A curious, and curiously entertaining, encounter illustrated the many facets of Ronny Deila’s Celtic. The well-merited claiming of a two-goal lead was duly undone by the kind of comic cuts defending that should be punished even by mediocre teams. Worryingly for Deila, these shortcomings are almost expected.
Deila and his team retain a live chance of progression from this group. The manager’s frustration must lie in the lapses that follow spells of decent play with alarming regularity. Fenerbahce were merely the latest team to capitalise.
“I am a little bit disappointed,” conceded Deila. “It was a real chance missed, I think.”
Celtic’s showing in the 2-2 draw with Ajax to open their Group A campaign was arguably their finest of this season. Domestically, the current trailing of Aberdeen will almost certainly prove immaterial come May but the lack of consistency in Celtic’s performances has been notable. So, too, was the pitiful Champions League qualifying exit at the hands of Malmo.
Fenerbahce arrived in Glasgow amid a backdrop of supposed dressing room unrest. In Robin van Persie and Nani, they also brought a potency to worry a makeshift Celtic defence. That backline has been routinely unconvincing even when at full strength.
Celtic enjoyed the better of a first half that only bolstered the argument that the Europa League is by far the poor relation of European football. James Forrest and Mikael Lustig had seen efforts slide wide before Leigh Griffiths benefited from the kind of sloppiness that summed up Fenerbahce’s opening 30 minutes.
From a Kris Commons corner, Lustig rose unchallenged to nod the ball goalwards. There was no pressure either on Griffiths as he lashed the ball home at the second attempt.
Within four minutes the advantage was doubled with the kind of cohesive football this game had longed for. Forrest produced excellent wing play on the left before feeding Commons with a low cross. The 32-year-old then produced a stunning first-touch goal.
Fenerbahce’s undeserving glimmer of light arrived as much via Efe Ambrose, the Celtic centre-half, as Fernandão, the scorer. Ambrose blundered when looking to head nothing more than a hopeful punt back to Craig Gordon. Fernandão was afforded the simple task of sliding the ball past the advancing goalkeeper. “As a defender you have to keep concentration for 90 minutes,” said Deila. “That is Efe’s biggest challenge. Sometimes he makes easy mistakes. That was one of them.”
During a Fenerbahce opening to the second half that left you wondering what on earth their earlier approach was in aid of, Fernandão was the first to a header from Nani’s corner. Parity was restored, just as home panic had set in.
Roused by this recovery, the Turkish side camped in Celtic’s half without, it has to be noted, creating a series of opportunities. The influential substitute Diego came closest to a third goal before the hour, with a long-range attempt that Gordon saved with his feet. A winner for either team would have seemed faintly absurd.
