Stefano Denswil had the first good effort of the match when he curled a free kick towards the bottom corner from 30 yards out. However, Fraser Forster was able to tip it away.

Forster again saved Celtic as he denied Siem de Jong's header from inside the box.

Virgil van Dijk then found James Forrest on the right wing with a sweeping 50-yard diagonal ball. The winger controlled the ball and put in a cross towards the near post, but no Celtic player could get on the end of it.

However, Neil Lennon's side fell behind early in the second half when Lasse Schone exchanged passes with Thulani Serero and poked the ball home.

Ajax's Danish midfielder Lasse Schone celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the UEFA Champions League group H football match between Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic FC on November 6, 2013 © Getty Images

Celtic's response saw Anthony Stokes miss a decent chance, but Ajax were almost 2-0 ahead when Forster misjudged a corner and Emilio Izaguirre had to clear off the line.

Baram Kayal then blazed a shot over the bar after the ball fell to him outside the area.

The Bhoys continued their good spell of play and Kris Commons tried to chip the goalkeeper from distance, but saw his effort drift over.

Ajax pushed for a second and Viktor Fischer forced Forster to save shortly after coming on.

They came closer a few minutes later when Schone shot at Forster after being put through.

Denswil also hit the post as the game reached its conclusion.