| Match Pictures | Matches: 2011 – 2012 | 2011-2012 Pictures |
Trivia
- Friendly; Season starts on Sunday.
- Playing Wolves at Celtic Park next week.
Review
Friendly game, no trouble, season starts on Sunday coming. Playing Wolves at Celtic Park next week.
We should have won by far more but a useful run out although the strikers must do better.
Teams
CELTIC (4-4-2)
Pletikosa; Matthews (M. Wilson 56) K. Wilson (Majstorovic 56), Loovens (Mulgrew 68) Izaguirre; Commons, Kayal (Wanyama 75) Ki (Forrest 56) Ledley; Hooper, Stokes (Maloney 75)
Not Used: Zaluska
Goals: Stokes 34
CARDIFF CITY (4-4-2)
Marshall (Santiago 60); McNaughton (Jarvis 81) Hudson
(Gypes 75), Gerrard (Farah 60) Naylor (Keinan 60); Cowie, Gunnarson (Tawio), Whittingham, Taylor; Parkin (Evans 81), Mason (Wildig 87)
Not Used:, Heaton, Blake
Attendance: 10,276
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
Articles
Stokes earns Celtic victory in Cardiff
By: Mark Henderson on 20 Jul, 2011 21:48 Pre-season friendly
Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
CARDIFF CITY…0
CELTIC…1
Stokes 34
CELTIC completed their pre-season preparations with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Cardiff City in the Welsh capital.
Anthony Stokes struck the only goal of the match in the first-half, heading Emilio Izaguirre’s cross into the cornerof the net.
After that, the Hoops took command against their Championship opponents, leaving trialist goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa with little involvement.
In the latter stages, new Bhoy, Victor Wanyama, came on to make his Hoops bow, capping off a fine evening’s work for Neil Lennon’s side ahead of Sunday’s SPL opener away at Hibernian.
With Scott Brown absent, Joe Ledley was named as captain against his former side. Adam Matthews also started the match, having only left the Bluebirds for the Hoops this summer.
Croatian internationalist, Pletikosa, was also given a chance to impress, withWanyama named among the substitutes.
Ex Celt, Malky Mackay, was in charge for his first home match as Cardiffmanager. Eager to impress their new boss, the hostsbegan with plenty of gusto.
From Don Cowie’s corner, Aron Gunnarson looped a header against the top of the bar, before Andrew Taylor volleyed over from the edge of the area.
Celtic replied with a stinging low drive from Kris Commons which shaved the post. However, it was the hosts doing the most of the early running and Jonathan Parkin passed up a golden chance to open the scoring, breaching Celtic’s offside trap but blazing his shot wide.
Gradually the Hoops grew in ascendency, though, and a brave header from Stokes brought out a smart save from ex-Celt David Marshall.
The Irishman was proving the visitors’ most dangerous operator and he came close again with a curling free-kick from 25 yards following a foul on Ki.
And in the 34th minute, the striker put the Hoops ahead. Emilio Izaguirre, making a welcome return to the first-team after injury, was the supplier, sending over a wonderful delivery from the left which Stokes headed into the far corner past the despairing dive of Marshall.
At the other end, Pletikosa had seen little involvement. It took until the 41st minute for his first save of note, snaffling Joe Mason’s shot at the second attempt.
The Hoops began more brightly after the interval, forcing several corners and Izaguirre blasting over from the edge of the area.
Slick link-up play between Hooper and Stokes inside the box saw the former find the target with a low shot only to be denied by Marshall.
Both sides then made a string of changes yet that failed to halt the Hoops’ momentum.
Fastening onto a loose header, Hooper left Mark Hudson trailing in his wake but dragged his shot wide from a tight angle.
And with the Welsh side tiring, it was increasingly one-way traffic. Substitute Charlie Mulgrew saw his header edge past the far post from Izaguirre’s free-kick before Shaun Maloney was denied a late goal by a block after spinning in the box.
The final whistle confirmed Celtic’s third win on the spin, sending the visiting support home happy andensuring Lennon’s men go into Sunday’s clash at Easter Road with plenty of confidence.
CELTIC (4-4-2) Pletikosa; Matthews (M. Wilson 56) K. Wilson (Majstorovic 56), Loovens (Mulgrew 68) Izaguirre; Commons, Kayal (Wanyama 75) Ki (Forrest 56) Ledley; Hooper, Stokes (Maloney 75)
Not Used: Zaluska
CARDIFF CITY (4-4-2) Marshall (Santiago 60); McNaughton (Jarvis 81) Hudson
(Gypes 75), Gerrard (Farah 60) Naylor (Keinan 60); Cowie, Gunnarson (Tawio), Whittingham, Taylor; Parkin (Evans 81), Mason (Wildig 87)
Not Used:, Heaton, Blake
Website Man of the Match: Kelvin Wilson
Attendance: 10,276