It was a game in which Celtic came from behind twice, and where individual mistakes cost us dearly.
Martin O'Neill played a 4-4-2 formation, with Johan Mjallby making his first Champions League start of the season, and Michael Gray starting for the second game in a row.
It was clear from the beginning that the French Champions were out to attack, and could have scored in the opening minutes, when Juninho shot just over the bar.
Celtic didn't have time to settle, and Lyon took the lead after 6 minutes. Juninho rattled a free-kick off the crossbar, and not one Celtic defender followed up for the rebound. Mouthy forward Elber was there to knock the ball home. It was a preventable goal and questions must be asked over Celtic's defending.
The Celtic fans spurred the team on, as Celtic now had to look for a goal.
Juninho was Lyon's top man, and he had another chance to score, as did Elber. Michael Gray was subject to a torrid time down the wing throughout the game.
John Hartston saw his shot go terribly wide, after a good move, involving Henrik Larsson and Liam Miller, but the Welshman did manage to get his name on the scoresheet after 24 minutes. A long ball from Stan Petrov was well won in the air by Chris Sutton, taking Larsson towards goal. The Swede's attempt at goal was poor, but the rebound fell to Hartson, who placed the ball home.
1-1 at half time was a decent result, but there was plenty of action stil to come.
Celtic's first real chance of the second half should have resulted in a penalty, when Chris Sutton was bundled to the ground. The frustrating thing is that referees seem intimidated in European stadiums, and it is highly unlikely that you will get many decisions away from home.
Juninho gave Lyon a 2-1 lead on the 53rd minute, when his feeble shot from 35 yards somehow managed to find the net. The goal should have been saved by Magnus Hedman, but a swerve in the ball put it past the Swede.
A good note about the goal was that there was plenty of time for Celts to claw one back. John Hartson and Michael Gray were replaced by Momo Sylla and Ross Wallace, as Celtic pushed for an equaliser.
Chris Sutton was moved up-front, and bagged a goal on 75 minutes, when a horrific mistake in the Lyon defence was pounced upon, and Sutton finished brilliantly to make it 2-2.
Scoring two goals away from home in Europe should usually be enough to see you through, and all Celtic had to do was hold on.
However, a late penalty from Juninho cost us our place in the last 16. Bobo Balde was judged by the referee to have handled the ball in the area, an incident which no Lyon players or fans appealed for. TV replays though, show that Balde stupidly handled the ball, to give away the kick. Balde has matured greatly since joining us, but he obviously still has a tendancy to do very stupid
and costly things.
Martin O'Neill was fuming at the decision of the penalty, the Celtic support inside the ground seemed bemused as to what actually happened.
A UEFA Cup place is what we now have to settle for. In many ways, it could be worse. Last night we played with guts and determination, but we lacked a bit of luck. Individual errors will have to be looked at, but we win as a team and we lose as a team.
The UEFA Cup draw will made made on Friday afternoon.
Celtic:
Hedman - 6
Balde - 7
Varga - 8
Mjallby - 9
Gray - 6 (Wallace - 6)
Lennon - 9
Petrov - 6
Miller - 7
Sutton - 8 (Kennedy - 7)
Hartson (Sylla - 5)
Larsson - 6
Celtic-Mad Man of the Match: Neil Lennon