Celtic slumped to a fourth defeat in five matches as Benfica swept to a comprehensive 4-1 Europa League victory at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.

Former Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran scored twice and Alexander Bah added a volley as Marco Silva’s side raced into a 3-0 half-time lead, picking apart a ramshackle Celtic defence time and again. The Scottish champions improved after the break and pulled a goal back through Camilo Duran, but substitute Vangelis Pavlidis added a late fourth.

The result leaves Celtic 34th of 36 teams in the league phase after two defeats, while Benfica are third with two wins from two.

A nightmare first half

The trouble began inside five minutes. Dane Murray committed a careless foul on Jhon Duran, and the Colombian striker picked himself up to dink a delightful penalty past goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo.

Benfica’s second came from more sloppy defending. Sebastian Tounekti failed to track Bah’s run into the box, and the Dane found the bottom corner with a crisp volley.

It was almost three straight from the restart, when Duran fired into the side netting. Celtic failed to heed the warning. Minutes later, Gianluca Prestianni played Duran through and he beat Sinisalo from a tight angle.

Benfica finished the night with 26 shots, 21 of them from inside the Celtic penalty area — a statistic that captured how easily the Portuguese side cut through their visitors.

A spark after the break

Martin O’Neill reacted at half-time, withdrawing Tounekti and club-record signing Kasper Hogh, who has now failed to score in 10 of his first 11 Celtic appearances. Haissem Hassan and Callum Osmand came on, and the change brought an immediate lift.

Hassan shot straight at Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin before teeing up Camilo Duran, who scored with a brave header. Celtic pushed for a second that might have set up a tense finish. Duran struck a post with a left-footed drive and Osmand forced a sharp save from Trubin.

Benfica, though, continued to create chances at will. Andreas Schjelderup rattled the woodwork, and in the closing stages Pavlidis scuffed a shot past a flat-footed Sinisalo to add gloss to a scoreline the hosts’ play deserved.

O’Neill defiant

“Last thing you want to do is concede so early on,” O’Neill said. “We could’ve capitulated, but I thought the second-half performance was terrific. We created chance after chance.”

The Celtic manager’s positive reading of the second half will be of limited comfort to supporters. Before the international break, Rangers beat Celtic home and away, and Ferencvaros won at Parkhead in Europe. An improved display at Motherwell on Sunday returned Celtic to the top of the Scottish Premiership, raising hopes that the slump had ended. Lisbon dashed them.

The bigger question

Admittedly, this was not a match Celtic were expected to win. Benfica are a club with a long European pedigree and a squad assembled at a far greater cost. But the concern for Celtic is not simply the defeat — it is the manner of it. For long periods they failed to compete, and they were repeatedly their own worst enemy with unforced errors.

The familiar criticism of Scottish champions is that they dominate domestically but come up short when the standard rises. Pundits were quick to make the point again, with former striker Chris Sutton among those dismayed by the display.

There is little time to dwell on it. Celtic host Hearts in the league on Sunday in what now looks a significant test, before returning to European action against Celta Vigo. With only two league-phase matches gone, a top-24 finish remains possible — but Celtic will need far more defensive discipline than they showed in Lisbon to get there.

Elsewhere on a mixed night for Scottish clubs, Hearts drew 1-1 with Nordsjaelland in the Conference League.