Red Star Belgrade 1-1 Celtic: Arnautovic snatches point in Europa League opener

Marko Arnautovic earned Red Star Belgrade a point as his 65th-minute finish secured a 1-1 draw with Celtic in their Europa League opener.

Substitute Kelechi Iheanacho had given Brendan Rodgers’ side the lead just 10 minutes prior, but there was no dramatic late winner to be found at the Stadion Rajko Mitic.

Celtic were sluggish in the first half, with Nemanja Radonjic and Mirko Ivanic both seeing chances go to waste before Bruno Duarte’s long-range effort was matched by an equally impressive Kasper Schmeichel save onto the crossbar.

With neither side able to find a breakthrough, Celtic improved in the second half, with Matheus getting down sharply to keep out both Benjamin Nygren and Iheanacho.

Their pressure paid off soon after the interval, with Iheanacho quickly sorting out his feet in the box before bending a shot past the helpless Matheus.

Red Star responded well, though, and got their equaliser from a corner. Schmeichel was drawn to the ball, and Arnautovic turned into the net from close range in a crowded box after meeting Franklin Tebo Uchenna’s pullback.

Schmeichel and Matheus made smothering saves to deny Ivanic and Iheanacho at either end, respectively, as both sides’ search for a winner ended in vain.

Honours even in Belgrade, as our opening #UEL match finishes in a draw.#CrvenaZvezdaCeltic | #CelticFC pic.twitter.com/56623l3DDK

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) September 24, 2025

Data Debrief: Mind the gap

Having joined Red Star over the summer, Arnautovic stole the headlines on Wednesday with his second-half strike.

Arnautovic’s goal came 16 years and 217 days after his last UEFA Cup/Europa League strike as a 19-year-old for FC Twente against Marseille in February 2009 – the longest-ever gap between goals scored by a player in the competition’s history.

It was a fairly tight game; Red Star accumulated 1.31 expected goals (xG) from their 16 shots (four on target), while Celtic finished with 1.74 xG from eight attempts, getting six of those on target.

But Rodgers has now won just one of his last 17 European away matches (including qualifiers) in charge of Celtic (D7 L9), failing to win in any of his last 11 since a 1-0 win against Rosenborg in the 2018-19 Europa League group stage during his first spell.