Celtic dug out what could be a crucial Champions League point against Club Brugge, despite the Belgian side being the better side for long spells of a strange old encounter at Celtic Park.
An uncharacteristic - and quite horrendous - error from Cameron Carter-Vickers gave Brugge the goal their first half performance deserved, but a Daizen Maeda stunner on the hour was enough for the Scottish champions to salvage a tangible and potentially invaluable reward from a night when they were far below the standard they set here against RB Leipzig last time out.
Here are the talking points from Celtic Park…
Bolt from the Samurai Blue brings off-colour Celtic to life
To say that Maeda’s stunning equaliser came from nowhere would be quite the understatement. Brugge had just missed their latest presentable chance at the other end, and the anxiety from the home stands was palpable.
Maeda himself even added to the element of surprise by playing a pass back towards his own goal to Callum McGregor when on the edge of the box, prompting mass groans, before taking the return and slamming a stunning effort across goal and in off the far post to provoke bedlam.
One fan beside the press box had even implored the winger to ‘just cross it, ya daft b******’, moments before the ball thundered into the net, but you could hardly blame him. With Maeda, beyond his superhuman pressing ability, you are never quite sure what you are going to get.
On this occasion, it was a moment of brilliance, and it snapped Celtic out of their slumber. They had an almighty let-off as Ferran Jutgla’s tidy finish was ruled out for offside after a VAR review, but for all their sloppy play and misplaced passing, they at least showed they can scrap to dig out a point at the top level.
Sluggish Celts set tone from the start
You would have been forgiven for thinking that this was a Sunday lunchtime game against lower-league opposition in the League Cup rather than a crunch Champions League night from the way that Celtic started the match.
All over the pitch they were sluggish, sloppy in possession and disjointed in their press. Brugge simply popped the ball around Celtic Park at will, finding space with ease and coming close to exploiting it on numerous occasions.
First, Reo Hatate set the tone by being caught on his heels, allowing Jutgla to fire just wide, before a strange header back towards his own goal from the midfielder almost had Christos Tzolis in.
When Brugge cut through the Celtic press with ease once more and worked the ball to the right, where Andreas Skov Olsen was waiting to cut inside Greg Taylor and bend the ball inches past the far post, it felt like a matter of time before the hosts would be punished for their failure to get any sort of grip in the game.
When the deserved opener for Brugge arrived though, it was from the unlikeliest of sources…
CCV has a howler
There’s no dressing it up. Carter-Vickers has been Celtic’s steady Eddie for so long now, particularly on these big occasions, so he has plenty of credit in the bank. But he didn’t half use up a fair chunk of it here.
The American committed the cardinal sin of playing a pass back to his keeper blind, and unfortunately for him, Kasper Schmeichel wasn’t at home. He wasn’t helped by a negative pass back to him from Nicolas Kuhn that played him into all sorts of bother, mind you, but even allowing for the pressure he was under, what followed was an absolute shocker.
All he could do was look on in absolute horror as the ball trickled towards the far post, with his hands already on his head before it edged beyond the despairing efforts of Schmeichel to get back and over the line.
To be fair to him, he reacted well, and was solid enough for the rest of the night.
Brugge strangle Celts, but they find an answer eventually
For all that Celtic were miles below their usual standard, much of that was down to the fact that Brugge simply didn’t allow them to play.
Their coach, Nicky Hayen, had clearly recognised that Callum McGregor was the beating heart of this team, and he detailed captain Hans Vanaken to sit on top of him and nullify his influence. Along with the powerful Raphael Onyedika, the pair dominated the midfield area.
After the equaliser, and something of a rejig from Brendan Rodgers, things improved, and Celtic at least looked as though they were the home side for a spell. But Rodgers’ side did not enjoy the control he expects of them.
Arne Engels' struggles continue
Having flagged the inefficacy of Engels in my report from Tynecastle on Saturday evening, there was a hesitance to single him out once more, but in the end, there was no avoiding it. The young Belgian was again posted missing here against the side from his homeland.
And in fairness, he wasn’t alone in having an off night. Hatate, for example, was miles off it, and even Kuhn was way below his best. But on the ball, nothing he tried seemed to come off, and out of possession he was chasing shadows.
He is having to grow up quickly here in the Glasgow glare with such a hefty price tag around his shoulders, but it was precisely for nights like this that Celtic shelled out that £11m to bring him to the club.
In time, he may well prove that this is the stage on which he belongs, but he clearly still has a lot to learn.
