Celtic FC have been sheer dominant in domestic competitions since ex-Liverpool gaffer Brendan Rodgers’ appointment as the Hoops boss earlier last season and were dreaming of a run in Europe as well following the slender 1-0 first leg win over Zenit St Petersburg at Celtic Park in the Europa League Final Stage encounter. They, however, had a tremendously difficult contest against the Russian heavyweights at Krestovsky Stadium tonight and failed to make an impact throughout the game. The Scottish champions surrendered miserably and were handed a thumping 3-0 defeat to get knocked out of the competition.
Below are the Celtic players rated from their dreadful defeat against FC Zenit St Petersburg.
Dorus De Vries: 4.5
De Vries is having a run of games in absence of injured Craig Gordon. Could have done little to stop Branislav Ivanovic’s early header but was at fault as he failed to deal with Daler Kuzyayev’s long-range strike.
Mikael Lustig: 5.5
Played plenty of passes at the back to hold possession but offered little going forward and lacked enough defensive composure too.
Kristoffer Ajer: 5.5
The teenager has high potential to be a top-notch centre-back and dominated aerially along with good sense of passing. However, he should have done a lot better to contain Ivanovic inside the box who had a free header to break the deadlock early in the game.
Jozo Simunovic: 5
Simunovic tried to build the game up from the back with his good sense of passing but struggled to win duels and despite making some clearances, his positioning could have been a lot better on many occasions.
Kieran Tierney: 5.5
The promising youngster had an evening to forget where he struggled defensively and could not offer his usual attacking presence with overlap runs and crosses.
Scott Brown: 5
Failed to win the midfield game despite trying to be physical and combative. Was always the second best in front of Paredes, Rigoni and Kranevitter.
Olivier Ntcham: 5.5
Tried to offer something in the attack but his passing and shooting were not venomous enough to trouble the hosts’ backline.
James Forrest: 6
Tried to make an impact from the right-hand flank with his runs, crosses, dribbles and a great sense of passing. But he could not trouble Zenit custodian Andrey Lunev and was eventually replaced by the Chelsea loanee Charly Musonda.
Callum McGregor: 5
Scored the decisive goal in the first leg but had a quiet evening of football in Russia that led him to get replaced by Scott Sinclair in the second half.
Eboue Kouassi: 5
The youngster has earned some crucial minutes under Brendan Rodgers at a very highest level but could not offer much against Zenit St. Petersburg and was eventually replaced by Tom Rogic at half-time.
Moussa Dembele: 5.5
The highly-rated forward lacked enough support from behind and also failed to break down the opponent’s defence by his own. Did not manage a single strike on target and had an evening to forget.
Substitutes
Tom Rogic: 6
The Australian added some attacking flair to a futile Celtic attack but lacked the final delivery and could not make any noteworthy contribution.
Scott Sinclair: 6.5
Looked lively since coming on, tested the Zenit custodian and also played some decent one-twos to open up space. A surprise call from the manager not to hand his best resource a start in such a crucial European occasion.
Charly Musonda: 6
Made some fine movements around the box but could not create anything spectacular to stage a comeback.
