Celtic went into this evening’s Champions League clash against Dinamo Zagreb knowing that a positive result would go a long way to securing knockout progression.
In truth, the opening 45 minutes passed without much incident. Paulo Bernardo struck narrowly over the bar from a promising free-kick position, while Nicolas Kuhn’s centre was parried by Danijel Zajoric.
Sandro Kulenovic scuffed a volley wide despite having half a sight of goal, summing up a half that was played out by two sides that knew their Champions League hopes were on a knife edge.
Greg Taylor picked up a booking early on, but there wasn’t much else to report in a bitty period where a bobbly pitch certainly didn’t help. Celtic did dominate possession, with Zagreb intent to sit in and break in numbers.
Come the second half, Kuhn had the best opening of the match on 50 minutes as his driving run led to a subsequent effort that was deflected over for a corner.
Martin Baturina then forced Kasper Schmeichel into a stop after a miscue from Greg Taylor. Later on, the veteran Dane was called into action to deny Marko Pjaca in stunning fashion.
Becoming a little more frantic in the last ten minutes
Without further ado, 67 Hail Hail take a look at how Brendan Rodgers’ side faired on a night where they
Kasper Schmeichel – 8
Didn’t have an awful lot to do, but made a stunning save to deny Marko Pjaca with ten minutes to go, hence the rating.
Alistair Johnston – 6
Had a decent, if unspectacular, first half. Taken off with a knock at half-time and replaced by Ralston. He was also a caution off missing the home tie against Young Boys in January.
Cameron Carter-Vickers – 8
Done what he needed to do. Aggressive and able to recover when necessary alongside his defensive partner.
Auston Trusty – 7
Took one to the face to block a powerful Zagreb strike before the hour mark. Won several headers from set pieces in a steely display.
Greg Taylor – 7
Booked in the first half. Inverted well at times, while his miscue led to Martin Baturina having an effort on target. Barring that, he enjoyed a solid evening and made several key interceptions.
Callum McGregor – 7
Led the team in and out of possession. Legs got exposed once or twice on the counter, but reliable on the ball and positionally aware.
Paulo Bernardo – 7
Made several recoveries and was efficient in possession. Cementing a starting place in the midfield game by game and continued his impressive run of performances this season.
Reo Hatate – 6
Didn’t have his greatest night in possession and struggled with the agricultural surface. Took up promising positions but has had better evenings.
Nicolas Kuhn – 7
Had a few bright moments off the right, as usual. Explosive pace and quick feet exposed the home side at times and possibly wasn’t fed the ball enough.
Daizen Maeda – 6
Cautioned in the opening 45 amid some tidy work on the ball. Work rate there as always, and helped to double up on opposition wide men before being taken off for Forrest.
Kyogo Furuhashi – 6
Wasn’t involved much in the first half and had to feed off scraps. Pressed tirelessly, but never got a sniff in front of goal.
Anthony Ralston (sub) – 6
Came on to replace Johnston at half-time. Picked up a yellow card for a tactical foul, but did just about enough despite a lack of recent minutes.
Arne Engels (sub) – 6
Some decent from the Belgium international. Nothing spectacular, but he made his presence felt in the face of special attention from the Zagreb midfield, who left a few on him.
Luke McCowan (sub) – 7
Once again made a positive impact with several moments of intuition. Looks every inch the Celtic player and a bargain at £1 million in the summer.
Adam Idah (sub) – 6
Used his physicality to his advantage and got Celtic up the pitch at times. Nearly got a touch on a reverse ball from Engels that was expertly snuffed out by Theophile-Caterine.
James Forrest (sub) – 6
Deserves credit for working hard in place of an efficiency monster like Maeda. Did what he had to as Celtic closed out a result.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
