Uefa Champions League: Celtic1 FC Copenhagen 0: European matches have had an uncanny knack of restoring reality to Scottish clubs in the most striking of fashions in recent seasons. Yet Celtic, buoyant in the early weeks of the Scottish Premier League, continued their winning form last night and received a significant boost to their hopes of qualifying from Group F in the process.
A 36th-minute Kenny Miller penalty was enough to achieve victory here which was more nervous than was necessary against a Copenhagen side who were less impressive than many had anticipated.
Of utmost importance to manager Gordon Strachan is that Benfica visit Glasgow next month for Celtic's next Champions League match with his team in a strong position to qualify for the last 16.
FC Copenhagen have only been in existence for 14 years and are therefore lacking anything like the European experience collected by Celtic over past decades. Yet the Danish side's impressive Champions League results before visiting Glasgow ensured that Strachan rightly sought to temper expectations ahead of this match.
Celtic's optimism was further diminished when the teams were announced, with confirmation that the Dutch striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink had, as expected, failed to recover from the ankle injury he sustained during Saturday's victory over Rangers.
Against a team with the undoubted physical attributes of Copenhagen, Vennegoor of Hesselink's absence was viewed as significant.
Nonetheless, Strachan was unlikely to alter his ambition of making a meaningful impact on Europe's premier club competition simply because of the loss of a key player.
The Celtic manager was hurt, professionally and personally, by the club's embarrassing exit at the qualifying stage last year and has since vowed to build on his apparently seamless introduction to Scottish football by achieving Champions League success.
This was only Copenhagen's second appearance in the group phase of this competition but they appeared at home in the surroundings throughout the game's opening stages.
The patience and concentration earlier emphasised by Strachan were therefore valuable virtues for home players and supporters alike as the Danish champions confidently dealt with attacks on their goal.
Maciej Zurawski did have the ball in the net after 23 minutes but was ruled offside when collecting a pass from Miller. There was a palpable sense that this could be a frustrating evening for the Scottish outfit.
Michael Gravgaard's clumsy challenge on Shunsuke Nakamura as the Japan international sought to skip past him inside the penalty area, 10 minutes before the interval, was crucial in lifting the edginess beginning to descend on Parkhead.
Miller made no mistake from the spot and only a brilliant point-blank save from Jesper Christiansen prevented the same player from doubling the hosts advantage moments later.
Not only did the opening goal raise the decibel level inside the ground but it appeared to revive a Celtic side who were doubtless reminded by their manager of the importance of gaining three points against a team who, along with Benfica, will challenge them for Group F's second qualification place.
Celtic grew more fluent as the clock ticked down but a one-goal advantage is seldom sufficient. Hjalte Norregaard served notice of the fragility of Celtic's lead when he forced Artur Boruc into action from 20 yards.
Referee Florian Meyer resisted two claims from Celtic for another penalty, but no such intervention was required as Strachan's men, demonstrating the sort of combative style required to be successful at this level, held firm.
CELTIC: Boruc, Telfer, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura, Lennon, Gravesen, McGeady (Pearson 87), Zurawski (Beattie 73), Miller (Maloney 82). Subs not used: Marshall, Balde, Sno, Jarosik.
FC COPENHAGEN: Christiansen, Jacobsen, Hangeland, Gravgaard, Bergdolmo (Thomassen 75), Silberbauer, Linderoth, Norregaard, Hutchinson, Berglund (Kvist 55), Allback. Subs not used: Gall, Wendt, Pimpong, Bergvold.
Referee: Florian Meyer (Germany).
