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Trivia
- Friendly for the new upcoming season.
- Summertime and the transfer window is underway.
- Out so far: Miku, Lassad, Rogne.
- In so far: Amido Baldé, Van Dijk
- Tennis player Andy Murray (from Dunblane) makes it again to the Wimbledon grand slam final (to be played next day)
Review
Pre-season friendly. Not good but no panic button, supposedly better than last game but note there are already people concerned about new acquisition Balde.
Virgil though impressed today, and good to see Samaras off the spot for goals.
Teams
CFR CLUJ (4-4-2):
Felguiras; Velayos, Cadu, Piccolo, Edimar; Deac, Obiora, Djokovic, Costea; Pedro, Tade
Subs: Minca, Hora, Rada, Camora, Nicoara, Muniru, Sepsi, Negrut, Maah, Batin, Kapetanos
Goals: Costea 9, Kapetanos 65
CELTIC (4-4-2):
Forster; Lustig (Fisher 46), Virgil, Wilson, Waters; McGeouch (Forrest 46), Kayal, Henderson (Mulgrew 46), Commons; Hooper, Amido (Samaras 58)
Subs not used: Fasan, Mouyokolo, George, Atajic
Goal: Samaras 81
Stadium: Kufstein Arena
Referee:
Attendance:
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
- Audio Report: Paradise Report
Pictures
Forum
Articles
Hoops fall to Romanians in Austria
By: Laura Brannan in Austria on 06 Jul, 2013 18:49 Saturday, July 6, 2013
Kufstein Arena
Kufstein
source Celticfc.net
CFR CLUJ 2
(Costea 9, Kapetanos 65)
CELTIC 1
(Samaras 81)
DESPITE a late Georgios Samaras strike, Celtic couldn’t complete the comeback, and were defeated 2-1 by Romanian side CFR Cluj.
Florin Costea opened the scoring after just nine minutes, and Cluj doubled their advantage shortly after the hour mark through Pantelis Kapetanos. Celtic's Greek striker slotted home nine minutes from the end but it proved to be a consolation goal.
Neil Lennon had selected a mix of experience and youth in the starting XI, handing Calum Waters his first start for the senior side. Mikael Lustig also came in for what was his first appearance of the summer.
Cluj enjoyed the early spell of pressure and had their first chance four minutes into the match. Ciprian Deac cut in at the edge of the box and fired an ambitious effort on goal but couldn’t keep it on target.
The Romanians kept the pressure on though, and just five minutes later they found the back of the net. Former St Johnstone striker, Gregory Tade played in Costea who curled a well executed strike into the top corner of the net.
However, Celtic responded by pushing up the pitch and showed an excellent spell of play on the 13th minute. Dylan McGeouch cleared Damjan Djokovic's free-kick out of the box and combined with Henderson on the break. Gary Hooper wasn’t able to find the net with his strike though.
At the opposite end, Fraser Forster pulled off a string of saves to deny Cluj from doubling their advantage. He saved a free-kick on the 18th minute before controlling Cadu's strike shortly after.
A well timed tackle by Kelvin Wilson prevented Tade from executing an effort inside the box on 35 minutes. And the defender made another vital block a minute later before Forster followed it up with a strong save.
The second-half began with few chances created at either end but as the clocked ticked towards the hour mark Cluj began to threaten.
Beram Kayal gave the ball away which allowed Paul Batin to make a break on goal. The Israeli recovered the situation though and produced a sliding tackle inside the box to clear the ball to safety.
But five minutes later the Romanians made another break, this time down the left flank, playing in Kapetanos. The half-time substitute flicked it past Forster from 12-yards out, doubling Cluj's advantage.
Celtic pushed play forward in an attempt to come back into the game, and Kris Commons sent a good ball across the face of goal. Kayal wasn’t able to turn it into the net though, and James Forrest's follow-up was deflected out for a corner.
Virgil Van Dijk also had a chance to header home just 60 seconds later but he couldn’t keep his effort on target. The introduction of Steven Mouyokolo in the final 15 minutes allowed Virgil to then push into midfield, and the Hoops continued to attack.
And they were rewarded in the 81st minute when half-time substitute, James Forrest, crossed a ball to the back post. Charlie Mulgrew, who was on the goal line, turned to allow Samaras to knock it into the net.
But the Hoops were unable to capitalise on the strike and Cluj wrapped up the victory nine minutes later.
CFR CLUJ (4-4-2): Felguiras; Velayos, Cadu, Piccolo, Edimar; Deac, Obiora, Djokovic, Costea; Pedro, Tade
Subs: Minca, Hora, Rada, Camora, Nicoara, Muniru, Sepsi, Negrut, Maah, Batin, Kapetanos
CELTIC (4-4-2): Forster; Lustig (Fisher 46), Virgil, Wilson, Waters; McGeouch (Forrest 46), Kayal, Henderson (Mulgrew 46), Commons; Hooper, Amido (Samaras 58)
Subs not used: Fasan, Mouyokolo, George, Atajic
Celtic edged out as Lennon prepares for Europe
The Scotsman
By MASSIMO MARZOCCHI
Published on 08/07/2013 00:00
Celtic continued their Champions League preparations with a 2-1 defeat by CFR Cluj in Kufstein, Austria on Saturday.
Celtic 1-2 CFR Cluj
Scorers: Celtic – Samaras (81); CFR Cluj – Costea (9), Kapetanos (65)
However, Celtic manager Neil Lennon should not be unduly worried. Their opponents are further ahead in their pre-season preparations and at times it showed.
Celtic eyes are all on the Champions League qualifying ties against Northern Irish side Cliftonville later this month and to that end, Lennon is assessing his squad.
A far from full-strength Parkhead side, captained by defender Mikael Lustig and with Calum Waters making his first start for the senior side, went a goal behind during a shaky start when Florin Costea’s well-taken shot from inside the box curled high past goalkeeper Fraser Forster and in off the post.
The goal shook Celtic out of their slumber and moments later striker Gary Hooper drove wide of the target from 20 yards.
The Romanians, who had former St Johnstone striker Gregory Tade in their attack, reasserted themselves and Forster had to make a great save from Ciprian Deac’s whipped-in free-kick before Costea sent a header from a corner high over the bar.
James Forrest, Darnell Fisher and Charlie Mulgrew replaced Dylan McGeouch, Lustig and Liam Henderson respectively at the start of the second-half soon Samaras replaced Amido Balde as the substitutions on both sides continued.
Celtic began to look more purposeful but just after the hour mark, after giving the ball away, Kayal had to make a last-gasp tackle at the expense of a corner to prevent Paul Batin getting a shot away inside the box.
The corner came to nothing but Batin was less hesitant minutes later when he evaded Parkhead defender Kelvin Wilson to set up Patelis Kapetanos to steer the ball past the helpless Forster from 12 yards.
The Parkhead men reduced the lead with eight minutes to go when Forrest’s cross from the right came off the knee of Samaras with Mulgrew moving quickly out of the way to allow the ball to cross the line.