WARSAW (Reuters) – Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic played out a gripping 1-1 draw in their second Champions League Group F game after the Ukrainian side’s winger Mykhailo Mudryk cancelled out an early own goal in Warsaw on Wednesday.
Celtic dominated the opening stages and were rewarded for their pressure when Reo Hatate was slipped through and his sublime touch from a tight angle was deflected into the net by Artem Bondarenko.
Shakhtar made their few chances count in an emphatic 4-1 win at RB Leipzig in their opening group game and they equalised with their first real opportunity when Mudryk outpaced his marker down the left and blasted the ball past goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Mudryk nearly assisted a second goal two minutes later with a cutback for an effort that was ruled out for an offside in the build-up, but the tide had turned as Shakhtar began to find openings and Celtic looked to regroup.
The Scottish side played with more purpose in the second half, Portuguese midfielder Jota running the show with mazy runs and incisive passes, and Celtic wasted two gilt-edged late chances.
Shakhtar are playing their home games in Poland due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special operation”. They next travel to defending champions Real Madrid in October while Celtic go to Leipzig.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
