Midtjylland 3-1 Celtic, UEFA Europa League: First-Half Goal-Fest Seal First Loss For O'Neill

Martin O'Neill suffered his first defeat since returning to Celtic, whose first-half collapse was punished in a 3-1 loss to Midtjylland in the Europa League.

Martin Erlic, Mikel Gogorza and Franculino Dju all struck in the space of eight minutes late in the first half to extend their perfect record in the competition.

Franculino, Kevin Mbabu and Mads Bech all went close early on before Cho Gue-Sung forced a fine sprawling save out of Kasper Schmeichel before powering his follow-up into Anthony Ralston's face.

But Midtjylland got the breakthrough after recycling a corner in the 33rd minute, with Erlic rising highest to thump his header past Schmeichel.

Just 98 seconds later, Gogorza, who assisted the first goal, got the hosts' second. He danced between two Celtic defenders as he cut inside from the left before bending a brilliant shot around Schmeichel into the far side of the net.

And Franculino's impressive first-half performance was capped with a goal four minutes before the break, as he lifted his strike over the crowd and into the top-left corner after a long throw.

Midtjylland eased some of the pressure in the second half and were caught out in the 78th minute as Erlic tripped Europa League debutant Callum Osmand in the box.

Reo Hatate confidently converted into the bottom-left corner, but they could not mount a late comeback, with Lee Han-Beom sliding in to deny Michel-Ange Balikwisha a tap-in shortly after.

Data Debrief: Celtic's away day blues continue

Celtic have now failed to win any of their last 15 major European matches away from home (D5 L10), conceding 40 goals in total since a 3-2 win over Ferencvaros in November 2021.

And a terrible finish to the first half ultimately decided the match, with Celtic giving up 15 shots before the break, nine of which were on target.

Midtjylland ultimately finished with 22 attempts worth 2.49 expected goals (xG), while Celtic had five shots worth 0.98 xG, with the penalty contributing to most of that total.