Europa League: Celtic leave Lithuania one step closer to group stage

Celtic made slow progress towards the Europa League group stages, with a 1-1 draw against FK Sūduva in Lithaunia.

Celtic’s first outing in this season’s Europa League got off to a blistering start, with an early opener from Olivier Ntcham. However, jubilation lasted just ten minutes with midfielder Ovidijus Verbicka equalising for the A Lyga side.

Celtic displayed a poor performance with manager Brendan Rodgers expressing that he “felt for the supporters,” who had travelled out to Lithuania watch the team.

In deep need of signings

Celtic are without a doubt in need of defensive signings to strengthen their back line. FK Sūduva have to be given their due, they are this far in the Europa League for a reason, however, for a club of Celtic’s calibre, they should not be struggling defensively so vividly as they did against the Lithuanian side.

Verbicka’s goal for the home side epitomised Celtic’s defending at the ARVI Football Arena, caught off-guard and unaware as he slipped in unmarked from a deep free-kick to head Sūduva level.

“We gave away a soft goal which is a real concern. We weren’t giving away many chances but we didn’t defend the set-piece well enough.” said Rodgers, describing the goal post-match.

The Bhoys are in desperate need of defensive signings before the transfer window comes to a close in eight days time. With just one win in their last five matches, Celtic have conceded in each of these matches, it looks as if the philosophy is similar to Kevin Keegan’s philosophy of attempting to out-score the opposition. But, when the forwards aren’t scoring as much as they should be, this becomes a significant issue.

"“The set-piece situations we’re conceding from, it’s probably the easiest thing to defend. It was a basic ball into the box so you have to deal with that and have a mentality not to concede and too often over this early part of the season, we’ve conceded.”Brendan Rodgers“The set-piece situations we’re conceding from, it’s probably the easiest thing to defend. It was a basic ball into the box so you have to deal with that and have a mentality not to concede and too often over this early part of the season, we’ve conceded.”"

However, as much as signings may improve the defence, it won’t be the ultimate resolution to the problem, with hours on the training ground needed.

Lack of clinical finishing

Celtic weren’t without a number of chances in front of goal and should have been several ahead inside the opening 30 minutes. Celtic’s lack of prowess in front of goal is something that cannot be fixed simply through signings and again, points back to the training ground.

Crossing was of a poor standard in Lithuania (apart from Mikey Johnston’s assist for the opener) with few reaching their intended target, whilst simple chances in front of goal were struck wildly, ill-placed or just poor efforts.

Celtic are in need of defensive signings. FK Sūduva have to be given their due, they are this far in the tournament for a reason, however, for a club of Celtic’s calibre, they should not be struggling defensively so vividly as they did against the Lithuanian side. The Bhoys are in desperate need of defensive signings before the transfer window comes to a close.

One foot in the door

Regardless of the poor defensive display as well as substandard finishing, some good can be taken away from the match. Celtic go into the second leg with one foot in the door, leading through the away goals rule. Craig Gordon played well, keeping Celtic in the match on several occasions, even if his distribution was shoddy at points.

Celtic will now turn their attention away from the Europa League and back to the Scottish Premiership, as they take on Hamilton at Celtic Park on Sunday. As they look to get their season on track following a disappointing loss to Hearts in their second match of the season.