Borussia Monchengladbach 1 - 1 Celtic: How the Celtic players rated

Celtic's starting XI prior to kick-off. Picture: Getty

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GK - Craig Gordon - 7

Could do nothing about the goal. Not only did Lars Stindl fire it at close range, it also took a slight deflection off Mikael Lustig. With shots he did have a chance against, Gordon did rather well, including a front post denial of Christoph Kramer with Celtic trailing 1-0. And, after his recent error against Ross County, he did a much better of job of judging when, and when not, to come off his line.

RB - Cristian Gamboa - 6

Looked a little nervous on the football at times, often getting rid of it as quickly as possible instead of taking a second to survey his surroundings. That said, he got forward well, including a low cross in for Moussa Dembele which almost led to a Stuart Armstrong scoring chance. His defensive positioning was an improvement on recent showings.

DC - Erik Sviatchenko - 6

Caught in two minds for the Gladbach goal as he didn’t know whether to follow the run of Thorgan Hazard or not, and ended up doing neither. His distribution was a little aimless and he was guilty on a few occasions of punting the ball hopefully into the opposing half. Considering how Brendan Rodgers likes his teams to set up, Jozo Simunovic and Kolo Toure may be the first choice centre-half pairing once both are fully up to speed.

DC - Mikael Lustig - 7

Defensively the Swede was excellent. No-one was sure what to expect coming into the game as the natural right-back filled in alongside Sviatchenko, but he made several crucial blocks and tackles around the final third. He loses points for his distribution, which was wayward at times.

DL - Emilio Izaguirre - 7

A really solid defensive display from the Honduran playing his first Champions League contest of the season. And while he didn’t provide the same attacking impetus as Kieran Tierney down the left, he still contributed well to the attack, often staying composed in possession.

DM - Scott Brown - 8

Playing as the deepest of Celtic’s midfield three, Brown was the exceptional player in the engine room as the visitors surprised many onlookers by having the majority of possession. He did a great job of closing down and interrupting Gladbach’s passing game. With the ball at his feet, he kept things simple and avoided the slack five-yard passes he’s often guilty of.

MC - Stuart Armstrong - 6

Off the ball he was terrific, getting into the faces of opponents, breaking up play and making penetrating runs from deep. Unfortunately, his touch and passing were often off, meaning he conceded possession too easily on multiple occasions. Still, for someone who was looked upon as nothing more than a reserve player a couple of months ago, it was another step in the right direction as he looks to become a mainstay of the Celtic starting XI.

MC - Tom Rogic - 7

The Australian was neutered in an attacking sense by his positioning in the team. Instead of playing as the creative No.10, Rogic was stationed deeper in the midfield behind Armstrong and tasked with helping Celtic win the possession battle. His technique and composure on the ball allowed him to do so, even if he was crowded out on the occasions he looked to break forward.

RW - James Forrest - 5

Struggled to make any sort of impact on proceedings, something which became further apparent when Patrick Roberts came off the bench and did more in 30 minutes than Forrest had managed in 60. In fairness, if Celtic’s gameplan was to hit on the counter rather than trying to boss possession, he may have had greater success. Deservedly the first Celtic player to be hooked.

FC - Moussa Dembele - 8

Celtic were able to establish possession because, on the occasions they were forced to shell it long, Dembele helped make the ball stick down the other end of the park, instead of merely allowing Gladbach to build another attack. Similar to the Betfred Cup win over Rangers, the Frenchman got stronger as the game went on, including an intelligent run in behind which helped him win the penalty. Despite missing against Barcelona in a similar situation on matchday one, this time he kept his cool. Celtic’s man of the match.

LW - Scott Sinclair - 8

His ability to take the ball in deep areas and drive up the park was another reason Celtic were able to give as good as they got against their much fancied hosts. The winger constantly makes threatening runs into central areas and yesterday was no exception. So unlucky to see his (almost) perfectly clipped shot from the edge of the area come back off the post at 0-0.

SUBSTITUTES

Patrick Roberts - 8 - Celtic were much more incisive when he came off the bench, as he played his part in the build-up to the penalty and threaded through great ball for Callum McGregor late on.

Callum McGregor - 6 - His energy from the centre and similarity to Armstrong, in terms of making vertical runs from deep, helped Celtic keep going until the end. However, there’s no getting away from it, his miss was a shocker.

Liam Henderson - 6 - Like McGregor, he brought an energy Celtic needed at the time, but he too lacked composure in the final third.

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