Aiden McGeady was the hero when he scored the only goal of the game to steer their ailing European campaign back on track.

Benfica's misery was compounded when Augustin Binya saw red late on, as the Portuguese outfit returned to Lisbon empty-handed.

Celtic's well-documented problems on the road in this competition had continued this season, losing two goals in the first eight minutes against Shakhtar Donetsk, before losing a late goal against Benfica a fortnight ago.

The defeat in Lisbon was arguably tougher to take, with Gordon Strachan's men looking good for at least a point until Oscar Cardozo hit them with the sucker punch in the dying minutes.

That 1-0 reverse meant Celtic headed into Tuesday night's match bottom of Group D and knowing they had to win to have a realistic chance of repeating last year's feat and progressing to the knockout phase.

But this was Parkhead and, as far as the Scottish champions were concerned, Benfica would be sent home empty-handed once again having been humbled in the east end of Glasgow in the same competition 12 months ago.

In fact, Celtic had not lost at home in the Champions League since the 3-1 defeat to Barcelona in September 2004 when Henrik Larsson returned to haunt his former club, and confidence was further boosted by the weekend win over Kilmarnock which kept them top of the Scottish Premier League.

Strachan named an unchanged side from that 2-1 victory with Shunsuke Nakamura, as expected, still out of action with the knee injury which had kept him out of the last two games.

The best of the early chances fell to Benfica, with Maxi Pereira firing just over from 12 yards with an opportune effort in the opening minutes before Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc was called into action to make an excellent save to deny a point-blank shot from Cardozo after being teed up by Cristian Rodriguez.

A set-piece provided the home side with their first real opportunity when McGeady was hauled down by Rui Costa 25 yards out.

Paul Hartley floated the free-kick into the packed goalmouth only for John Kennedy to nod agonisingly wide of the upright.

Cardozo - the man who proved to be the difference between the two sides last time - was proving to be a handful yet again and this time his effort fizzed just past the post with the help of Boruc's fingertips.

Not to be outdone, Benfica goalkeeper Quim then produced an impressive save of his own to block a thunderous long-range shot from Scott Brown, before denying Scott McDonald as Celtic cranked up the pressure.

Brown then squandered a great chance when he swiped at fresh air instead of the ball in front of goal as the Benfica defence failed to clear their lines. McDonald then had another go with a ferocious right-foot shot and, this time, Quim cleared the danger with his feet.

A foolish Gary Caldwell challenge on Rodriguez just outside the area could have gifted Benfica the lead shortly before the break but Konstantinos Katsouranis played the free-kick short to Rui Costa and he blasted well wide.

Instead it was Celtic who claimed the opener on the stroke of half-time. Jiri Jarosik swept the ball into the path of McGeady 25 yards out and his superb shot took a deflection off Luisao and into the back of the net.

Benfica were clearly desperate to haul themselves back into the game and Rui Costa tried his luck shortly after the restart but Boruc was up to the task and comfortably smothered, before collecting a shot from the right from Luis Felipe.

With an hour gone, Benfica made their first change when Maxi Pereira made way for Angel Di Maria.

But it was Cardozo who squandered the chance to haul them level when he rose above everyone else in the box to meet a Leo cross only to nod wide from all of six yards.

Then came a double substitution from Celtic as Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Jarosik were replaced by Chris Killen and Massimo Donati.

Celtic survived a scare when Lee Naylor hooked an Edcarlos header off the line, before passing up a great chance to all but put the game beyond Benfica.

With only the keeper to beat, Brown saw his powerful shot parried before nodding over the crossbar from the rebound.

Cardozo had another couple of attempts on goal before being replaced by Nuno Gomes, while Gonzalo Bergessio took the place of Rui Costa as Benfica went for broke.

However, their hopes of a comeback suffered a blow when Binya earned a straight red card with five minutes to go for a challenge on Brown - who limped off for Evander Sno - as Celtic held on for three precious points.