Boss Ronny Deila is hoping Celtic’s encouraging 2-2 Europa League draw with Ajax on Thursday evening can help get them immediately back on track domestically.
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Celtic have previously been fined after their fans let off fireworks on European nights.
Mikael Lustig’s header with 3 minutes remaining before the interval was rightfully greeted with the joy and relief it so deserved for a small but very vocal travelling support who have found the task of watching their beloved hoops recently a tortuous experience recently and a very solid case could be made to suggest the 1300 or so of them would have left the stadium with an extra spring in their collective steps had Izaguirre not lost concentration so stupidly later in the match.
It has given Celtic a firm foundation upon which to build before Fenerbahce visit Glasgow in a fortnight.
Izaguirre returned with midfielders James Forrest and Kris Commons coming into the starting line-up.
Sloppy play from Daley Sinkgraven saw Celtic break the deadlock early on. With a neat turn and sidestep, Commons wrong-footed the home defence before slipping the ball to Bitton on the right side of the penalty area. It will then come down to who finishes their chances and who doesnt.
He said: “He has been saying the same things over and over, what he wants us to do and how he wants us to play”. Although both Ajax and Celtic would much rather be setting forth on a Champions League campaign but they were ousted out of the qualifiers and now need to save some face in the Europa League. The Honduras worldwide , booked just after the break for a challenge on Kenny Tete, was allowed a couple more fouls before the referee, Banti, deemed his trip on El Ghazi to be one too many, leaving Celtic to replace Forrest with the defender Tyler Blackett.
But in the 25th minute Ajax drew level. The striker failed to connect properly with his shot although Cillessen still did well to push the ball past the post for a corner, which came to nothing. Their reward was to regain the lead before half-time.
The Ajax No 1 was beaten two minutes later, however, with Commons again the architect.
That was typified when Klaassen’s nervous touch on the edge of the penalty area denied him the opportunity to convert a clever Fischer pass.
Ajax are odds on at 5/6 to get the win whilst Celtic are priced at 7/2 to surprise everyone and get a win.
“I think he had very good control of El Ghazi in the first half”.
Had it not been for Emilio Izaguirre’s sending-off in the 73rd minute for picking up a second yellow card, the Scottish champions might well have gone into Sunday’s home league game against Dundee with three points.
Craig Gordon reckoned Schone got lucky with Ajax’s late leveller.
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Milik headed just over as Ajax threw everything forward looking for the victor but the Scottish champions held out for four minutes of added time although they will look at Izaguirre’s dismissal as the cause of a nervy ending. Subs not used: Boer, Van Rhijn, Van der Hoorn, Viergever.
