Celtic overcame a first-half scare in Transylvania as they kept their Champions League bid on track with a valuable 1-1 draw against Cluj. The Romanians drew first blood when Mario Rondon slotted home just before the half-hour mark. But Neil Lennon’s team now return to Glasgow packing a vital away goal after James Forrest quickly cancelled out the opener. Dan Petrescu’s team were certainly a step up from what the Scottish champions have faced so far in Europe this term. The Bhoys take a crucial away goal back to Paradise for the #CLUCEL return leg – come on the Hoops! 🍀 #UCL pic.twitter.com/6L7yV3dFNU — Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) August 7, 2019 But progress to the play-off round is now within reach as long as there are no slip-ups at Parkhead in next Tuesday’s return leg. Lennon was always going to bring Jozo Simunovic in for make-shift centre-back Nir Bitton but he would have been disappointed not to have had Mikey Johnston fit after his starring role in Saturday’s 7-0 mauling of St Johnstone. A thigh strain ruled the youngster out and Lennon opted to go with Lewis Morgan after deciding Scott Sinclair was not even worth a seat on the plane to Romania. That could yet signal concern for the Englishman’s Celtic future but right now the picture looks good for the Hoops as they eye a path to the group stages. Celtic claimed a draw in Romania (Mircea Rosca/AP) Cluj were determined to make the most of their home advantage but as they poured forward it left plenty of space for Celtic to respond in kind. The only surprise was that the end-to-end action did not produce a goal until the 28th minute. Odsonne Edouard tested home goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis early, while Cluj then threatened as Andrei Burca headed just over Scott Bain’s bar. But just as Cluj looked like their early tempo was beginning to wane, Celtic switched off and Petrescu’s team capitalised. Cluj went ahead in the 28th minute (Mircea Rosca/AP) Breaking from a Celtic corner, Ciprian Deac chose exactly the right moment to release Rondon in beyond the sleeping Boli Bolingoli, with the Venezuelan sliding a composed finish through Bain’s legs. Forrest, however, had already shown by this point he was more than a match for the hosts’ back-line and it was the Scotland winger who fired the Parkhead side level nine minutes later. After a quick one-two with right-back Hatem Abd Elhamed, Forrest shifted the ball from his right foot to left before driving in the equaliser with a kiss off the post. Bain stopped Cluj regaining the lead with a reflex stop from Rondon just after half-time but the second period failed to skip along with the same snap as the first. James Forrest scored a precious away goal for the Hoops (Mircea Rosca/AP) Forrest, for once, took the wrong option as he fired wide instead of teeing up Edouard. Cluj did their best to expose Bolingoli who was having a night to forget. He failed to get tight enough as George Tcudean wriggled into space inside the box but Kristoffer Ajer got a block on to take his strike wide. Bain looked shaky late on as he spilled an Alexandru Paun strike but Tcudean could only find the roof of the net with his overhead attempt on the rebound to leave Celtic in the driving seat ahead of the second leg. Topics James Forrest, Neil Lennon, UEFA Champions League, Celtic Forrest insists Celtic will improve ahead of return leg against Sarajevo Celtic winger James Forrest eager to secure positive result in Romania Forrest not for sale, says Celtic boss Lennon Lennon: Qualifying fixture unfair Lennon wants to strengthen his Celtic squad as Tierney prepares to leave City complete Joao Cancelo deal as Danilo heads to Juventus Djibril Sidibe joins Everton on season-long loan Victor Camarasa returns to the Premier League with Crystal Palace McInnes feels ‘anger, frustration and contempt’ towards McKenna suitors Arseblog: 5 things I think will happen to Arsenal in 2019/20 Ranked! Every Premier League manager by their job security in 2019/20 PSG have offered Neymar to Manchester United – and here’s what they want The 11 most desperate deadline day panic buys in Premier League history David Preece: What I learned from working first hand with Ravel Morrison at Ostersund
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