Celtic rallies past Beşiktaş in Europa League thanks to Camilo Durán double off the bench

Celtic Park witnessed a roller coaster that ended in a comeback for the home side: Celtic 3, Beşiktaş 2, in a Europa League league phase match that headed into the break scoreless before exploding in the second half. Camilo Durán, who came on from the bench, ended up being the headline name with two goals that sealed the turnaround late on.

The first half was fairly scrappy: corners at both ends, plenty of routine play and no goals to show for it. Beşiktaş pushed forward more insistently down the flank, but neither Junior Olaïtan nor Leandro Trossard could break down the Celtic defense before halftime.

The story changed pace as soon as the second half got underway. In the 51st minute, Beşiktaş won a penalty after a foul by Jordan Lotomba on Ernest Poku inside the box, but Olaïtan missed from the spot. The forward made no mistake on the rebound, though, and just two minutes later, in the 53rd minute, he pounced on a loose ball near the area off a free kick to make it 0-1.

Celtic's response

Celtic responded quickly. With a triple substitution, Colby Donovan, Callum Osmand and Camilo Durán all coming on, the home side found the equalizer almost immediately: in the 61st minute, Callum Osmand finished with his right foot from outside the box, just inside the left post, off an assist from Callum McGregor, making it 1-1.

The match opened up even further, and in the 77th minute, Camilo Durán popped up on the left side of the box to finish left-footed into the center of the goal, set up by Osmand with a through ball: 2-1 for Celtic. But Beşiktaş refused to go down and, in the 84th minute, Orkun Kökçü, himself a substitute, leveled with a low shot just inside the left post, assisted by Ernest Poku, making it 2-2.

The decisive blow came just two minutes later. In the 86th minute, Camilo Durán completed his brace with a left-footed strike from the center of the box for the final 3-2, a scoreline that held firm despite five minutes of stoppage time.

What the numbers say

The stats tell a curious story: Beşiktaş dominated possession and generated more overall volume, but Celtic were more clinical where it counted.

Beşiktaş moved the ball around far more and racked up more shots, but Celtic were sharper in front of goal: with six shots on target compared to four, they got far more out of their chances. According to our xG estimate based on the shots taken in the match, Beşiktaş generated 2.46 expected goals to Celtic's 1.19, suggesting the visitors had more than enough arguments to take something from the game, though clinical finishing tipped the balance the other way.

The pregame outlook had been quite different from how things actually unfolded on the scoreboard, though not so much in the overall result: our projection gave Celtic a 54% chance of winning, with 22% for Beşiktaş and 24% for a draw, with expected goals of 2.01 for the home side and 1.23 for the visitors. The final score ended up matching that forecast in terms of the result, though the path there was far bumpier than expected, with Celtic trailing on the scoreboard and twice having to come from behind before settling it in the closing stages.

What the match leaves behind

In the standings, the result leaves Beşiktaş with 7 points from four matches played and Celtic with 3 from the same number of appearances, a gap of 4 points between the two sides. For Celtic, the win comes at a moment when they badly needed three points, and Camilo Durán's impact off the bench, a brace in just nine minutes on the field, stands as the clearest image of an afternoon decided in the final twenty minutes.