Detailed Celtic player ratings as European campaign ends with piece of Mykhailo Mudryk magic

Joe Hart: “Obviously can’t claim to be happy as we’re not in the position we want to be but we’ve applied ourselves and we’ve put our stamp on the games,” the Celtic goalkeeper said in the build-up to this one. With his performance between the sticks – keeping Shakhtar at bay with a fantastic 42nd-minute spread save from Mykhailo Mudryk – and the final result combined, it is not unfair to suggest Hart will still likely feel the same way. He was eventually beaten by Mudryk some time later with a lethal long-ranger and then granted a reprieve from conceding a second with a Danylo Sikan howler in the second half. 6

Josip Juranovic: Juranovic perhaps had the toughest task of them all tonight, being in direct opposition to Mudryk. The Ukrainian seemed like he did have the beating of the Celt when he got the chance but Juranovic nonetheless tracked him ably at times – cutting out a chance for the Ukrainian to go clean through on goal early in the second half for instance – and was switched on to Bogdan Mykhaylichenko’s runs from deep too. It only takes a moment with players of Mudryk’s ability though and that came in the 58th minute of this one when a Shakhtar counter-attack reached the left winger, giving him the chance to face up Juranovic head on. He proceeded to toy with him before twisting him round the wrong way and rifling past Hart from 20 yards. Mudryk aside, Juranovic was in decent shape without truly making his mark in an offensive sense. 6

Cameron Carter-Vickers: The American once again wore the armband and although by no means poor – and, certainly, he relished the odd extra element of physicality at play in this one – he was somewhat overshadowed by his defensive partner Jenz. One of the key elements for the centre-backs against Shakhtar was always going to be how they dealt with counter-attacks and, while there wasn’t necessarily a surplus of them, one or two were genuinely ominous for the Hoops and Carter-Vickers in particular was left for dead by Mudryk in the build-up to a quite remarkable miss from Sikan in the second half. 6

Moritz Jenz: Was it going to be the Jenz from the Leipzig game in Germany or the Jenz from the Leipzig game in Glasgow? It turned out, for the most part, to be the latter. The German’s forward intent was there from the early stages in his determination not to dally in possession but instead briskly return the ball to more advanced players when they did play it back to him. He showed good front-foot defending to win the ball back during some potentially dangerous Shakhtar moves, swept up behind Carter-Vickers on occasion and set Celtic on the march into the final third too. All this while displaying a great deal of composure and awareness in terms of deciding when to play it safe in his defensive actions and when to take calculated gambles. Perhaps most impressively, he played a key role in the opening goal by fizzing a pass out to Haksabanovic whose cross eventually found its way to scorer Giakoumakis. All in, an assured and mature display from the loanee. 8

Greg Taylor: The Scotland international’s first 45 minutes against RB Leipzig in the last group match was extraordinary while he also entered this one as the match-winning hero of the hour in the 4-3 win at Tynecastle. He began in the manner such a tag deserves with both defensive contributions – such as his 16th-minute interception to stop Mudryk – and attacking resolve such as charging all the way through to the right half-space to win a corner. Before the half was out he'd been caught on the ball to allow a visiting breakaway but Lassina Traore failed to capitalise in any meaningful way. Yet, true to his manager’s edict, Taylor never lets these brief mishaps get to him and he carried on as before in his one-man Durcall-charged Ange-ball-fundamentals exhibition. He retains a distinct passing threat too, which was on show with his 69th minute through ball to Daizen Maeda, as well as a fledgling leadership trait in keeping elder team-mate Juranovic out of potential trouble after a nasty foul by Oleksandr Zubkov. 7

Matt O’Riley: Again lining up in the deepest midfield role in captain Callum McGregor’s absence, O’Riley does not quite yet possess the ideal off-ball behaviours in terms of occupying the type of receiving spaces as his skipper does. Occasionally this interrupts build-up but, even at this level, judging the 21-year-old by McGregor’s positional standards feels rather harsh. That said, O’Riley’s best moments throughout the game were undoubtedly the occasions he was able to get further forward and flex some of his more familiar footballing muscles. 6

