If a feeling of deflation hung over the east end of Glasgow at the final whistle, it did not last for long. This was a night on which Celtic restored a little pride and, if their satisfaction was tempered by a late Ryan Giggs equaliser for Manchester United, consider that, until their endeavours and their comparative technical deficiencies caught up with them in the second half, they had succeeded in flattening the deeply uneven playing field on which Anglo-Scottish contests are played out these days.

Some may argue that the Scots had a helping hand from one of their own — Sir Alex Ferguson, who, but for Giggs’s 84th-minute goal, would have been left to count the cost of his decision to leave Edwin van der Sar and Gary Neville at home and to start without Patrice Evra, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov.

Those decisions were made with at least one eye on the Barclays Premier League encounter with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday lunchtime, but, by the time Giggs finally cancelled out Scott McDonald’s exquisite opening goal, this had become the kind of battle for which United had initially seemed ill-equipped.

By the end, it was a different story. With Berbatov, Rooney and Evra all thrown into the fray, United were so dominant in the closing stages that Celtic were hanging on for dear life. Match statistics said that United had more than 73 per cent of the possession — almost unheard of at this level of football, particularly for an away team — and had struck 30 shots to Celtic’s six. It felt even more one-sided than that at times, but, with Celtic defending heroically, Ferguson was gracious enough to say that Gordon Strachan’s team deserved something, if only for their spirit and for the sublime skill that McDonald showed in putting them ahead, lobbing Ben Foster, who is regarded by many, not least Ferguson, as the next England goalkeeper.

Foster’s inclusion, along with the omissions of Berbatov and Rooney, would have figured prominently in an inquest had one been necessary. As it was, after Giggs’s goal, following up a shot from Cristiano Ronaldo that Artur Boruc could not hold, a draw will satisfy all but the mathematicians and the pedants that Ferguson’s team are through to the knockout stages.

Someone pounced on Ferguson when he said in the post-match press conference that “we’ve qualified now”, but the United manager argued that the sequence of events that would eliminate his team — defeat away to Villarreal and by at least three goals at home to Aalborg is a minimum requirement — is so improbable as to belong in the realms of fantasy. He had a point.

As such, the draw that Celtic gained last night is likely to prove inconsequential unless they can win their final two games and hope that United do them a favour against Villarreal, but more important may be the point that they proved.

The English have an unpleasant habit of looking down their noses at Scottish football, the more so as the financial gulf between the two leagues widens. If Celtic’s meek 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford last month represented a low point, this result, albeit achieved with an approach more associated with lower-division teams on FA Cup third-round day, will restore a little pride among Celtic’s fans not only in Glasgow but also around the world.

Only the Celtic hierarchy know to what extent a desire to exploit their global brand lies behind the signings of players from Japan and Australia in recent years, but, just as Shunsuke Nakamura etched his name into the club’s folklore with the goal that beat United at Celtic Park in November 2006, McDonald, a Melbourne native, set the ball rolling last night.

Had he not made his move to Scotland, specifically Motherwell, in 2004, McDonald would have returned to Australia as a failure in British football after forgettable spells at clubs that included Southampton, Huddersfield Town and Bournemouth. North of the border, though, he has been a revelation.

Goodness knows how McDonald’s goal would have been greeted had it been scored by the man wearing the opposing No 7 shirt, Cristiano Ronaldo. There seemed to be little or no danger to the United goal when Shaun Maloney’s inswinging free kick was cleared to the edge of the penalty area, but Gary Caldwell cushioned a header into the path of McDonald, who, spotting Foster off his line, took one touch and executed a right-foot lob that followed the perfect arc over the goalkeeper, under the crossbar and into the net. Cue bedlam.

United opportunities were scarce in the first half, save for a Ronaldo free kick and a Rio Ferdinand header, but the introduction of Berbatov gave them a more obvious focal point in attack. Within 12 minutes, the substitute thought that he had scored, prodding the ball goalwards with a characteristic flick of his right foot, only for Maloney to clear off the line. Maloney, another with a point to prove after an unhappy spell in England with Aston Villa, was having quite a night.

The same could not be said of Carlos Tévez, who, presented with what has become a rare opportunity in the United starting line-up, again looked like a player bereft of confidence before making way for Rooney with 20 minutes remaining.

By that stage it had become a siege, but Gary Caldwell and Stephen McManus, the Celtic central defenders, were proving equal to everything that came their way. Finally, though, Ronaldo let fly from long range with a shot that Boruc could not hold. The ball spun upwards and was headed into the net by Giggs. Berbatov could and should have won it for United after that, but Celtic just about held on, grateful and just a little reinvigorated by the small mercy of a point.

Celtic (4-1-3-2): A Boruc — A Hinkel, G Caldwell, S McManus, M Wilson — P Hartley — S Brown, B Robson, S Maloney (sub: D O’Dea, 76min) — S McDonald (sub: B Hutchinson, 82), C Sheridan (sub: M Donati, 64). Substitutes not used: M Brown, L Naylor, P Caddis, S Nakamura.

Manchester United (4-4-1-1): B Foster — Rafael Da Silva (sub: P Evra, 66), R Ferdinand, N Vidic, J O’Shea — C Ronaldo, D Fletcher, M Carrick, Nani (sub: D Berbatov, 46) — R Giggs — C Tévez (sub: W Rooney, 71). Substitutes not used: T Kuszczak, J Evans, Anderson, Park Ji Sung. Booked: Nani.

Referee: T H Ovrebo (Norway).