Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic drew 1-1 against Danish side FC Midtjylland in the first leg of a UEFA Champions League qualifier in Glasgow.
In front of 9000 fans at Celtic Park, Postecoglou’s first game in charge of the Scottish giants ended in a stalemate, leaving the tie delicately poised ahead of the second leg in Denmark.
New signing Liel Abada scored on debut to give Celtic the lead on 38 minutes, before Brazilian midfielder Evander equalised for Midtjylland in the second half.
Nir Bitton and Anders Dreyer were shown red cards as both teams finished the match with 10 men.
Celtic dominated possession (63-38), shots (16-3) and shots on target (4-1) but weren’t able to come away with the victory.
“We deserved the win,” Postecoglou said post-game.
“We played really well, especially first half where we controlled the game, scored a good goal and hit the post.
“We went down to 10 men for a significant amount of time and had to work hard. We created some good chances again and limited them to two strikes the whole game.
“It was a little bit of a missed opportunity but at the same time a fantastic effort by the players.”
Australia duo Tom Rogic (Celtic) and Awer Mabil (Midtjylland) made second-half cameos.
Midtjylland will host the second leg on July 29 (AEST).