LISBOA (Interstat) — Jhon Duran scored twice and Benfica defeated Celtic 4-1 on Thursday at Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, earning a home win in the competition and handing the visitors a loss in their opener. Benfica moved to 1-0 in the competition and 2-2 across all competitions. Celtic fell to 0-1 in the competition and 7-2 across all competitions. Alexander Bah and Vangelis Pavlidis also scored for Benfica, while Gianluca Prestianni provided two assists and Tomas Araujo added one. Camilo Duran scored Celtic’s goal, with Haissem Hassan credited with the assist.

Bah gave Benfica the lead in the 23rd minute. Jhon Duran doubled the advantage in the 36th minute, and Benfica took a 2-0 lead into halftime. Celtic responded in the 63rd minute when Camilo Duran found the net, with Hassan setting up the goal. Jhon Duran finished with two goals, and Pavlidis sealed the result in the 89th minute. Benfica’s four goals came from Bah, Jhon Duran twice and Pavlidis once. Celtic’s lone goal came from Camilo Duran.

Jhon Duran played 67 minutes and recorded two goals. Camilo Duran was on the field for 90 minutes and scored once for Celtic. Hassan played 44 minutes and had one assist. Pavlidis scored in 23 minutes of action. Prestianni played 90 minutes and recorded two assists. Araujo played 90 minutes and had one assist. Bah played 80 minutes, scored once and received a yellow card.

Benfica’s yellow cards went to S. Dahl in the 44th minute, Bah in the 69th minute and J. Palhinha in the 85th minute. Celtic’s substitutions included K. Hogh and S. Tounekti in the 46th minute, M. Baur and O. Sorensen in the 57th minute, and C. Donovan in the 77th minute. Benfica’s substitutions included G. Sudakov and S. Dahl in the 64th minute, Jhon Duran and D. Lukebakio in the 67th minute, and Bah in the 80th minute.

The result left Benfica at 1-0 in the competition and 2-2 overall. Celtic stood at 0-1 in the competition and 7-2 overall. Benfica had entered after a win over Vitoria Guimaraes in its previous match. Celtic had won at Motherwell in its previous outing. Celtic had won seven of its previous eight matches. Those results included a 2-0 win at Motherwell, a 1-0 loss to Rangers, a 1-0 win at St Johnstone, a 2-1 win at St. Mirren, a 3-0 win over Aberdeen, a 2-1 win over Falkirk, a 5-1 win at Kilmarnock and a 1-0 win over Dundee FC. Benfica had gone 1-2 in its previous three matches, beating Vitoria Guimaraes 2-0 before losing 2-0 at GD Alcochetense and 4-1 at Atletico.

Celtic’s next 10 scheduled matches are against Heart of Midlothian FC at home in the SCO: Premiership, at Hibernian in the SCO: Premiership, against Dundee Utd at home in the SCO: Premiership, at Falkirk in the SCO: Premiership, against Kilmarnock at home in the SCO: Premiership, against St. Mirren at home in the SCO: Premiership, at Heart of Midlothian FC in the SCO: Premiership, at Dundee FC in the SCO: Premiership, against St Johnstone at home in the SCO: Premiership and against Hibernian at home in the SCO: Premiership. All 10 matches are in the SCO: Premiership. The match was played at Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in Lisboa.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Benfica 2, Celtic 2. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Benfica with an 88.9 percent probability to win. Benfica had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 2.25. The total score of 5 went under the over/under line of 3.5.