For the second time in their Champions League campaign, Celtic bounced back from a disappointing result to show that they are fast learners in the most demanding of arenas.
After enduring a bit of a runaround at home a fortnight ago, the Hoops were expected to travel to Germany on a damage limitation exercise held together by a new look defence missing three key players.
While Borussia Monchengladbach started the match strongly, Celtic soon came to terms with the pace of the game and almost opened the scoring when a Scott Sinclair shot struck the inside of the post.
Falling behind wasn’t the end of the world, with the feeling among most Celtic fans being that their side were unlucky to be behind at the break.
A telling feature since Brendan Rodgers arrived has been the use of substitutes, with Patrick Roberts and Callum McGregor heavily involved in the second half talking points.
In the 75th minute, Roberts threaded a perfect ball through to Moussa Dembele – who netted confidently from the penalty spot after being rugby tackled.
With three minutes left to play, Roberts laid a pass for Callum McGregor but the midfielder’s perfectly-timed run wasn’t matched by the finish with his shot sliding past the post.
TEAM NEWS
It wasn’t promising when Leigh Griffiths, Jozo Simunovic and Kolo Toure were left behind with a variety of injuries.
Brendan Rodgers had time to prepare his side but with two new full-backs drafted in and Mikael Lustig moving inside to partner Erik Sviatchenko, he was able to stick with a back four.
Stuart Armstrong replaced Nir Bitton in midfield but failed to do himself justice.
Fortunately, Scott Brown was in the zone, with Scott Sinclair and Moussa Dembele tuned in to cause Gladbach plenty of problems – whilst Patrick Roberts came on after an hour to trouble the home side.
PADDY POWER THE GAME CHANGER
Having weathered some pressure from Gladbach at the start of the second half, it was time to send on Patrick Roberts on the hour mark.
Roberts’ game has more variety that James Forrest, with two passes making a big impact on the match.
His ball through the centre for Dembele led to a goal and a red card, his pass to McGregor was perfection but unfortunately the finish will be remembered for the wrong reasons.
DEMBELE SCORES
There’s always a fear when the player fouled steps up to take the penalty. Add in the importance of the match, his miss against Barcelona and that short run up and the pressure was really on.
Without any hesitation, Dembele slipped his shot to the keeper’s left as he dived right to give the away support a moment to savour.
These moments don’t happen often on Celtic’s Champions League travels. Dembele and his team-mates were entitled to celebrate it to the full.
OH DEAR, OH DEAR, OH DEAR
It really could have been a special moment – instead it’ll remain a nightmare for every Celtic fan that witnessed Callum McGregor’s 87th minute miss.
The pass from Roberts was perfectly weighted, McGregor’s run likewise. But as he shaped up to shoot it all went wrong with the ball flying wide of the post.
McGregor made his name by scoring in Europe under Ronny Deila – hopefully this miss doesn’t become too much of a millstone.
BRENDAN DELIVERS
It says so much when the Celtic manager is left disappointed by a Champions League draw in Germany.
After admitting that the better side had won in Glasgow, Rodgers reviewed the action and genuinely believed that Celtic could win at Gladbach.
It was more than just manager-talk; Celtic stuck to a plan, made Gladbach look ordinary at times and showed that they are comfortable up against the biggest names in the game.
The two remaining fixtures look daunting but with the team moving again in the right direction, it’s all about excitement and anticipation rather than fear and caution.