Celtic were lucky to escape with a point after an injury-time penalty gave them a 1-1 draw with Hamilton in the Scottish Premier League.
Three players were sent off in a dramatic second half as Anthony Stokes’ 92nd minute spot kick cancelled out Simon Mensing’s 28th minute opener for Hamilton.
Celtic were controlling possession on their trip to New Douglas Park and Stokes went close early on with Hamilton goalkeeper Tomas Cerny forced to make a diving save, before Mark McCourt made a lunging tackle to deny James Forrest.
Against the run of play, Hamilton’s Martin Canning flicked on Flavio Paixao’s free kick and Mensing headed the ball home after Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster could only parry the initial effort.
Celtic lifted the tempo as they searched for an equaliser, but their chances were dealt a blow when Forrest received a straight red card for a harsh challenge on David Buchanan just after half-time.
But the numerical advantage was lost just 13 minutes later when Hamilton’s Jim McAllister received his marching orders just 35 seconds after coming on as a substitute.
Celtic were well on top by this stage, but it took another red card – this time to Hamilton goalscorer Mensing – to bring them back into the match.
Mensing blocked Emilio Izaguirre as he surged into the box and Stokes beat Cerny from the spot to make it 1-1.
Stokes thought he had won the match for Celtic in the sixth minute of injury time after heading home Charles Mulgrew’s corner, but the linesman ruled the set piece had curved out of bounds before reaching the striker.
The draw increases Celtic’s lead to five points ahead of Rangers at the top of the table, although Rangers have three games in hand.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Dundee United beat Motherwell 2-0 at Tannadice Park.
Johnny Russell headed the hosts in front after 53 minutes and David Goodwillie wrapped up the points in the 90th minute to move Dundee level on points with sixth-place Motherwell on the table with two games in hand.
Thu 13 January, 2011
