CELTIC surrendered a seemingly comfortable two goal lead for the second time in Europe this season to squander the chance to record their first victory of the Europa League group stages on a deeply frustrating night.
Two slack pieces of defending from Efe Ambrose, a player with a lengthy charge sheet against his name when it comes to making such catastrophic individual errors, on either side of half-time cost the Scottish champions dearly.
A 2-2 draw – an identical scoreline to the one they record against Ajax in Amsterdam a fortnight ago in their opening Group A match – was by no means an embarrassment against expensively-assembled opponents who fielded both Nani and Robin van Persie. Qualification for the knockout stages remains a possibility.
However, the manner of the result grated with Ronny Deila’s charges and with supporters who had sensed a victory was in the offing when first Leigh Griffiths and then Kris Commons netted in a four minute spell during the first half.
The general feeling after a pulsating and hugely enjoyable match at a packed Parkhead was that this was two points dropped at home as opposed to one gained.
Ambrose was only in the side alongside Dedryck Boyata in the heart of the defence due to injuries to Charlie Mulgrew and new signing Jozo Simunovic. Nevertheless, questions must be asked of Celtic’s ability to protect a lead after this latest collapse.
Van Persie reputedly signed a £240,000-a-week contract with the Istanbul club in the summer. So the fact the Dutchman had been left on the bench in the last two games had inevitably raised eyebrows in Turkey.
He has netted three goals in six appearances in the Super Lig matches which is, by his own high standards, nothing special. But it was a respectable enough return and did certainly not merit his exclusion from the starting line-up. Inevitably, it had led to speculation that all was not well between player and manager.
Fenerbahce manager Vitor Pereira, though, had brushed aside talk of a fall-out with the former Arsenal and Manchester United man in the build-up to this game and handed his revered player a place in his starting line-up. The striker lurked ominously in front of the home defence all evening.
Volkan Sen, the Turkish winger, shrugged aside the attentions of three Celtic players and jinked into their penalty box before chipping the ball towards Van Persie in the tenth minute. Mikael Lustig did well to dive into the cross’s path and head it out for a corner.
Stefan Johansen, whose form has nosedived considerably this term and who was omitted from the Celtic side at the weekend, was brought back in his favoured position just behind lone striker. He required medical attention after suffering a clash of heads with Ozan Tufan as he attempted to win a ball and had a quiet game thereafter.
The same could not be said of several of his team mates. Scott Brown, Nir Bitton, Commons, James Forrest and Griffiths were all in excellent form. Celtic dominated the opening exchanges of the game and their opponents could have no complaints when they fell two goals behind.
The home team edged in front at a Commons corner in the 28th minute. Lustig rose and glanced the ball towards Griffiths at the back post. His team mate’s initial effort was blocked by goalkeeper Fabiano but he fired the rebound into the roof of the net.
Provider turned shortly after that. Forrest jinked past two Fenerbahce defenders on the left wing before turning the ball back into the visitors’ area. Commons unleashed an exquisite left foot shot which had only one possible destination. It was a well-executed move and sent the crowd into raptures.
But Celtic had been in exactly the same position in Europe before this season and come undone. In the first leg of the Champions League play-off they stormed into an early two goal lead against Malmo. They ended up conceding an injury-time goal and losing the double header 4-3 to limited rivals.
Had they learned the lessons from that painful experience? Evidently not. Fernandao, the Brazilian striker, came on for Sen and Pereira went with two up front. The substitute netted twice in four minutes to level the match.
His first owed more to Celtic’s slack play at the back – that of Ambrose in particular – than his own prowess. The Nigerian centre half had hardly put a foot wrong until a minute from half-time when his attempted header back to his keeper Craig Gordon fell woefully short. Fernandao made no mistake.
The imposing 6ft 3in centre forward bagged his second in the 48th minute when he met a Nani corner with a downward header which left Gordon with no chance. Once again, Ambrose appeared culpable.
The Celtic keeper did well to deny Hasan Ali Kaldirim, Nani and the excellent Diego after that as Fenerbahce gained control. Slowly but surely, however, they worked their way back into the game and first Forrest and then Commons tested Fabiano.
Young Kieran Tierne had an outstanding game given that it was his European debut. The 18-year-old was undaunted by the calibre of the players he was facing and became entangled in a physical joust with Nani at one stage in their first half. His showing augurs well for the future.
Kierney was replaced by Tyler Blackett with eight minutes of regulation time at the same time as Tom Rogic came on for Johansen. The replacements were unable to snatch a late goal.
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