Fabregas leads Barca to win

Cesc Fabregas's finely crafted late goal earned Barcelona a 1-0 win over 10-man Celtic although they clearly missed the mercurial talent of the injured Lionel Messi in their Group H Champions League game in Glasgow on Tuesday.

The Spanish champions, surprisingly beaten 2-1 in the corresponding match last season, created few chances despite dominating possession at an electric Parkhead stadium.

The only goal came after 76 minutes when Neymar, well policed by the disciplined Celtic defence, swept the ball out to substitute Alexis Sanchez on the right and his back-post cross was headed home by the unmarked Fabregas.

It was hard on Celtic, who by then were down to 10 men having had skipper Scott Brown dismissed just before the hour mark for catching Neymar in the back with his boot after the Brazilian went down in a challenge.

"Celtic are a great team who always demand the best from you," Fabregas told Spanish TV. "It was tough and we knew it was going to be tough. It was I think our best performance of the season and a very deserved victory."

Barcelona are top of Group H with six points from two games while Celtic are still looking for their first point.


/Yahoo/