FRUSTRATED Filipe Jota was far from satisfied after Celtic’s 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw to gain their first Champions League point.
The Portuguese winger, who displayed flashes of mesmerising skills against the Ukrainians, lamented the fact the Hoops did not take all three points home from the Polish capital.
Ange Postecoglou’s men dominated most of the encounter, but passed up a series of excellent opportunities as their opponents held on for a barely-deserved stalemate.
LINING UP A SHOT…Filipe Jota, watched by Daizen Maeda, takes on the Shakhtar defence.
LETTING FLY…Jota fires in a shot after taking aim with the Ukrainian defence alert to the danger.
BLOCKED…Jota hits the ground as a defender diverts his shot to safety.
The match was typified in the fading moments when Giorgos Giakoumakis flashed one inches wide from 12 yards and Daizen Maeda was off target from eight yards as he just failed to make a good connection with an inviting ball from Josip Juranovic.
Ironically, the Hoops’ only strike was credited as an own goal to Shakhtar defender Artem Bondarenko who got a touch to a fine angled effort from Reo Hatate after he had been set up with a neat pass from Sead Haksabanovic who was making his first start.
That came bang on the tenth minute, but the Ukrainians levelled with only one of two shots on target all night when dangerman Mykhailo Mudryk escaped the attention of Juranovic to thump an unstoppable shot high past the helpless Joe Hart in the 29th minute.
Jota, who saw two efforts blocked in the second period after mazy sorties into the opponents’ penalty box, looked exhausted when he was replaced by Liel Abada with only five minutes remaining.
OH, NO…Ange Postecoglou can’t hide his frustration as an another chance goes astray.
Asked if he was happy with the result, the former Benfica star answered: “Of course not. As Celtic players we always aim for victory and we really wanted to get the victory.
“Unlucky we didn’t get it, but we have to keep on working and there’s plenty of matches to play.”
Jota, speaking to the Daily Record, added: “We keep on having some good chances, but we don’t finish them and at this level, Champions League level, if you don’t make it you’ll suffer for sure.
“But we will learn from this and there’s a belief in this group that we can go to higher places.
“In football we know that things can change in a minute, so we have to believe in ourselves, keep on working and that’s what we are going to do.”
POINT TAKEN – BUT IT’S DEADLOCK DESPAIR