Reo Hatate: Despite not being a senior player for all that long in the grand scheme of things, Hatate’s midfield intelligence is already at a considerable and impressive level. That cleverness was often on show against Shakhtar, whether that be trying to take up threatening positions anywhere from the left half-space to the edge of the opposition area, or learning when to anticipate and take a foul within the context of the situation. His chances to make a tangible impact at in the final third were, in truth, at a premium against the Ukrainians but that did not mean his contribution was any less astute. 6

Kyogo Furuhashi: ‘Where will he play?’ was the immediate reaction to seeing Kyogo’s name alongside Giorgos Giakoumakis’s in the teamlines. In the opening two minutes alone he popped up centrally, wide on the left and wide on the right but it was as one of the midfield trio that Kyogo really seemed to be tasked with operating. He did so in his own, cerebral manner as his somewhat underrated technical skill allied with the now-standard high-intensity work-rate ensured that while he may have been in an unfamiliar position – and, yes, there were some caveats in defensive decision-making that such a change would naturally bring – it was a very familiar type of performance from the Japan international. Naturally, his more impressive moments came when he had the chance to influence matters in an attacking sense and indeed his willingness to support Giakoumakis as an auxiliary striker led to a good chance – although one he passed up – shortly before his withdrawal. 7

Liel Abada: Abada routinely found himself occupying good areas for receiving the ball with only his decision-making once he got it really letting him down. Defensively, as often, he could be termed a bit of a mixed bag with some genuinely attentive moments – doubling up with Juranovic to quell Mudryk during one of Shakhtar’s first real spells in the Celtic half – juxtaposed with occasional slackness the order of the day in that respect. It was his shot after a trademark ghosting run from back post to mid-box that rebounded to Giakoumakis for the opener but overall perhaps this was most accurately another night in the ‘frustrating’ column for the Israeli. 5

Giorgos Giakoumakis: Given the chance to lead the line for the second time in this Champions League campaign, Giakoumakis found it a thankless task for much of the opening 45. His game seemed to be taking the form of plenty of running, plenty of effort but without much in the way of service. Then, half an hour in, he tried to take matters into his own hands by charging down and dispossessing Mykola Matviienko to create a bit of havoc. Not four minutes after that the Greek got the service his work ethic demanded when the ball dropped right in front of him after Abada’s shot had been blocked. He made no mistake by lashing home the opener and didn’t let up thereafter – a nightmare for the Shakhtar defence even without being presented with clear-cut opportunities and on top of that he showed a discreet piece of technical skill shortly after the hour mark to play in Kyogo for a shot at goal with a superbly-weighted pass that his team-mate ultimately wasted. He hit the post late on but was adjudged to have fouled his marker in the run-up to it; what was of due note amid that chance was that the desire he showed in the 92nd minute was no less than the other 91. 8

Sead Haksabanovic: Haksabanovic’s first contribution of note was actually a poor attempted delivery from a free-kick in the fourth minute but that did not pre-empt his general performance, which was one full of running in both directions and often menacing intent in the final third. While it must be said the Montenegrin’s set-piece delivery was for the most part frustratingly unconvincing, it was nonetheless from one of his crosses – after a delightful stutter-step past the defender – that Celtic took the lead. He did not visibly appear to be tiring but a 65-minute run-out was deemed sufficient on this occasion and he made way for Daizen Maeda midway through the second period. 6

Substitutes

Aaron Mooy (for Kyogo 65): Not able to make much of an impact. 4

Daizen Maeda (for Haksabanovic 65): Caused some chaos in the Shakhtar ranks with his pace and power while showing good strength to head down to Giakoumakis for a late chance. 5

James Forrest (for Abada 65): A couple of decent cross attempts and a positive mindset. 4

David Turnbull (for Hatate 84): Got about the midfield areas well enough without really making his mark in the end. 4

Subs not used: Scott Bain, Benjamin Siegrist, Anthony Ralston, Alexandro Bernabei, Oliver Abildgaard, James McCarthy