A truly classic Europa League Round of 32 first leg was in store as Celtic hosted Inter Milan; and it did not disappoint.
The visitors got things rolling in the 4th minute, as new signing, Xherdan Shaqiri, slot the ball into the bottom corner, after his an initial effort was not dealt with by Gordon in Celtic's goal. 9 minutes later, Inter doubled their lead through Rodrigo Palacio. Shaqiri was able to dink the ball back into the box where an attempted clearance from Virgil van Dijk was deflected into the path of Palacio. The Argentine was then able to slide the ball home and through Gordon's legs.
Celtic did not give up, however, despite the score line. In the 24th minute, Celtic cut the defict by one. Stefan Johansen was able to pull the ball back across the area in which he found Stuart Armstrong and the Scottish midfielder was able finish it off. Only seconds later, Celtic equalized. Johansen was able to flick Matthews' throw into the box and the ball ended up in the back of the net after Campagnaro and Armstrong jostled for it, with the Argentine defender unfortunately geting the last touch and the credit for the own goal.
The stalemate did not last long though. As halftime approached, Inter were able to score right at the death to take the lead. A long ball was forward to Gordon, who attempted to stretch himself to capture it only for the ball to be slipped from his grasp. It gave Palacio the perfect opportunity to take advantage, and he was able to quickly slot the ball into the empty net.
In the second half, Inter had a number of chances to extend their lead. First from Palacio in the 49th minute, but his poor shot gave Gordon the chance to get down and make a comfortable save. Then 4 minutes later, Shaqiri was able to break away down the right side of the pitch to be able to cut inside onto his left foot and try to curl one past the Celtic stopper only for his shot to be tipped away by Gordon.
Celtic also had a number of chances. From a free kick in the 55th minute, Nir Biton tries a free kick from about 40 yards only for the Inter goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo to get a fine save on his shot. Another chance was made some 10 minutes later where Johansen took his shot and again Carrizo was able to make an excellent stop to deny the Norwegian an equalizer for the hosts.
They would soon get their chance, however. In the last minute of the match in the 93rd minute, Kovacic's interception was able to go straight to Henderson, in which the Scottish midfielder was able to cleverly dink the ball over the defence to find John Guidetti where the Swede was able to control it well and was able to put his shot into the top corner to level things up at 3-3 in the last seconds of the match and secure a draw in the first leg.
It was an entertaining match for both sides and it made things sure that next Thursday at the Giuseppe Meazza, both teams would be level with everything to play for to advance to the Round of 16.