sport news SHAKHTAR DONETSK 1-1 CELTIC: Ange Postecoglou's side avoid second half collapse trends now
There was to be no second half collapse this time. Ange Postecoglou got close to the 90-minute performance he craved against Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw if not quite the victory that it deserved.
After being given the runaround by Real Madrid in the latter stages in Glasgow a week ago, Celtic demonstrated that they have the staying power required at this level.
By the end of an impressive, controlled display, a first point in this campaign felt like a meagre reward for their efforts. They will play worse and win games at this level.
Ange Postecoglou got close to the 90-minute performance he craved against Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw if not quite the victory that it deserved
Artem Bondarenko scored an own goal in the opening 10 minutes to give Celtic the lead
Having dominated from the off and hit the front through Artem Bondarenko’s own goal, a comfortable victory briefly looked to be on the cards.
Shakhtar’s response came through a sumptuous counter-attack finished by Mykhailo Mudryk but it was short-lived.
Aside from a brief spell after the equaliser, Celtic were markedly the better side.
Stretching back to Anderlecht five years ago, the wait to win on the road in this competition goes on but only a failure to convert a hatful of chances made that the case.
Postecoglou handed Sead Haksabanovic his first start with the winger’s deployment on the left flank pushing Jota to the right.
Gone are the days when Shakhtar’s side boasted a backbone of South American talent. Shorn of almost all of their foreign imports as a result of the Russian invasion, the only non-Ukrainian in their side was Brazilian left-back Lucas Taylor. Marian Shved, once of Celtic, featured on the right.
Predictions by Shakhtar manager Igor Jovicevic that up to 30,000 exiled Ukrainians would be on hand to roar his team on proved to be wishful think.
The exiled club’s ‘home’ in Europe, Legia Warsaw’s stadium was a long way short of capacity. There was certainly no wall of noise to intimidate Postecoglou’s side.
The pervading feeling was that if Celtic could come close to matching their first-half display against Madrid they would take some stopping.
They certainly sprang from the traps. Only the boot of the advancing Anatoliy Trubin prevented Kyogo Furuhashi clipping Matt O’Riley’s measured pass home inside two minutes.
Shakhtar already looked rattled. A neat interchange between Greg Taylor and Haksabanovic down the left saw the latter roll the ball at pace across the six yard box. The lurking Furuhashi was only inches away from converting.
When O’Riley then headed a Jota cross into the arms of the Shakhtar keeper, the opener only felt a matter of time.
It came
