Celtic earned what could prove to be a vital point in their quest for European progression after a 2-2 draw away at Bologna.
Martin O’Neill’s side played over an hour with ten men and put in a dogged defensive display take something from the Serie A side. They now sit on eight points in the standings and a win in their final match against Dutch side Utrecht next Thursday could earn them a place in the Europa League play-offs.
Celtic raced into the lead on five minutes through Reo Hatate, but the Japanese blotted his copybook with two bookings by the 34-minute mark. Despite the red card, Celtic nabbed a second just before the break when Auston Trusty netted.
Celtic needed the two-goal cushion as they came under siege in the second half. Thijs Dallinga (58) and Jonathan Rowe (72) managed to breach Celtic’s resistance, but they defending manfully and resisted more than 30 shots to take a point back to Glasgow.
Here are the Celtic player ratings from the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara.
9. Yang Hyun-jun
Worked extremely hard and showed a physical side we don't often see from the South Korean winger. Replaced towards the end. 6 | AFP via Getty Images
10. Sebastian Tounekti
Didn't see an awful lot of the ball during a first half in which Celtic spent most of their time on the back foot. Taken off for Nygren at the interval, which was understandable given with ten men Celtic needed more dig. 5 | AP
11. Daizen Maeda
Endless energy levels from the selfless Japanese forward, who was once again asked to play the No 9 role. Was the beneficiary of Skorupski's wayward pass to set up the opener. Never stopped running when Celtic were down to ten men. A trojan. 8 | Getty Images
12. Celtic subs
Benjamin Nygren was brought on at half time but spent most of the second half chasing shadows. Anthony Ralston and Johnny Kenny were introduced on 76 minutes. The latter had a decent chance not long afterwards. Paulo Bernardo freshened up the midfield late on. | AFP via Getty Images