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Trivia
- First friendly at Celtic Park
- Playing Standard Liege ironically at same time as Belgium is playing England in the World Cup 3rd place playoff (a waste of time match).
- World Cup: France v Croatia the next day. Croatia defeated England 2-1 to save us all the pain.
- Boyata wins a 3rd place medal in the World Cup as part of the Belgium squad, but didn't play in the last 2-3 games. Still he played in the world cup and gave his all. Congratulations.
- Leigh Griffiths will face nearly another month on the sidelines, according to Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers.The Scotland striker will be joined on the sidelines by Irish winger Jonny Hayes.
- Fans have hit out at “police intimidation” after officers were spotted filming Celtic supporters attending this match. Twitter account 'Fans Against Criminalisation' posted a photo of an officer using a handheld camera recording video of fans at Celtic Park on Saturday. A disgrace and comes not long after the OBFA bill was finally axed.
- Transfers: Battle over John McGinn, reports Hibs have KO’ed Celtic’s second bid of £1.75m for a guy with 12mths left on his contract.
- Armstrong Okoflex seals Celtic deal as Hoops land teenage prodigy from Arsenal
- Olivier Ntcham and Odsonne Edouard were involved in a dramatic car smash, Fellow Frencham Dembele was travelling behind in his own car and witnessed the drama.
- Emergency services rushed to the scene of the two-car accident near Barr’s factory on Mollins Road, Cumbernauld, yesterday afternoon. The Frenchmen escaped unhurt but police said one person was taken to hospital. Their injuries are not thought to be serious.
- New Celtic pitch used for first time. Rodgers says the club have spent £1.5m on a new playing surface over the summer and he believes it will reap swift dividends. "I've been crying about a pitch for a long time and you see the speed of it and it'll get slightly quicker as well," said the Celtic manager.
- Ex-Celtic assistant manager to Jock Stein, Davd McParland has sadly passed away. He was also in charge of Queen’s Park and Hamilton Accies, passed away days after Thistle announced they would name their new training centre after him. McParland was most famous for managing Thistle’s shock 4-1 League Cup final win over Celtic in 1971. He later had a spell as assistant manager at Celtic Par from 1976-78. Had Stein became Scotland manager in 1977 then Davie could feasibly have become a candidate for the new Celtic manager role. RIP
Review
Moussa and Eddy are going to give defenders nightmares this year and McGregor has really grown into a player this last year or so. Ajer is looking confident and I love a centre-half that isn't scared to use the space in front of him and he seems to cover ground quickly before the opposition can react.
The second-string held their own and there was a few good performances in there too.
Lot of reasons to be optimistic just now so really looking forward to this season.
The second half wasn't quite as good. I wasn't impressed with Miller, Ralston or Commper honestly. Miller is never a left back and Ralston was caught out too many times. In saying that, Johnstone looks great and got a decent goal. The ball in from Sinclair was a peach as well.
Some real positives in the game and it bodes well for midweek.
Teams
CELTIC
FIRST-HALF TEAM (4-2-3-1) Bain; Hendry, Ajer, Simunovic, Tierney; Brown, Ntcham; Forrest, Edouard, McGregor; Dembele
SECOND-HALF TEAM (4-2-3-1) Hazard; Ralston, Welsh, Compper, Miller; Eboue, Allan; Johnston, Henderson, Sinclair; Christie
Not Used: Benyu, Church, McInroy
STANDARD LIEGE (4-2-3-1)
Gillet, Luyindama, Laifis (Vanhesden 80), Kosanovic (Pocognoli 46), Cavanda (Fai 46), Cimirot (Agbu 76), Marin, Edmilson, Mpoku, Djenepo (Bastien 68), Emond (Cop 46)
Not Used: Bodart, Goreux, Santos, Miangue
Referee:
Attendance: Very sparse crowd (est 10k?)
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
Articles
Stylish Celts sweep aside Standard Liege
Celtic Park, Glasgow
Saturday, July 14, 2018
CELTIC…4
(Edouard 14, Dembele 21, McGregor 41, Johnston 62)
STANDARD LIEGE…1
(Cop 72)
A FANTASTIC first-half display of attacking football helped Celtic sweep aside Standard Liege in Paradise to continue their excellent early-season form. A stunner from Odsonne Edouard and goals from Moussa Dembele and Callum McGregor had the Hoops in complete charge at the break.
And despite Brendan Rodgers making 11 changes at the interval, the majority of them the Scottish. champions added a fourth through Mikey Johnston, before the visitors scored a late consolation from Duje Cop.
It was another confidence-boosting performance from the Bhoys, with attention now turning to the visit of FC Alashkert on Wednesday night where the Celts will attempt to book their place in UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, having amassed a 3-0 lead from the first-leg in Armenia.
Dembele and Edouard continued their flourishing forward partnership in the first match at Celtic Park of the new campaign as Brendan Rodgers made only one change to the team that eased to a 3-0 win away to FC Alashkert on Tuesday night, with Scott Bain replacing Craig Gordon between the sticks.
Although the visitors had the first effort of the game, Paulo Da Silva dragging a shot wide from the angle of the box, it was not a sign of things to come as the Hoops quickly wrestled control of the contest.
It wasn’t long before James Forrest and Kieran Tierney were making inroads down either flank, with only a last-ditch tackle preventing Edouard getting a clean strike on goal.
In the 11th minute, Dembele came within inches of the opening the scoring, his shot cannoning off the bar following a typical thrusting run forward from Kristoffer Ajer and a pinpoint pass from Edouard.
