| Match Pictures | Matches: 2010 – 2011 | 2010-2011 Pictures |
Trivia
- US tour friendly.
- 1st win on the US tour.
- Celtic drawn against Braga in the European Cup qualifers.
Review
A win's a win. Celtic have to prepare for the European Cup qualifiers. More important.
Teams
CELTIC (4-4-2)
Cervi; Hinkel, Hooiveld, Misun, Caddis; McCourt (Hutchinson 85), Ferry, Ki (Crosas 71), Samaras (Forrest 45); Sheridan (Mulgrew 56), Rasmussen (Fortune 56)
Not Used: Zaluska, Wilson, Maloney
CELTIC…2
Samaras 32, McCourt 64
SEATTLE SOUNDERS (4-4-2)
Boss Scott, Marshall (Ianni 74), Graham, Wahl; Nyassi (Zakuani 70), Alonso (Sturgis 60), Vagenas (Noonan 75), Montano (Estrada 64); Nkufo (Levesque 60), Montero (Jennings 30);
Not Used:, Ianni, Levesque, Parke, Riley
SEATTLE SOUNDERS…1
Estrada 66
Atttendance: 45,631
Sunday, July 18, 2010, KO: 12pm
Quest Field, Seattle
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
KStreet
Articles
From CelticFC.net
celts sink sounders for first tour win Mark Henderson (19 Jul 2010)
SOME devastating counter-attacking saw Celtic secure their first win of their North American Tour with a 2-1 triumph over the Seattle Sounders.
Georgios Samaras opened the scoring from the spot just past the half hour mark, after he was brought down in the act of scoring after an incisive Hoops breakaway.
In another flowing move, spearheaded by the impressive Milan Misun, Paddy McCourt added a second after the break with a neat finish.
Although Seattle pulled a goal back through a long-range effort from David Estrada, the Hoops held on comfortably for the victory and had plenty chances to add to their tally in what was an excellent overall performance.
After the impressive second half showing against Manchester United in Toronto, Neil Lennon had opted for an attacking line-up with McCourt, Samaras, Cillian Sheridan and Morten Rasmussen all starting.
The Sounders had quite literally laid out the red carpet for the Hoops. And there was a 10 minute delay before kick-off for the US national anthem, and music from bagpipe and brass bands.
Once proceedings got underway it was the home side that threatened to open the scoring after 120 seconds. Montano NKufo found Fredy Montero in the box and his shot across Dominic Cervi shaved the far post.
The Hoops hit-back immediately, when McCourt slid the ball through for Rasmussen, but the striker was flagged for offside.
The Danish hitman was involved again minutes later, heading over from a good delivery on the left from Sheridan, who had surprisingly started in the left-back position.
McCourt, who was operating just behind Rasmussen, was getting plenty of the ball and in the ninth minute his cross-field pass found Andreas Hinkel. The German defender cut inside into the box, but his low cross failed to find a target.
Since the opening exchanges there had been little attacking threat from the Sounders. But midway through the half, they began to pose a few more problems to the Celtic rearguard.
First, Taylor Graham fired over from 20 yards after a corner had been cleared to the edge of the area.
Then, Freddy Montero showed some lovely skill inside the box to flick the ball away from Jos Hooiveld and power a shot over the bar.
But it was from a Sounders attack that Celtic took the lead. McCourt won the ball in his own half and found Simon Ferry. The young midfielder looked up and slid a lovely pass through for Samaras, who raced away from the defence, rounded Sounders keeper, Terry Boss, and stabbed the ball home.
However, the celebrations were cut short when the referee, Paul Ward, brought the play back to send-off Boss for a foul on the Greek striker and award a penalty. The decision caused a furore on the home bench and the match was held up for a few minutes.
When he finally took the kick to a chorus of boos, Samaras kept his cool to fire high past substitute keeper Jordan Jennings, who had replaced the impressive Montero.
With the extra man advantage, Celtic tried to stroke the ball about and engineered another shot on target in the 35th minute, when Jennings pushed away a Ki free-kick.
There was little further incident until half-time, although Rasmussen may have done better when he failed to pick out the run of Paul Caddis through the middle
It was the 10 men that created the first opportunity after the restart. A neat interchange between Peter Vagenas and Sanna Nyassi nearly crafted a shooting opportunity inside the box, until a timely intervention from Hooiveld.
Celtic replied through a dangerous cross from Ki, and a marauding run from Paul Caddis.
At the other end, Miguel Montano dragged a shot wide, before the Hoops added a second through another excellent breakaway in the 64th minute.
A Sounders corner was cleared to Misun and he powered forwarded down the left. Showing great composure he picked out McCourt in the middle and the Irishman calmly sidefooted the ball past Jennings into the far corner.
It was just what the Hoops deserved and it seemed a first win on the tour was now secure. However, out of the blue, the Sounders pulled a goal back. Estrada had only been on the park for seconds, and with his first touch he struck an unstoppable shot into the top of the net from 25 yards.
Buoyed by the goal, the home side pushed forward with renewed purpose. However, in truth, Lennon’s side still looked comfortable and came close to increasing their advantage on several occasions.
With around 20 minutes remaining, Ferry won possession and fed Marc-Antoine Fortune and from a tight angle he forced Jennings into a good stop.
And then McCourt saw another shot agonisingly hit the post after good work from Paul McGowan
Fortune’s pace was causing the Sounders defence problems and he cut the ball back for James Forrest and his flick found the side-netting.
In the 77th minute, Charlie Mulgrew picked out Fortune from the left, but the striker couldn’t keep his header down.
As the clock ticked down, Celtic remained dangerous on the break with Forrest and McGowan both coming close.
Although, Estrada, who had been a real danger since his arrival nearly grabbed a draw for the home side when he cracked a shot off the post from a narrow angle.
However, Celtic held on for their first win of the North American Tour in a mannerwhichwill provide the manager plenty of encouragement. The Hoops now head to Boston to take on Sporting Lisbon.