Celtic 1-2 Molde

40-year-old Hestad became the oldest scorer in the history of the Europa League

Celtic's defensive frailties were exposed again as their chances of Europa League progress were severely dented by a home defeat by Molde.

First-half goals by Mohamed Elyounoussi and captain Daniel Hestad did the damage as Molde reached the last 32.

Kris Commons had briefly drawn Celtic level but Ronny Deila's side could not muster a second goal and had midfielder Nir Bitton sent off on 75 minutes.

Celtic are bottom of Group A, but two wins will see them through.

They face Ajax at home on 26 November before travelling to Turkey to face Fenerbahce on 10 December.

Case for the defence

The departure of the injured Jozo Simunovic after only nine minutes did nothing to aid Celtic's hopes of keeping the Norwegians out and his replacement, Tyler Blackett, was involved in the concession of the opening goal.

His headed half-clearance was chested down by Elyounoussi and with no pressure applied to the winger, he was able to let it bounce before thumping it past a static Craig Gordon.

Molde's second was even poorer from Celtic's perspective.

Elyounoussi outmuscled Tom Rogic almost on the byeline, and when his cross arrived at the back post, Hestad showed greater desire than Blackett to stab the ball over the line, becoming the oldest player to score in a Europa League tie, at the age of 40.

Mohamed Elyounoussi opened the scoring with a wonderful volley

Blackett's ignominy was complete when he was taken off to be replaced by Nadir Ciftci, and though Bitton slipped into central defence to replace him, he was soon off as well, having hauled down Ola Kamara as he burst through on goal.

Pressure back on Deila

Celtic's response to their 3-1 defeat in Norway two weeks ago had been impressive, as they steamrollered Dundee United, Hearts and Aberdeen.

That had alleviated much of the criticism that had come Deila's way, but despite his recent impassioned defence of the job he is doing, it is sure to mount again.

The Celtic manager stresses he has the backing of both chief executive Peter Lawwell and major shareholder Dermot Desmond.

Commons diverted Bitton's shot into the net for the leveller

Both men have set the parameters by which Deila will be judged and imposed a stricter budget with which to impose his vision, yet neither could have lowered their expectations to accommodate such under-achievement in Europe.

Unlucky Celtic?

The result might have been very different had either of Celtic's early strikes counted, but marginal offside decisions meant Bitton and Leigh Griffiths were both left disappointed.

They did haul themselves back into the match when Commons redirected Bitton's half-hit volley to wrong-foot Ethan Horvath.

And the keeper denied them a second equaliser with two outstanding saves from headers by Mikael Lustig and Bitton, while the usually deadly Griffiths volleyed millimetres wide.

Nonetheless, Molde watched a Joona Toivio free-kick whistle by the post and an outstanding Kamara effort from outside the box rattled the bar, so the Norwegians' victory was scarcely a fluke.

This was simply another lacklustre European performance by a Celtic team capable of so much better.