Celtic produced an impressive response to their thrashing in Dortmund by holding Atalanta to a goalless Champions League draw in Italy.
Brendan Rodgers’ side followed their 7-1 defeat by Borussia Dortmund by keeping their first clean sheet at this level since a 3-0 win at Anderlecht seven years ago.
The Scottish champions had to withstand spells of sustained pressure with the Europa League holders registering 23 efforts at goal but Celtic had some moments of their own.
The result left Celtic on four points from three matches having played their toughest two away fixtures on paper in the eight-game league format.
Celtic were again missing the injured Greg Taylor and Cameron Carter-Vickers from their back four but Auston Trusty and Alex Valle delivered their best performances since joining towards the end of the transfer window.
Trusty got his head to a number of crosses while on-loan Barcelona left-back Valle dealt well with a busy night and came close at the other end.
Reo Hatate started in midfield and gave Celtic some composure on the ball while Adam Idah was handed a chance up front, but generally struggled to hold the ball up.
Celtic were handed a suspended two-year ban on away fans since that defeat in Germany and there was no repeat of the pyrotechnic displays that would trigger the punishment, although the home supporters did let off smoke bombs and flares.
Idah and Nicolas Kuhn threatened to get in behind early on but it was soon clear that the Celtic defence would be regularly tested with balls from out wide.
Mario Pasalic came closest to breaking the first-half deadlock with a header off the bar before nodding the rebound over. The Croatian also had a good chance on the ground as he ran on to meet a square ball but Kasper Schmeichel trapped the shot between his legs.
Hatate came close from long range and Arne Engels had Celtic’s best first-half effort when he curled a shot from 22 yards that Marco Carnesecchi got down to push away.
The home pressure increased as the half progressed. Atalanta failed to test Schmeichel with a couple of half chances before Alistair Johnston put in an excellent sliding challenge to deny Ademola Lookman at the back post.
Schmeichel pulled off an excellent stop to save Mateo Retegui’s header moments later.
Having seen their team concede five first-half goals in Germany, the Celtic support hailed their side as the whistle spelled the end of a goalless 45 minutes.
Pasalic again displayed the excellent timing of his runs just after the break before glancing a header wide, before Valle had a deflected long-range strike tipped over at the other end after some better hold-up play from Idah.
Celtic began to make some tired mistakes but Schmeichel made solid saves from Marten de Roon and Charles de Ketelaere.
The pressure subsided and Celtic substitute Kyogo Furuhashi had an effort saved, although the flag went up, and then lobbed Valle’s excellent diagonal ball over the bar.
The hosts were back on the attack during four minutes of stoppage time but their final chance disappeared when defender Isak Hien headed over and the visiting supporters celebrated the full-time whistle seconds later.
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...
Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...
Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...
Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...
Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....
Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...
Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...
