Stalemate of little use to gutsy Celtic

EUROPA LEAGUE: Hamburg 0 Celtic 0:CELTIC'S EUROPA League hopes hang by a thread after playing out a gutsy but ultimately goalless draw with Hamburg in the Nordbank Arena.

Celtic striker Scott McDonald missed two glaring chances as the visitors edged an open first half.

The Parkhead side, though, had goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska to thank for a series of fine saves throughout an entertaining game which could have gone either way.

However, despite an encouraging performance overall, Celtic remain at the bottom of the table on two points, five behind second-placed Hamburg with two Group C games remaining.

Tony Mowbray’s men need to beat Hapoel Tel Aviv at home and Rapid Vienna away while hoping the Bundesliga side lose both their remaining games.

The visitors should have taken the lead in the 17th minute when a surging run by Georgios Samaras ended when the Greek striker slipped the ball to the unmarked McDonald. The Australia international was only 10 yards out but his curled attempt was parried wide by Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost.

In the 33rd minute Celtic missed another great opportunity to forge ahead when midfielder Aiden McGeady played in McDonald with a clever pass which split the home side’s defence. However, Rost was quickly out to block the former Motherwell striker’s drive before gathering at the second attempt.

Referee Carballo then ignored loud penalty claims from the home fans when the ball struck Celtic defender Daniel Fox in the second half.

Eljero Elia shot wide as Celtic struggled to hold out an increasingly rampant Bundesliga side, before McDonald and McGeady were replaced by Marc-Antoine Fortune and Lee Naylor in the 58th minute as Mowbray reshuffled his side, with left-back Fox moving to midfield.

As Celtic broke for the first time with purpose in the second half, Landry N’Guemo set up Samaras but his shot from the edge of the box was too tame to worry Rost.

HAMBURG:Rost, Rincon, Rozehnal, Mathijsen, Aogo, Elia, Jarolim, Ze Roberto, Jansen (Trochowski 83), Pitroipa (Torun 87), Berg. Subs not used: Hesl, Tesche, Tavares, Schulz. Booked: Jarolim.

CELTIC:Zaluska, Hinkel, Caldwell, Loovens, Daniel Fox, Robson (McGinn 75), Crosas, N'Guemo, McGeady (Fortune 59), Samaras, McDonald (Naylor 59). Subs not used: Cervi, McManus, Wilson, McCourt. Booked: Caldwell, Samaras, Robson.

Referee:Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain).