Celtic left frustrated in Almaty blank

Celtic 0 Kairat Almaty 0 Going to Almaty was going to be long enough, but Celtic have to do it the hard way if they are to secure a place in the Champions League group stage this season. The Kazakh champions came to Glasgow and put in one of the best performances they could have on the European stage to frustrate and stifle the attacking talent at Celtic’s disposal. They deserved immense credit for the way they stuck to the game plan and kept the Premiership champions at bay.  Now Brendan Rodgers’ side must make the 7,000 mile trip and hope his team can take a big win and into the group phase. Fans have wondered why the club haven’t spent to help give the team a fighting chance to bring in the quality they need to take them to the next level.  On this display, it could be a decision that could backfire big time on them. There was an early scare on 11 minutes when Kairat’s captain Alexsandr Martynovich had space in front of the Celtic net and put the ball into the net, but the offside flag went up. The home side had their own chance a few minutes later as Kieran Tierney played a low ball into the centre, but James Forrest just couldn’t get the ball from under his feet. Kairat posed a threat going forward and Jorginho must have rued his thinking process after being fed the ball by Edmilson.  Instead of shooting, he ended up dithering and seeing it taken away from him. It was a lacklustre first half hour and there was real concern when Alistair Johnston had to be carried off with a suspected hamstring injury.  Anthony Ralston was his replacement. They finally got sight of goal as Benjamin Nygren played in Daizen Maeda, but Kairat goalie Alexandr Zarutsky rushed from his goal line to narrow the angle. Celtic needed much more from their forward players, who saw the first half pass them by.  Rodgers thought the same as he withdrew the ineffective Adam Idah for Hyunjun Yang.  And what an impact he had initially. The second period was barely a minute old when Yang played to Forrest, who controlled to take it on his left foot, but struck the base of the post with his shot.  Zarutsky grabbed it gratefully. Moving Maeda into the centre, where Idah had vacated was a good move from the Celtic manager as they started to cause problems. Nearly at the hour mark, Cameron Carter-Vickers caused a problem of his own as he briefly switched off, watching the ball roll away from him in horror where Edmilson took the initiative. Spotting keeper Kasper Schmeichel off his line, he tried one from just outside the centre circle, but luckily for the Danish goalie and the centre half, it went over the crossbar. The atmosphere was a nervy one as time ticked on among the home support, who perhaps had hopes of seeing their team rack up a favourable scoreline before the daunting trip to the far end of Kazakhstan next week. Liam Scales did well to find space to meet the corner, but could only direct it over.  It was a chance that was to end Zarutsky’s night, as he hobbled off injured, where he was replaced by Temirlan Anarbekov. The biggest chance of the night fell to Maeda as the ball landed in his path and his shot low on Anarbekov was in the right place to deny the Celtic hitman deep in injury time. It summed up the kind of night it was as Almaty held on for the draw, to the delight of those hardy fans who made the mammoth trip. Celtic will hope they will be smiling in Kazakhstan in Tuesday’s return leg. Celtic: Schmeichel, Johnston (Ralston 35), Carter-Vickers, Scales, Tierney (Trusty 76) Nygren (Yamada 76), McGregor, Hatate, Forrest (Engels 70), Idah (Yang 46), Maeda Subs Not Used: Sinisalo, Simpson-Pusey, McCowan, Osmand, Kenny, Bernardo, Murray Booked: McGregor (26), Tierney (31)