But Standard didn’t heed that warning as the Bhoys made the breakthrough in spectacular style. Callum McGregor fed Edouard at the angle of the box and he nonchalantly curled an exquisite shot into the top corner. It was a stunning finish.
Standard tried to respond and Djenpro had a 20-yard volley cleared off the line by Dembele following a corner. Dembele soon threatened down the other again, flashing an effort wide after some nimble footwork to take him away from his marker, before he joined Edouard on the scoresheet.
Beating full-back Moussa Djenepo to the ball in the box, the striker coolly lobbed the ball over the advancing Gillet to scored Celtic’s second goal in the space of five minutes.
It wasn’t completely one-way traffic, and Razvan Marin had an effort saved by Bain and Renaud Emond could only send a tame effort straight at the Hoops keeper from close-range. Normal service quickly resumed, however, as Brendan Rodgers’ men carved out further chances with their slick, high-tempo, passing football
McGregor rounded Gillet but his cutback was blocked, Dembele headed narrowly over from a corner and Edouard blasted into the side-netting after Ntcham’s rasping drive had been charged down.
Just before the break, the rampant hosts inflicted further punishment. Olivier Ntcham drove forward and played in McGregor who showed his customary coolness in front of goal, slotting into the far corner.
For the start of the second half, Brendan Rodgers sent out a completely new team, with Scott Sinclair, Marvin Compper, Eboue Kouassi, Scott Allan and Ryan Christie featuring alongside a number of home-grown Hoops youngsters.
In a search for goals, the visitors committed more men forward and pushed higher up the pitch, but the closest they came to reducing arrears was a header from defender Nekadio Luyindama which flew over.
Instead, the Scottish champions added to their tally just beyond the hour mark. Sinclair did well to retain possession and smuggle a pass through for Johnston, and the talented teenager did the rest, cleverly chipping the ball into the net as Gillet rushed out to close him down.
With 18 minutes on the clock, Standard did muster a goal to give their travelling supporters something to cheer, substitute Cop lashing in at the near post following Marin’s cutback.
However, the Hoops almost made it five as two the young Celts combined. Henderson’s defence-splitting pass sent Johnston scampering clear and the winger’s attempt flashed narrowly wide.
Conor Hazard was called upon to make a couple of saves as the clock ticked down but the Bhoys held firm to secure the victory on the back of an impressive performance and several eye-catching indvidual showings.
CELTIC FIRST-HALF TEAM (4-2-3-1) Bain; Hendry, Ajer, Simunovic, Tierney; Brown, Ntcham; Forrest, Edouard, McGregor; Dembele
SECOND-HALF TEAM (4-2-3-1) Hazard; Ralston, Welsh, Compper, Miller; Eboue, Allan; Johnston, Henderson, Sinclair; Christie
Not Used: Benyu, Church, McInroy
STANDARD LIEGE (4-2-3-1) Gillet, Luyindama, Laifis (Vanhesden 80), Kosanovic (Pocognoli 46), Cavanda (Fai 46), Cimirot (Agbu 76), Marin, Edmilson, Mpoku, Djenepo (Bastien 68), Emond (Cop 46)
Not Used: Bodart, Goreux, Santos, Miangue
Celtic: Brendan Rodgers says new pitch will take champions' game to "different level"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44835648
Moussa Dembele scores Celtic's second goal
Moussa Dembele's chipped effort added to Odsonne Edoaurd's stylish opener before Callum McGregor's composed finish for Celtic's third
Brendan Rodgers believes the new pitch at Celtic Park will bring a "different level" to the champions' game.
Celtic maintained the momentum of last week's Champions League qualifying win at Alashkert with a 4-1 friendly victory over Standard Liege.
Goals from Odsonne Edouard, Moussa Dembele and Callum McGregor put the hosts 3-0 up before Rodgers changed the entire team for the second half.
Mikey Johnston added a fourth before the visitors scored a late consolation.
Rodgers says the club have spent £1.5m on a new playing surface over the summer and he believes it will reap swift dividends.
"I've been crying about a pitch for a long time and you see the speed of it and it'll get slightly quicker as well," said the Celtic manager.
"Our identity and purpose is always to be fast, dynamic and very aggressive, and of course when you have a really good pitch and a fast pitch, then that supports that way of playing.
"It was a big investment by the club, but they'll get their rewards, the players get their rewards and most importantly the spectators get their rewards.
"It does help, because we want to play a fast game. You've seen it today with the benefit of a good playing surface. It brings a different level to our game."
Celtic's Mikey Johnston (right) celebrates his goal with team-mates Ewan Henderson (left) and Ryan Christie.
Mikey Johnston (right) celebrates socring Celtiv's fourth goal with Ryan Christie (centre) and Ewan Henderson (left)
Celtic will take a 3-0 lead against Armenian champions Alashkert into Wednesday's second leg at home, in the first of what could be four qualifying rounds if they are to reach the Champions League group stage.
Rodgers believes Saturday was perfect preparation as his players continue to build up their match fitness, with Scott Sinclair, Marvin Compper, Eboue Kouassi, Scott Allan and Ryan Christie featuring in the second half alongside a number of home-grown youngsters.
"I was very pleased, we were playing against a good side," he added.
"I thought the fluency and crispness of our game was outstanding. The first half we caused lots of problems for them and obviously the quality of our goals was exceptional.
"Then in the second half we put out the younger team with a bit of experience around them, and again they were outstanding."