CELTIC 1 AJAX 5
SLOPPY Celtic collapsed to an embarrassing defeat in Italy this evening when they performed a second-half vanishing act to allow Ajax to romp to victory.
It was a puzzling fade from the champions as the Dutch side ran riot with Brendan Rodgers left looking stunned on the sidelines.
At 1-1 at the interval, it was anyone’s game, but the Hoops just didn’t turn up for the second-half and were punished by their opponents.
The night didn’t start well for the Parkhead side when, in the fourth minute, Yang Hyun-jun missed a glorious chance to give the Hoops an early advantage.
Kieran Tierney sent Daizen Maeda racing clear on the left and the Japanese speedster whipped over an inviting low ball.
Yang was the quickest to react, but, remarkably, the South Korean crashed a shot off the woodwork from six yards and Adam Idah’s follow-up shot was pushed away by keeper Vitezslav Jaros as the Dutch side escaped.
ITALIAN JOB…Brendan Rodgers offers encouragement from the touchline.
Against the run of play, Ajax took the lead in the 16th minute in the most fortunate circumstances.
There was a certain handball from Brian Brobbey in the immediate lead-up to a left-wing cross falling at the feet of Steven Berghuis just inside the box.
He controlled the ball in an instant before sweeping a curling left-foot effort wide of the diving Kasper Schmeichel.
Why there was no whistle for Brobbey’s indiscretion just before the goal will forever remain a mystery for everyone who saw it while referee Columbo took no action.
Justice was done five minutes later with a superb break after Tierney sent a defence-splitting pass into the tracks of the sprinting Reo Hatate.
The Japanese midfielder slid the ball in front of Yang hurtling in from the right and this time he made no mistake as he thumped a low angled drive past the exposed Jaros to his right.
THAT’S MY BHOY…Benjamin Nygren congratulates Yang Hyun-jun on his first-half leveller.
Match official Columbo continued to perplex the Hoops with his decisions, especially after Brobbey obviously held Liam Scales before theatrically toppling over and winning a free-kick.
Celtic were out of luck again in the 34th minute after Benjamin Nygren threaded a pass to Idah in the box. The Irishman chopped inside onto his right foot before whipping in a low shot.
Keeper Jaros was going to his left before he desperately thrust out his right foot to get a touch to the effort to deflect the shot up and onto the crossbar.
Once again the Amsterdam players breathed a sigh of relief.
Rodgers sent on Cameron Carter-Vickers and Hayato Inamura for Dane Murray and Tierney at the start of the second-half and within two minutes they were a goal behind for the second time.
Schmeichel got down well to push away a low drive from the left, but the ricochet went straight to Davy Klassen, just 12 yards out. The Hoops defenders were slow to react as the Ajax skipper hit his effort into the ground and the ball bounced high into the net beyond the helpless keeper.
Brobbey continued to fall over whenever there was a wisp of air anywhere near him and referee Columbo continued to award free-kicks.
Celtic had lost their way after the break and conceded again in the 59th minute after a slack pass out of defence from Carter-Vickers. The opposition pounced, Scales struggled to clear the return pass and Berghuis fired in No.3.
Frankly, it was a diabolical goal to lose and Rodgers looked more than a little bemused on the touchline.
In the 65th minute, the Hoops gaffer responded by throwing on Arne Engels, James Forrest and Johnny Kenny with Hatate, Yang and Idah making way.
The changes didn’t alter the flow of the game and Schmeichel was beaten for a fourth time when his dithering defenders failed to clear their lines and Aaron Bowman stepped forward to launch an unstoppable 22-yard drive into the Dane’s top left-hand corner.
The disappearing act from the Hoops in the second-half was completely incomprehensible.
A minute later, Paulo Bernardo and Luke McCowan came on for Callum McGregor and Nygren. Marco Tilio was the next to make an appearance as he came on for Maeda.
The night went from bad to worse when the Dutch side claimed a fifth as a curling drive from Rayane Bounida left Schmeichel stranded.
This was a sore one for Celtic. Rodgers will be asking questions.
TEAM: Schmeichel; Ralston, Murray (sub: Carter-Vickers 46), Scales, Tierney (sub: Inamura 46); Nygren (sub: McCowan 72), McGregor (sub: Bernardo 72), Hatate (sub: Engels 65); Yang (sub: Forrest 65), Idah (sub: Kenny 65), Maeda (sub: Tilio 80).
