Fenerbahce 1-1 Celtic

Commons' diving header restored parity for Celtic

Celtic ended their Europa League campaign without a victory but at least salvaged some pride with a draw.

They looked to be heading for a fourth straight European defeat when Lazar Markovic slid in the only goal of the first half.

But Diego's red card for a petulant kick at Stefan Johansen with a quarter of the game to go gave Celtic the lift they needed.

And substitute Kris Commons headed in to earn his side point.

An unwanted record

The result was enough to ensure progress to the last 32 for Fenerbahce, while Celtic finish bottom on three points.

It marks the first time Celtic have gone through a group stage of a European competition without recording a single victory.

Fenerbahce manager Vitor Pereira had noted before the match that Celtic had been unlucky in Group A.

But fortune was on their side as Diego's dismissal allowed them back into a game in which they had not been able to muster a shot on target.

Diego and Johansen clashed early on and the Brazilian was eventually sent off for kicking the Norwegian

The hapless Nadir Ciftci, starting his first match since the middle of October, typified that as he laboured over Celtic's best chance, allowing Abdoulaye Ba to recover when a fit and in-form striker would have allowed him no such chance.

Commons showed far more clinical instinct as he made a late run into the box to head Mikael Lustig's cross into the top corner and send the visiting fans into delirium.

Self-inflicted damage

Yet as so often has been the case during this campaign, Celtic's principal problem was their failure to keep the opposition at bay.

Individual errors have contributed to dropped points in every match, though the guilty party on this occasion had already kept his side level with stunning saves from Mehmet Topal and Josef de Souza.

So it was all the more remarkable to see Craig Gordon misjudge Gokhan Gonul's through ball, missing it entirely, allowing Markovic the opportunity to roll the ball in from a tight angle despite the despairing efforts of three defenders on the line.

Markovic finds the net after evading goalkeeper Gordon

To Celtic's credit, they refused to buckle after that setback and though unable to create a great deal, they did not allow the Turks to inflict greater damage on their goal.

Lessons learned

Ronny Deila had spoken of the need not to simply go through the motions in this match, but rather to learn from it.

Deila will certainly have learned that he remains short of striking options in the absence of Leigh Griffiths, with nothing on the bench to allow him to replace the struggling Ciftci.

Kieran Tierney again showed remarkable maturity at left-back and is the one shining light for Deila and Celtic in this campaign.

More generally, Celtic still display a propensity to give the ball away in dangerous situations - a trait that will have to be cut out if they are to make headway in next season's Champions League.

Deila has now had two Europa League group campaigns as Celtic manager