A bargain basement signing plucked from the free-agent market at the fag end of the transfer window, the arrival of Kelechi Iheanacho was met with a collective shrug of the shoulders among Celtic supporters.
Having spent months demanding a big-money acquisition up front, fans were largely underwhelmed by what looked like a desperate last-minute deal to sign a player whose best days were seemingly behind him.
But, on the back of scoring a late winner at Kilmarnock a fortnight ago, Iheanacho once again showed his worth last night by scoring the goal which earned a Europa League point away against Red Star Belgrade.
Coming off the bench at half-time to replace the hopelessly ineffectual Daizen Maeda, Iheanacho took his goal well and offered Celtic far more of a threat at the top end of the pitch.
With Maeda looking badly out of sorts over the opening weeks of the new season, Iheanacho is giving Celtic far more bang for their buck and could now be viewed as the club’s main man and first-choice striker on form.
Taking a point away from home against the Serbian champions, and doing so in the notoriously intimidating Rajko Mitic Stadium, represents a positive start to the campaign for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Kelechi Iheanacho came off the bench to put Celtic in front against Red Star Belgrade
It was the former Leicester City star’s second goal since joining his new club
Manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted to see his side pick up a rare point on the road
Celtic have never gone any further than the last 32 of this competition since it was rebranded as the Europa League back in 2009.
Across his two spells, Rodgers has won only twice on the road on Europe, a statistic he will no doubt look to change over the coming months if they are to go on a good run.
A draw was a fair result in the sense that Celtic did not produce their best football. But the introduction of Iheanacho saw a marked improvement in the second half and a point was a decent reward for their efforts.
Rodgers showed faith in young Colby Donovan and stuck with the 19-year-old at right-back, with Anthony Ralston only fit enough for a place on the bench and Alistair Johnston a long-term absentee.
What an occasion and what a venue it was for Donovan to make his first European start in one of the most noisy and hostile arenas on the planet.
Maeda came back into the Celtic team from the 4-0 win over Partick Thistle on Sunday in the Premier Sports Cup and was deployed as the central striker, flanked by Sebastian Tounekti and Yang Hyun-Jun.
If that performance at Firhill helped restore some confidence, then Red Star also came into this match in fine fettle after beating bitter rivals Partizan 2-1 in the Belgrade derby at the weekend.
That was the latest victory in what has been a flying start to the new season for Red Star, who have won all seven domestic league matches whilst scoring 30 goals in the process.
19-year-old Colby Donovan was a standout at right-back on his first European start
So the expectation was that this would be a stiff test for Celtic against a team who, despite their own elimination from the Champions League qualifiers, had generally been in good form of late.
With Rodgers adamant that his team would look to impose their own style on the match, Celtic enjoyed some decent early possession without managing to create anything clear-cut.
On more than one occasion, Reo Hatate was guilty of being too loose and casual with his use of the ball, gifting it back to the Serbs and allowing the home side to launch some swift counter-attacks.
These are the sort of matches where Hatate’s quality on the ball can shine and he can be Celtic’s point of difference in midfield with his guile and creativity.
But he has looked distinctly out of sorts over recent weeks, much the same as his countryman Maeda up front.
Maeda has missed some glaring chances recently, none more so than the one-on-one which could have beaten Kairat Almaty and booked a place in the Champions League.
He continues to look a shadow of the player who was crowned PFA Player of the Year in Scotland last season, with his situation not helped by the fact that he expressed a desire to leave Celtic in the summer.
In the end, it would be a fairly short and unproductive night’s work for Maeda.
Red Star began to work their way back into the game and were finding some joy down the flanks in the wide areas.
Daizen Maeda was hooked for Iheanacho at the break after enduring a frustrating evening
After Celtic had lost possession cheaply in their own half, Bruno Duarte thumped an effort towards the top corner on 36 minutes, with Kasper Schmeichel getting a fingertip to it to touch it on to the crossbar.
Marko Arnautovic then had a glorious chance to put the home side one up when he connected with Duarte’s cross, but he skewed his volley wide of the target.
Now 36 years of age, the former West Ham, Stoke City and Inter Milan forward has made a career of burying those kind of chances at club level and also with the Austrian national team.
It was a let-off for Celtic, who continued to look lethargic and devoid of creativity on the ball. Rodgers won’t have been pleased with what he was witnessing.
Their best chance of the first half came shortly before half-time when Cameron Carter-Vickers met a Benjamin Nygren free-kick but failed to hit the target with a header from close range.
With Maeda hooked at half-time and Iheanacho sent on to offer a greater threat up front, it felt like a message from Rodgers as much as an effort to change the game itself.
It was the clearest sign yet that he is far from happy with what Maeda has produced over these opening weeks of the new campaign, with two goals in 10 games a fairly poor return.
Celtic finally sparked into life shortly after the break — and it was the introduction of Iheanacho that gave them far more attacking thrust.
Benjamin Nygren and Kasper Schmeichel both played a big part in earning their side a result
They forced Red Star keeper Matheus into three saves in the space of just a couple of minutes, the first of which came when Nygren thumped a Kieran Tierney cutback towards goal.
Matheus was then required to make saves from Iheanacho and Donovan from close range, but it was Iheanacho who eventually found the breakthrough.
Cleverly holding his run to stay onside and collect a Nygren pass, the Nigerian striker produced a lovely reversed finish to clip the ball high beyond Matheus and into the top corner.
In the space of barely five minutes, Iheanacho had made far more of an impact than Maeda managed in 45 during the entirety of the first half.
But Celtic’s lead would not last long as Red Star equalised on 65 minutes.
From a corner kick, centre-back Franklin Tebo Uchenna played the ball back across goal, where Arnautovic had stolen a yard on Carter-Vickers to convert from close range.
Iheanacho then had a chance to restore Celtic’s lead but Matheus made the save inadvertently with his face to deny the Celtic striker.
Kieran Tierney once again failed to complete 90 minutes and did not play well overall, with young Donovan actually looking the more solid of the two Celtic full-backs.
But, in the end, a point represented a decent night’s work for Rodgers and his players. Amid all the noise and hostility at this Belgrade bearpit, they got what they came for.
