It was a night were Celtic missed many chances, and you got the feeling if they played all night they would still not produce a goal.
Martin O'Neill made only one change to the squad from Saturday's victory over Hearts - Chris Sutton took Liam Miller's place in midfield.
The game began in a frantic pace, and Anderlecht created the first chance, seeing their shot bounce back off the crossbar. Bobo Balde made a great saving challenge minutes later to deny a goalscoring opportunity.
Celtic's first chance came soon, when a Chris Sutton shot blasted just inches over the crossbar.
Things were looking up for Celtic after 25 minutes, when Anderlecht defender and captain Glen de Boeck was given a second yellow card for a pull on John Hartson just outside the area. His first yellow was shown when he attempted to hack down Larsson 10 minutes earlier.
Henrik Larsson had another pathetic attempt at the resulting free kick.
Anderlecht striker Dindane Mornar should have been yellow carded for a blatant dive in the box, following Stan Varga's well timed challenge. All we hear nowadays is of UEFA trying to cut down on the divers - why was Mornar not booked?
Celtic did have the ball in the net, a fantastic Alan Thompson cross was badly missed by Henrik Larsson, and John Hartson was on hand to head in the rebound. TV replays showed Hartson was well onside, and it was a poor decision by the officials again.
The next penalty claim came from Celtic. Larsson was put through and looked in a good position to score, when he appeared to be brought down in the box. The Belgian fans screamed fora booking but Larsson did not dive, he had no reason to as would have been through on goal. It was a stonewall penalty which we were denied.
In the second half, it was the home side who appeared more up for the game. Joos Valgaren made an appearance in a swap for Jackie McNamara, who was having hamstring trouble.
With only 5 minutes of the second half gone, Stan Varga missed a golden opportunity to put Celtic ahead. The Varg seemed to lose his footing from 2 yards out and the ball trickled wide.
It was clear Celtic were not matching the 10-men's commitment and attitude, it was only a matter of time before something went wrong.
Indeed, this happened, on 71 minutes, when a poor defensive header by Bobo Balde landed straight at an Anderlecht midfielder. He breezed past the invisible Valgaeren and crossed for Aruna to tap home.
It was a poor defensive goal to lose, with Balde's poor clearance mixed with Valgaeren's severe lack of pace. The guy is a liability and let's hope Jackie McNamara gets back to fitness soon.
In an attempt to find an equaliser, Neil Lennon was replaced by Liam Miller, who immediatley impressed. Arguably, Miller should have been on from the start.
Celtic's best chance from then on came with 3 minutes to go, Miller set up Hartson who should have done better with a shot from 15 yards.
All in all, too many players were off the ball tonight. Didier Agathe simply cannot cross the ball and the team's work rate was embarrased by Anderlecht's.
Our next Champions League game in at home to Anderlecht, where we must take a victory if we want to progress. With Bayern Munich drawing 1-1 with Lyon tonight, it leaves us at the bottom of our group.
Celtic:
Hedman - 7
Balde - 8
Varga - 8
McNamara - 7 (Valgaeren - 6)
Agathe - 6
Petrov - 7
Lennon - 6 (Miller - 7)
Thompson - 7
Sutton - 6
Larsson - 7
Hartson - 6
Celtic-Mad Man of the Match: Stan Varga