Chess match ends in stalemate
Celtic earned a hard-fought draw away to Dynamo Zagreb in the Champions League tonight.
The Scottish media would tell you that this was an opponent in crisis, but Zagreb had won their last 2 away games in the Champions League prior to this match against Austrian champions Salzburg, 0:2, and the Slovakian Champions Bratislava, 1:4, so this was a really tough opponent.
The Scottish media would also lead you to believe that there was an injury crisis, but all their top forwards were fit & the overwhelming majority of players had all featured already in the competition.
Zagreb are also a club who have won 18 of the last 19 league titles in Croatia & regularly do well in Europe, so this was a powerhouse club.
Both teams played the game with a lot of respect for each - both teams holding their shape without committing a lot of men forward.
Both teams had half-chances to win - Zagreb had a header well-saved by Kasper Schmeichel, and another effort travelling towards goal was well-blocked by Trusty.
Celtic went agonisingly close through a Paulo Bernardo free-kick in the 1st half which was millimetres from dropping in.
Kyogo almost got in at a near post cross where any slight touch would have been enough to score.
McCowan had a good shot which was well-saved by the goalkeeper.
Celtic had a lot of possession & got into 'good' areas without necessarily having a lot of options, but no one could find that clinical touch to assist a team-mate or blast a shot into the net.
Adam Idah went close with 2 efforts late on.
Ultimately this was like a high level chess-match ending in a stalemate, with neither team confident enough to throw men forward going all out for a win.
It shows how far Celtic have come when we are slightly disappointed not to beat such a strong team as Zagreb.
Only time will tell how important a point this was...
All eyes towards the next match vs Young Boys of Berne - this is set up to showpiece match-up at Celtic Park on 22nd of January!
Player ratings
Kasper Schmeichel, 8 – Good solid save when called upon & steady all night.
Greg Taylor, 7 – Hard-working & reliable performance.
Alisdair Johnston, 7 – Did well in the first half defensively, and got into good positions in the final third but could not find a killer pass.
Auston Trusty, 8 – Yet another really good defensive display.
Cameron Carter Vickers, 7.5 Defended well & also a threat carrying the ball forward.
Callum McGregor, 7.5 – Kept things ticking over well all night long.
Reo Hatate, 7 – Battled hard & was unlucky on a number of occasions.
Paulo Bernardo, 7.5 - A number of good tackles defensively & good forays forward.
Daizen Maeda, 7 – Gave great defensive cover as usual & threatened throughout, but could not get the sight of goal he was looking for.
Nicolas Kuhn, 8 (Man of the match) – Lots of excellent runs, but could not find the killer goal or the killer pass.
Kyogo Furuhashi, 7 – Unlucky on a number of occasions, especially with an effort at the near post.
Anthony Ralston, 7.5 – Solid performance down the right hand side - all he lacked was the final pass to win the game or slot in a team-mate.
Luke McCowan, 7.5 – Gave the team an extra edge going forward.
Arne Engels, 7.5 – Helped put the forwards into great areas & surged the team forward.
James Forrest, 7 – Slotted team-mates in well.
Adam Idah, 8 – Excellent link-up play & very unlucky with 2 close efforts.
Brendan Rodgers, 7.5 – Set the team up well, and made good subs which turned the game in our favour.