Celtic’s miserable season continues.
On Thursday evening, at a far from full Parkhead, the Hoops were beaten 2-0 by Braga in a wretched Europa League tie.
Despite having earned a respectable 1-1 draw with Crvena zvezda in their league phase opener eight nights earlier, all that good work was undone by a generally lifeless and toothless display against a team who, if reports are to believe, were underperforming to such an extent that manager Carlos Vicens was on the brink of the sack; perhaps that isn’t the case anymore!
For Brendan Rodgers, he has enjoyed unfathomable success in Glasgow and, while no one believes he is to blame, he certainly has a big job on his hands to turn the tide of negativity around.
In summary, his squad is not good enough to compete at this level, but which of the Hoops’ most experienced players were most to blame?
Kasper Schmeichel's miserable night
Braga’s opening goal, scored by Ricardo Horta, was either an absolute screamer or a goalkeeping howler, depending on your point of view.
As Joe Hart, speaking on commentary for TNT Sports, was eager to point out, the ball did dip and swerve viciously, but Kasper Schmeichel in goal will be disappointed that he was unable to keep this one out.
In fairness to the vastly experienced Dane, he could do nothing about the second, Dane Murray’s clearances ricocheting in via Gabri Martínez’s knees, while Schmeichel did make plenty of impressive saves, one in particular denying Florian Grillitsch; without him, the scoreline could have been either worse.
Since arriving from Anderlecht, Schmeichel has been excellent in a Celtic jersey albeit, set to celebrate his 39th birthday next month, there has to be some semblance of succession planning.
However, he was far from the player who put in the worst contribution on the night, with the Celts’ main issues lying at the other end of the park.
Celtic's blunt attack
We have potentially buried the lead, given that this game on Thursday night witnessed, potentially, the worst VAR decision since its introduction, one that former Celtic striker Chris Sutton described as “scandalous”.
Shortly after half-time, following a defensive mix-up from the Archbishops, Kelechi Iheanacho calmly slotted an equaliser past Lukáš Horníček.
However, VAR had other ideas, informing referee Tobias Stieler that the Nigerian striker had handled the ball in the build-up.
Hart on commentary was rightly gobsmacked; you can make up your own mind, but no evidence has yet surfaced that the ball actually made contact with the striker’s hand or arm.
That aside, Iheanacho was generally anonymous, as the table below documents.
Shots
0
8th
Shots on target
0
6th
Shots blocked
1
7th
xG
0.04
11th
Duels contested
6
17th
Duels won
1
27th
Possession lost
10
9th
Touches
19
27th
Average SofaScore rating
6.1
30th
Iheanacho was a peripheral figure, completing just five passes, touching the ball just 19 times and losing the ball on ten occasions. He could also muster only one shot while ending the night with the same expected goals figure as 19-year-old right-back Colby Donovan, who was replaced at half time.
Of course, Iheanacho will believe, and he wouldn’t be the only one, that he scored a perfectly good goal, one that would have reversed the narrative, both for him and the club as a whole.
The Nigerian did score in Belgrade last Wednesday, having converted a penalty on his debut to snatch victory at Rugby Park, but is symbolic of the board’s shambolic summer transfer strategy, arriving after the deadline following the sale of Adam Idah, with no replacement lined up.
Life is also not being made easy for him by Celtic’s general lack of attacking threat, with Sebastian Tounekti the only one looking like scoring a goal against Braga, while fellow new recruit Michel-Ange Balikwisha puzzlingly remained on the bench.
Saturday’s goalless stalemate with Hibernian was the Hoops’ first 0-0 draw in a home Premiership match since 26 August 2023 against St Johnstone, but the fifth time in 12 matches already this season in which they’ve failed to score.
Right now, in the Scottish Premiership, leaders Hearts as well as Hibs, Dundee United, Kilmarnock, Livingston and Motherwell, who will visit Parkhead on Sunday, have all scored more goals than the serial champions’ tally of eight, a mind-boggling statistic.
Rodgers’ side still have to face Sturm Graz, Roma and Utrecht in Glasgow as well as taking on Midtjylland, Feyenoord and Bologna on the road in the Europa League, and Celtic are going to have to exponentially improve, especially in attack, if they’re to avoid an ignominious early exit.