Jonathan Rowe scored his first European goal as Bologna staged a stirring comeback from two goals down to draw 2-2 with 10-man Celtic in a thrilling encounter at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara.

The travelling Celtic support could hardly have imagined a better start. Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski gifted the opener with a dreadful pass straight to Daizen Maeda, who calmly squared for fellow Japan international Reo Hatate to tap home and spark wild celebrations in the away end.

Celtic nearly doubled their advantage moments later when Yang Hyun-jun forced Skorupski into a scrambling save, but Bologna gradually recovered from their shaky opening and began to impose themselves as the half wore on. Juan Miranda tested Kasper Schmeichel with a strike from the edge of the area, offering an early warning of the pressure to come.

Miranda was then involved in a pivotal moment just after the half-hour mark, as Hatate was shown a second yellow card for kicking out at the Bologna defender, leaving Celtic with 10 men for the remainder of the contest.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, the visitors struck again before the break. Kieran Tierney flicked on a corner at the near post and Auston Trusty guided the ball in off the underside of the crossbar to give Celtic a commanding 2-0 lead at half-time.

That advantage, however, quickly began to unravel after the restart. Clearly energised by Vincenzo Italiano’s team talk, Bologna came out with renewed intensity and went close when Benjamin Dominguez rattled the crossbar.

The breakthrough soon followed as substitute Jens Odgaard nodded a cross into the path of Thijs Dallinga, whose powerful header proved too strong for Schmeichel.

With momentum firmly on their side, Bologna completed the comeback when Rowe picked up the ball just outside the area, danced past his marker and rifled a left-footed shot into the net to bring the home crowd to life.

Celtic showed resilience and character in the closing stages to cling on for what could prove a valuable point, leaving them just inside the top 24, while Bologna sit 14th ahead of the later kick-offs.