Celtic battled their way to a deserved point in their Europa League campaign opener with an evenly matched Red Star Belgrade at the Marakana.
Former Premier League strikers Kelechi Iheanacho and Marko Arnautovic netted second-half goals for their respective sides on a night where neither outfit truly impressed.
Ex-Manchester City and Leicester City striker Iheanacho – who reunited with Brendan Rodgers after the transfer window closed – replaced the struggling Daizen Maeda at half-time for the Scottish champions and quickly legitimised the switch.
The Nigeria international killed a clever pass from fellow summer signing Benjamin Nygren before calmly steering the ball beyond Red Star goalkeeper Matheus minutes after missing a close-range effort.
Though their second-half efforts merited a goal, the hosts should have had something to show for their work before the break where Bruno Duarte smashed the side netting and cracked the crossbar.
Austria stalwart Arnautovic, who fulfilled his promise to former Bologna head coach and Red Star great Sinisa Mihajlovic by joining the club in the summer, bundled in among a congested box.
Both sides would have preferred to be in the Champions League, but with the quality, or rather lack of it at times, would suggest the second-tier competition is much more their level.
Analysis: Slow starters Celtic grind out scrappy draw
For 50 minutes in Belgrade, shades of Celtic’s blunt two legs against Kairat Almaty in their Champions League play-off crossed the mind.
Rodgers’ side were once again lethargic and lacked the quality required to compete at the sharp end of the pitch.
Under pressure for most of the first half, the Scots were fortunate their hosts were as profligate as they were.
Cameron Carter-Vickers twice came close to puncturing Red Star’s pressure, but his tame efforts summed up a stuffy start from Celtic.
Maeda had just eight touches in his 45 minutes before he was hooked for natural striker Iheanacho.
Celtic’s attack finally had a bit of dimension, and there was a flurry of chances before the breakthrough arrived. However, it didn’t bring domination and the equaliser followed.
As daunting an arena the Marakana is, Celtic did not really threaten a winner late on and appeared almost happy to hold out for the draw – one which Rodgers admitted post-match is “a nice first step”.
