Brattbakk back to haunt Celtic

Brattbakk fires in his first goal of the evening

Rosenborg 2-0 Celtic
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Former Celtic striker Harald Brattbakk came back to haunt his old side by scoring both goals as Rosenborg further dented Celtic's Champions League ambitions.

The much-maligned Norwegian, infamous for his poor scoring record in Scotland, scored two excellent first-half goals to seal the victory.

The striker, who had not scored since August, also won a penalty which was subsequently missed.

Celtic improved in the second half, but could not pierce the Norwegian rearguard and now require to beat Juventus at home next week and hope Rosenborg can hold Porto in Portugal in order to progress.

Celtic started in positive mood, clearly anxious to avoid the type of start they endured last week against Porto.

Rushfeldt beats Lambert to an aerial ball

The closest they came in the opening ten minutes, though, was a snapshot by Chris Sutton from the edge of the box which went well wide.

Equally, Rosenborg had failed to pose any threat to Rab Douglas' goal, but that changed dramatically in the 19th minute.

Sigurd Rushfeldt beat Mjallby to Janne Saarinen's high ball and Brattbakk was perfectly placed to rifle a volley into the bottom right-hand corner of Douglas' net.

Agathe's pace was proving to be a useful outlet for Celtic and a useful run in 23 minutes produced a dangerous cross which was only cleared as far as the Frenchman, but his subsequent shot was easily saved.

Rosenborg were growing in confidence on an increasingly treacherous surface and Douglas had to be alert again on the half-hour mark when Orjan Berg set up Roar Strand who hit a powerful shot straight at the keeper.

The Norwegians increased their lead in 36 minutes and incredibly it was Brattbakk who scored again.

Terrific work by Berg allowed Brattbakk to slip the ball into the path of Rushfeldt and although Douglas did brilliantly to save his effort, he could do nothing as Brattbakk fired the rebound into the same corner as his first.

Lennon puts Berg under pressure

Things seemed sure to go from bad to worse for Celtic just before the interval when the referee awarded Rosenborg a penalty as Brattbakk went down under Balde's challenge.

But Douglas pulled off a tremendous save from Bent Skammelsrud's spot kick, diving low to his right to palm it away.

Henrik Larsson shot over from a free kick on the stroke of half-time - the nearest Celtic had come to a goal all game.

Larsson knocked the ball just wide at the beginning of the second half after Rosenborg keeper Arason fumbled and, at the other end, Douglas miskicked on the slippy surface and Mjallby came close to knocking the clearance into his own net.

Celtic's best effort of the night so far came on 56 minutes. Agathe released Sutton and his cross was met at the near post by Larsson, but Arason was alert enough to knock the ball clear.

The Swede threatened again just after the hour mark when his header thudded off the crossbar from Agathe's cross and minutes later Sutton headed narrowly wide from a similar position in the six-yard box.

John Hartson came on with 10 minutes to go and he set up Larsson on the edge of the box, but his shot was well saved as time ran out for Celtic.

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Rosenborg: Arason, Saarinen, Hoftun, Basma, Olsen, Strand, Berg, Skammelsrud, Rushfeldt, George, Brattbakk.

Subs: Espen Johnsen, Frode Johnsen, Knutsen, Blixt, Winsnes, Johnson, Stensaas.

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Mjallby, Thompson, Petrov, Lambert, Lennon, Agathe, Larsson, Sutton.

Subs: Kharine, Sylla, McNamara, Hartson, Tebily, Moravcik, Guppy.

Referee: Juan Antonio Fernandez Marin (Madrid)