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.
Nuno Espirito Santo acknowledged no one at Nottingham Forest expected to be third in April but backed his team to embrace the challenge after they started a huge week with victory at Tottenham.Forest had slipped to sixth in the Premier League after weekend wins for Champions League qualification rivals Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa, yet responded with aplomb in the capital.Early efforts...
Chris Wood’s 19th goal of the season fired Nottingham Forest back up to third in the Premier League with a 2-1 win at Tottenham.Forest had slipped to sixth after the weekend’s results, but Nuno Espirito Santo savoured a sweet three points against old club Spurs after early goals from Elliot Anderson and Wood in the capital.It brought Ange Postecoglou’s team back down to earth aft...
Leeds boss Daniel Farke saluted his players for holding their nerve after a 6-0 home win against Stoke helped seal promotion back to the Premier League.Joel Piroe scored four goals, including Leeds’ fastest-ever league hat-trick, with strikes in the sixth, eighth and 20th minutes and added his fourth before half-time after Junior Firpo had put Farke’s side 4-0 up in 26 minutes.Willy Gn...
Burnley captain Josh Brownhill sent the Clarets back into the Premier League with both goals in a 2-1 win over Sheffield United that also saw Leeds promoted and left the Blades relying on the play-offs.Scott Parker made it three promotions with three different clubs in the space of six seasons as Burnley extended their unbeaten league run to a club-record 31 games, bouncing straight back to the Pr...
Burnley captain Josh Brownhill joked the Clarets had “bored our way to the Premier League” after a 2-1 win at home to Sheffield United confirmed their return to the top flight at the first attempt.Scott Parker’s side have conceded just 15 goals in 44 matches and victory over their promotion rivals ensured they could not be caught with two matches remaining.“I’m speech...
West Brom have announced the departure of Tony Mowbray after the club’s play-off hopes were all-but ended by a 3-1 Championship defeat at home to relegation-threatened Derby.The visitors twice punished the Baggies from set-piece situations when Ebou Adams and Jerry Yates struck from corners in the first half.Adam Armstrong’s goal halved the deficit and made for a nervy final 20 minutes...
Ian Holloway emphasised his pride in his resurgent Swindon side, despite Will Wright’s own goal against Bromley ending their slim play-off hopes.Danny Imray nutmegged Tom Nichols on the byline and fired a low ball into the box which bounced off the hapless defender’s shin in the 88th minute, condemning the Robins to a 1-0 loss.Kabongo Tshimanga had earlier missed a first-half penalty f...
Grant McCann admitted the task ahead for him is to keep his players calm after Doncaster put themselves within touching distance of promotion with a 3-0 win over Colchester.Goals from Harry Clifton, Jordan Gibson and Patrick Kelly saw Rovers power into top spot in League Two.It means a victory over promotion rivals Bradford this weekend will see them promoted to League One but McCann is determined...
Leeds boss Daniel Farke saluted four-goal Joel Piroe after his side thrashed Stoke 6-0 at Elland Road to stand on the brink of Premier League promotion.Piroe fired Leeds’ fastest-ever league hat-trick with strikes in the sixth, eighth and 20th minutes and added his fourth before half-time after Junior Firpo had put Farke’s side 4-0 up in 26 minutes.Willy Gnonto headed Leeds’ sixt...
Tony Mowbray felt West Brom “lacked a bit of courage on the ball” as their play-off hopes were all-but ended by a 3-1 home defeat to relegation-threatened Derby.The visitors twice punished the Baggies from set-piece situations when Ebou Adams and Jerry Yates struck from corners in the first half.Adam Armstrong’s goal halved the deficit and made for a nervy final 20 minutes until ...
- 1 Four Tottenham stars could leave this summer
- 2 PL side eyeing summer move for Rashford
- 3 Newcastle continue to impress in absence of Eddie Howe with Crystal Palace rout
- 4 Man City in pole position to secure Morgan Gibbs
- 5 Liverpool interested in signing Mason Greenwood
- 6 Jordan Bowery earns Mansfield a point at Rotherham
- 7 Pop icon with £580M net worth makes appearance at Stamford Bridge
- 8 Mentality and spirit unbelievable – Daniel Farke praises promoted Leeds players
- 9 Big Brother legend Chanelle Hayes flaunts weight loss in red bikini
- 10 Ronaldo shows a side fans never see in tender video for their daughter birthday