Celtic still have plenty of work to do to reach the Champions League after drawing a blank in the first leg of their playoff against Kairat at Parkhead.
In Brendan Rodgers’s 800th match as a manager, there was no traditional early onslaught by the hosts as the accomplished Kazakhstani side more than matched their hosts. However, with Yang Hyun-jun on for Adam Idah and Daizen Maeda moving to centre-forward at the start of the second half, Celtic stepped up the pace and piled on the pressure in the later stages but could not find a way through despite 10 added minutes.
After the home league game against Livingston on Saturday, Celtic will get ready for the return leg in Kazakhstan on Tuesday night – which involves a 7,000-mile round trip – knowing qualification requires perhaps more work than many anticipated.
Much of the buildup to the game was centred on whether Rodgers would add to his squad for the European campaign. There were no late signings, but Rodgers made six changes to his side, with Kasper Schmeichel, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales, Reo Hatate, Benjamin Nygren and Idah returning and Viljami Sinisalo, Dane Murray, Auston Trusty, Arne Engels, Luke McCowan and Johnny Kenny dropping out.
Rafael Urazbakhtin, the Kairat head coach, stressed his team were playing for the glory of Kazakhstan and he pinned much of his hopes on the 17-year-old Chelsea-bound forward Dastan Satpayev. The visitors settled early and in the 11th minute the captain, Aleksandr Martynovich, had the ball in the net from close range but was offside.
With Satpayev putting in an influential performance, Kairat attacked fluidly and at pace on the counter to dampen the mood of the expectant home support. In the 32nd minute, the Celtic defender Alistair Johnston pulled up with what looked like a hamstring injury as he backtracked. He was taken from the field on a stretcher, replaced by Anthony Ralston.
Quick Guide
Champions League roundup: Bodø/Glimt thrash Sturm Graz
Show
Bodø/Glimt thrashed Sturm Graz 5-0 in their Champions League playoff first leg, leaving the Norwegian side almost certain of progression to the league phase.
The hosts raced into a 3-0 lead before half-time thanks to goals from Kasper Høgh, Odin Bjørtuft and Ulrik Saltnes. Høgh’s opener was the pick of the bunch, a flowing team moving ending with him dinking Oliver Christensen in the Sturm Graz goal, before Bjørtuft nodded in at a corner and Saltnes rounded off a whirlwind 18-minute scoring spree with a deft turn and near-post finish.
Bodø/Glimt added a fourth early in the second half through Håkon Evjen, who finished off another sharp passing move, before Jens Petter Hauge forced a clumsy own goal from William Böving late on to round off an emphatic win.
Elsewhere, Fenerbahce, managed by José Mourinho, were held to a goalless draw by Benfica in Istanbul. The Portuguese side had Florentino Luís sent off after he picked up a second yellow midway through the second half, but their opponents failed to capitalise.
Basel were also held to a draw at home, despite going ahead after 14 minutes against Copenhagen thanks to Xherdan Shaqiri’s well-taken penalty. The visitors hit back in first-half injury time, however, Gabriel Pereira heading home Marcos López’s superb cross to make it 1-1 before, with 82 minutes on the clock, the Basel defender Jonas Adjetey received a second yellow for dragging down Youssoufa Moukoko when the substitute was through on goal.
Will Magee
Moments later, the Kairat goalkeeper Aleksandr Zarutskiy saved from Maeda when Celtic at last got through. At the other end, Ofri Arad’s powerful drive flew just wide of Schmeichel’s post.
Yang for Idah for the start of the second period and Maeda moving central was no surprise and, within a minute, Yang set up James Forrest, whose shot was touched on to a post and then gathered by Zarutskiy. In the 58th minute, after some sloppiness by Carter-Vickers in defence, the Brazilian striker Edmilson tried a speculative shot from 40 yards and it landed on the roof of Schmeichel’s goal.
Celtic’s corner count mounted but to no avail and the home fans – perhaps also frustrated by a lack of transfer activity – began singing “sack the board” as the game moved into the final quarter. In the 75th minute, after sustaining an injury defending a corner, Zarutskiy had to be replaced by his understudy Temirlan Anarbekov. He then had his head bandaged after taking a knock.
The visitors wasted time at every opportunity and 10 added minutes gave Celtic hope, but Maeda spurned a gift when he ran through alone and could only manage a tame shot which was easily saved by Anarbekov. There were boos at the end from the irate Celtic supporters.
After hearing the Celtic board come under fire from fans following the goalless draw, Rodgers said: “You know these games are tough games and you want to have your best players in as quick as you can to tackle these sorts of situations.
“But listen, it is what it is and I just have to accept where it’s at and we’ll now get ready for Saturday and then the long haul on Sunday. Then we’ll try and get through on Tuesday.”
Asked about the fans’ reaction, Rodgers said: “I do know that, over many years, ‘sack the board’ normally means ‘sack the manager’. It’s normally the manager that goes when that starts to be sung. I can only really look at the players we have here, and the performance. We’ve known for a long time what we’ve needed as a squad, so I don’t want to go into that.
“The boys are a great bunch of lads, they’re really honest. They’ve started the season well. Defensively, they’ve been strong. But tonight, offensively, we just couldn’t show those moments of quality to break through.
“We need to improve the squad. I think supporters see that. This is a performance club. This is a club that has to perform. And that starts on the field. You do that with getting the very best players you possibly can to allow you to perform.”
