Kairat Almaty 0-0 Celtic (4-2 pens): Hoops fall short in Champions League shootout | OneFootball

Celtic’s Champions League hopes came to an end in Almaty, as they were beaten 4-2 on penalties by Kairat following a goalless tie over two legs. Brendan Rodgers’ side created few chances and failed to make any count, with Adam Idah and Luke McCowan missing from the spot before Daizen Maeda’s decisive penalty was saved by Temirlan Anarbekov.

The result means Celtic drop into the UEFA Europa League, while Kairat make history as just the second club from Kazakhstan to reach the Champions League group stage.

As it happened

The first real opening of the night arrived midway through the first half, when Yang Hyun-Jun teed up Reo Hatate to deliver a first-time cross from the left. James Forrest flicked a header towards goal, but Anarbekov in the Kairat net tipped it over the bar. That proved to be the only shot on target of a cagey opening period, with neither side able to build attacking momentum.

Celtic endured a scare early in the second half, as Callum McGregor’s back pass forced Kasper Schmeichel to use his hands to prevent it from ending up in his own net. An indirect free-kick inside the penalty area followed, but Jorginho’s strike was blocked by Maeda.

Five minutes from time, Celtic had their best chance to win it. McGregor slipped a pass in behind for Maeda, who raced through one-on-one with the goalkeeper but blazed over the crossbar. Kairat responded immediately with a chance of their own, with Ofri Arad’s header at the back post forcing Schmeichel into a low stop.

After three hours of football over two legs, the tie went to extra time. Celtic started this period brightly as Idah got in behind the Kairat backline before picking out an open Hatate, only for his effort to be blocked. Later, substitute Colby Donovan created space down the right, setting up Benjamin Nygren, whose left-footed strike was saved smartly by the Kairat keeper. The Scottish champions applied late pressure, but the breakthrough never came. A place in the Champions League was to be decided by a penalty shootout.

Idah stepped up first for Celtic but saw his penalty saved. Valeriy Gromyko struck the crossbar for Kairat, before Anarbekov denied McCowan. Three penalties missed in a row, and it seemed as though no one wanted to find the net in this tie. Captain Aleksandr Martynovich was up next, however, and calmly gave the hosts the lead. Arne Engels levelled for Celtic, Arad and Egor Sorokin converted either side of McGregor’s successful spot-kick.

That left Maeda needing to score to keep Celtic alive, but Anarbekov produced yet another save to seal a famous win for the Kazakh side.

Celtic exit the Champions League at the play-off stage again, meaning The Hoops have failed to navigate these qualifiers five times in a row after entering the competition at the league phase last season. They must now turn their focus to the Europa League, with the draw for the league phase taking place on Friday. The games also don’t get any smaller for Brendan Rodgers’ team as they travel to Ibrox to face Rangers in the first Old Firm derby of the season on Sunday.

Kairat, meanwhile, complete a remarkable run from the first qualifying round to the group stage. They have joined Astana as the only Kazakh teams ever to reach the group stages of Europe’s elite competition and have become the easternmost club to ever reach this stage of the Champions League. It remains to be seen which clubs will be drawn to travel the long distance to Kazakhstan in the league phase, but one thing is for sure: a lot of clubs will be viewing Kairat as one to avoid for that very reason.

The lineups

KAI: Anarbekov; Tapalov, Martynovich, Sorokin, Luis Mata; Glazer, Arad; Mrynskiy, Jorginho, Gromyko; Ricardinho

CEL: Schmeichel; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Tierney; McGregor, Nygren, Hatate; Forrest, Yang Hyun-Jun, Maeda