Bottle Throwing Incident Mars Linfield's Performance

Celtic star Leigh Griffiths was subjected to missiles being thrown at him during a heated match in Belfast in their Champion's League qualifier against Linfield at Windsor Park last night.

The Irish club will now be investigated following the incident, which was caught on TV as he prepared to take a corner. Items including coins and a bottle landed close to the Celtic striker. He picked up the bottle and gestured to the referee who astoundingly "BOOKED" the player.

When referee Alejandro Hernandez was asked why he booked Griffiths he could not provide an explanation. Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers said "I thought it was strange him getting booked for it." The referee had a good game up until that point but he showed no concern for the player's safety after the incident.

Substitute Johnny Hayes was also subjected to coin throwing in the same corner of the stadium.

At the end of the game, Linfield fans tried to invade the pitch but were prevented from doing so by police and stewards.

The Glasgow club had turned down their ticket allocation for the match over fears regarding security both before and after the match.

The match itself was a decent game. Celtic played well, having the majority of the possession and scoring twice within five minutes to earn a two goals to nil victory.

Goals from Sinclair and Rogic in the first half, gave the visitors a valuable away win.

Linfield however put up a brave show. The part-timers fought for every ball, defending deep in their own half for most of the match. The players put in a fantastic shift and despite losing, can take great pride from their performance.

Veteran goalkeeper Roy Carroll, 40, produced a number of excellent saves, to thwart Celtic as they sought a third goal and was probably the man of the match.

Celtic will expect to complete the task at Celtic Park next Wednesday and will face either Dundalk or Rosenberg in the next round. The Republic of Ireland side were held to a one all draw by the Norwegian visitors.