Youthful Ajax held by 10-men Celtic in thrilling Amsterdam encounter

Deila’s Bhoys continued their early approach of sitting back and soaking up the pressure from Ajax as the first-half progressed, but it was a dangerous ploy as El Ghazi crept past Izaguirre and saw his effort stopped by a wall of Bhoys bodies.

On the opposite flank to El Ghazi, Amin Younes was a constant danger, as he cut in from the left after 25 minutes to find his captain Klaassen, who beautifully back-heeled into the path of Fischer, with the Denmark forward clinically finishing off a great team goal.

Much was made of the visitors’ weakness from set-pieces, having recently conceded aerially from Malmo and Aberdeen but, only moments before the break, Lustig headed home a lofted Griffiths corner to make sure they finished the first period in front.

James Forrest looked like being the Hoops’ most likely goal threat in the first-half and he continued to threaten in the second, with his sequence of two successive shots from close range being thwarted by the Ajax defence.

After being impressively beaten in the opening 45 minutes, Scottish stopper Craig Gordon enjoyed a relatively quiet following half, with Celtic’s deep-lying side dealing with any attacks.

Poland international frontman Arkadiusz Milik was introduced by De Boer after the hour mark to try and revitalise the Ajax strikeforce, but he was unable to force a breakthrough.

Lustig was replaced by Efe Ambrose in the closing stages after suffering from cramp, and the 28-year-old Sweden international was applauded off Dutch soil.

If the Hoops’ task wasn’t already tough enough, they were reduced to 10 men after Izaguirre picked up a second caution for a clumsy tackle on his constant tormentor El Ghazi, though the winger did theatrically go down before red was produced.

The dismissal proved to be vital as momentum swung in Ajax’s favour, and Celtic again suffered misery from a set-piece as substitute Schone saw his whipped delivery go all the way past a flat-footed defence and goalkeeper to equalise.

On a night Celtic came close to gaining a potentially momentous victory on Dutch soil, Deila will be pleased to have survived a late scare and come away with a point in this Group A meeting.