's Europa League prospects despite the 2-1 home defeat by Molde keeping them bottom of Group A.
The Norwegian outfit clinched qualification through goals by Mohamed Elyounoussi and captain Daniel Hestad, either side of a Kris Commons leveller, with midfielder Nir Bitton red carded in the second half for a "last man" foul on Molde substitute Ola Kamara.
Deila's side have two points from four games and need to beat Ajax at home and Fenerbahce away to qualify, and will have Bitton and Stefan Johansen suspended for the visit of the Dutch side on November 26th.
Disappointing night
After yet another disappointing night in Europe – Deila has passed up on three chances to qualify for the Champions League since taking over from Neil Lennon in 2014 – the spotlight turns on the Norwegian again.
However, when asked if he was still confident that he would be given time needed, he replied: “Yes, I am confident about that. We have done very well domestically. In Europe we haven’t reached that level that we want but we are going to improve.
“I am not thinking about my position. I am going to work hard to turn this around and be ready for next year – and the last two Europa League games.”
Ajax moved on to three points and Fenerbahce on to five following their goalless draw in Amsterdam. Celtic drew 2-2 with both clubs earlier in the campaign which gives Deila hope to declare that that chances of qualifying were, “realistic, of course. We have a draw against both teams before.
“Molde showed they are the best team in the group.
“We can beat Ajax here and we can beat Fenerbahce down there. We are going to fight to the end for those six points.
“It was individual mistakes again. We need to have much more character and pride. We have to win challenges and we lost that game inside the two boxes and that is disappointing.
"Kieran Tierney played with his heart, he had an unbelievable performance and that is a positive thing on a dark day."
Went off
Defender Jozo Simunovic declared himself fit before the game but lasted five minutes before he went off following a challenge from Molde attacker Tommy Hoiland.
The Croatian defender was replaced by Tyler Blackett, who was himself substituted in the second half by Nadir Ciftci.
Molde’s win took them through to the knockout stages for the first time which “delighted” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who only returned for his second spell as manager before the 3-1 win over Celtic in Norway last month.
