A DRAWN match can still leave one team feeling like a winner and another the loser.
In the closing couple of minutes in Austria last night Red Bull Salzburg were chasing, harrying and rushing to retrieve the ball whenever it flew out of play. Celtic were taking a breather, and taking their time.
That was sensible, pragmatic behaviour from players closing in on a fine result. Celtic began their Europa League campaign with a hugely encouraging result from the most difficult fixture of the six they must negotiate. They did not want to be in this tournament, but they felt good enough about themselves last night.
It is tempting to suggest they rode their luck. There was an obvious inequality in possession and chances over 90 minutes. But Craig Gordon did not wander on to the Parkhead payroll through some stroke of happy fortune. Sound judgment and opportunism enabled them to sign Gordon when umpteen other clubs might have beaten them to the punch. His emergence - actually, make that his return - as a goalkeeper of the highest quality already seems to be complete.
Were it not for him they would have been sunk last night. When Salzburg's bright, attacking players were playing their way through the back four and pinging shots or headers at him Gordon was a match for all but two of them. One double save, flinging a hand out to block Marcel Sabitzer's shot and then scrambling back to his feet to push away Alan's follow-up, took the breath away. Another, somehow getting a touch to an Andre Ramalho header when Emilio Izaguirre switched off to a run (a recurring flaw), was even better. Forget Fraser Forster, Celtic have a new figure who has removed any anxiety about their goalkeeping position.
Under Ronny Deila, the team has developed two traits in European away games: they take the lead, and they do not hold on to it. Celtic have now been ahead five times in European away fixtures but been pegged back on four occasions. Deila's Celtic lose too many goals. At least one has been conceded in each of their last seven games.
Efe Ambrose was uncomfortable at right-back again and it was his outstretched leg which deflected Alan's shot past Gordon for Salzburg's first equaliser.
The origin of the goal meant others were to blame, though. Stefan Johansen and Scott Brown didn't always have a grip of Kampl and his delicious through ball bisected Virgil van Dijk and Jason Denayer, the latter having slipped, to find Alan. Ambrose had played him onside in the first place before racing across to tackle.
Kevin Kampl, Sabitzer and Alan were busy, energetic players for Salzburg and were eclipsing the golden boy, Jonatan Soriano, until the sumptuous free-kick which made it 2-2 12 minutes from time. Whip and pace on the ball put that one beyond even Gordon.
Celtic have a toehold in Group D without playing especially well. They began reasonably comfortably and frustrated Salzburg's attempt at early pressure but there was no sustained spell in which they imposed themselves or played with real assurance. It's odd to say so about an away game which yielded two away goals, but they did not offer much of a threat to Salzburg. Stefan Scepovic was quiet, apart from one imaginative shot from near the halfway line which was almost an instant YouTube classic but hit the side netting.
Wakaso Mubarak's goal was a gem. When the ball was nicely worked across the pitch to him the low, bending shot he pinged inside the far post made him an eye-opener. What have Celtic got with this sharp, direct little winger? He was zippy in spells. After one foul in the second half he rolled around all over the place like an Easter egg going down a brae, so he's not going to be to everyone's taste. The second goal, Brown's deflected shot to restore their lead, spoke mainly of the captain's energy and stamina. He is barely back from a lengthy lay-off, yet here he was, driving at the Austrians and scoring with an hour gone.
Due acknowledgement must be made of the fact this was a Celtic team which had never played together before. As they flew home last night they were entitled to the confidence they would have felt about what now awaits in the rest of the campaign.
Dinamo Zagreb at home has the promise of a home win and on last night's evidence the Romanians, Astra Giurgiu, may be out of their depth in this company. Salzburg are likely to prove themselves as the strongest side in the section and are certainly capable of winning in Glasgow, but Celtic can progress with them.
Denayer's recent claim that they can go all the way to the final must be dismissed as youthful exuberance, but last night laid down a building block which could yet prolong Celtic's involvement into the New Year. A clean sheet or two wouldn't go amiss, all the same.
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