Disappointing Armstrong – The Bad And The Worst Rated Celtic Players From The 1-0 Loss vs Anderlecht

Full Time: Celtic 0-1 Anderlecht

Celtic will play in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League despite losing their final group game of the Champions League to Anderlecht by a 1-0 margin, at the Celtic Park on Tuesday night. 

A Jozo Simunovic own goal in the 62nd minute gave the visitors all three points, but that was not enough for them to oust Brendan Rodgers’ side from the third place in Group B. Owing to their better head-to-head record (having beaten the Belgian outfit 3-0 in their first game of the competition), Celtic finish 3rd in their group to qualify for the Europa League.  

They may have lost the game but the Hoops will be pleased to have made it to the Round-of-32 of the Europa League, the draw for which will take place this coming Monday. Here’s how the Celtic players fared on the night.

Celtic Player Ratings

Craig Gordon – 7/10

Made a brilliant stop to deny Sven Kums very early in the game and went on to make a couple of more crucial saves in the first period. Nothing he could do to stop the goal. 

Mikael Lustig – 5/10

Was given a lot of problems by the lively Henry Onyekuru down the right-hand side and he struggled to cope against the Everton loanee.  

Dedryck Boyata – 5.5/10

Made some good tackles and was mostly strong at the back. But he was poor with the ball at his feet, as he kept giving the ball away on a constant basis.  

Jozo Simunovic – 6/10

Was Celtic’s most solid defender on the night, until that one moment when he put the ball into his own net, bringing about his team’s downfall.  

Kieran Tierney – 6/10

Showed great willingness, but couldn’t always have the effect he usually does with his forward forays. Partly at blame for the goal, as he did not get tight enough to Dennis Appiah in the build up. 

Scott Brown – 7.5/10

Started off slowly, with Anderlecht bypassing him for the first thirty minutes or so. But his influence grew with time and was at his best in the second period.  

Stuart Armstrong – 4/10

Poor. Kept giving the ball away each time he was in possession. No surprise that he was hooked off by Rodgers at half-time. 

James Forrest – 6/10

May not have repeated his heroics from Saturday, but worked tirelessly down the right flank. Came close to scoring following a sharp run, but was denied. 

Callum McGregor – 6/10

Another player who started off slow but managed to settle down, McGregor wasn’t at his best by any means. But he tried to make things happen each time he got the ball.  

Scott Sinclair – 4/10

Anonymous. The Englishman’s poor run in this season’s Champions League continued with another dull and lifeless performance.  

Moussa Dembele – 5.5/10

Thrust into action straight away after his comeback from injury, the Frenchman struggled to get going in the first period but did cause some problems after the break, with his drifting runs down the left channel.  

Substitutes

Olivier Ntcham – 7/10

Replaced Armstrong at half-time and was bright in the middle of the park. Came close to scoring and was a positive influence on the proceedings.  

Tom Rogic – 5/10

Another half-time substitution, the Aussie came on for Scott Sinclair and showed a few glimpses of quality but was largely ineffective.  

Odsonne Edouard – 6/10

On for Dembele with less than 20 minutes to play and the youngster gave a good account of himself once again.