Match Pictures | Matches: 2022 – 2023
Trivia
- KO: 17:00 (UK Time) Wednesday; only on Celtic TV
- Third preseason friendly; opposition is based in Czech Republic/Czechia
- Pre-season fixture to mark the Czech club’s 100th anniversary
- As close to a starting XI as you’ll likely see in pre-season. Will that be our midfield three when the real season kicks off?
- Ex-Celt Lubo Moravcik appears as a guest attending the game.
- Tennis: Wimbledon, which banned Russian players due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, has just been won by someone born in Moscow (the ladies event, she was representing Kazakhstan).
- Ex-Celtic Loanee Charly Musonda reported missing by Belgian side Zulte Waregem, the club with whom he reportedly agreed a contract with after leaving Chelsea. Dumped them claiming he is pushing for a move to Spain. Continues an unprofessional streak.
- Politics: Tory party in shambles trying to elect a new leader and PM. Eight candidates up for top spot.
- Reports:
- Celtic understood to have no interest in Jordan Larsson, son of club legend Henrik; free agent following exit from Spartak Moscow.
- Price of £5.5m reported for 22-year old target Fausto Vera. Corinthians and Genk had similar bids of est £3.4m rejected by Argentinos Juniors who are holding out for £5.5m.
- Celtic are targeting a deal for Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Edouard Michut. France U19 midfielder who has played six times for PSG in Ligue 1 and twice in the Coupe de France
- Transfers:
- Ross Doohan signs for Tranmere. Never played for first team.
- Ismailia Soro has joined Portuguese side FC Arouca on a season-long loan, with an option to buy.
- Boli Bolingoli returns to Belgian football, joining KV Mechelen on a two-year permanent deal.
- Players in: Jota, Carter-Vickers, Bernabei, Siegrist
- Players released, loaned, & sold so far: Vasilis Barkas (L), Nir Bitton, Tom Rogic, Luca Connell, Ryan Mullen, Kerr McInroy,Ross Doohan, Jonathon Afolabi, Barry Coffey, Karamoko Dembele, Brody Paterson, Ewan Henderson, Liam Scales (L), Adam Montgomery (L), Soro (L), Boli, Hazard (L)
Summary
“That’s the whole point of pre-season, you can’t look too far ahead, it’s about creating a strong foundation – the ultimate priority is to be ready when the league kicks off.”
Ange
“It gave the feel of a real contest and it was great, great exercise for our guys.”
Ange Postecoglou 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉
Matt O’Riley does a Cruyff turn come nutmeg whilst tackling to win the ball!
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Teams
Celtic:
Hart (Siegrist 65), Juranovic (Ralston 46), Carter-Vickers (Jullien 60), Welsh (Lawal 60), Taylor (Bernabei 46); McGregor (McCarthy 60), Turnbull (Johnston 60), O’Riley (Ideguchi 46), Jota (Maeda 46), Kyogo (Giakoumakis 46), Forrest (Abada 46).
Subs: Bain, Oluwayemi, Ajeti, Kenny, Urhoghide, Vata
Goals:(Kyogo 13, O’Riley 24, Giakoumakis 48, Abada 74)
Assists:
[….]
Goals:(Sehic 7, Tijani 71)
Assists:
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Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Match Links
Articles
Celts put on impressive showing in victory over Banik Ostrava
By Paul Cuddihy in Austria
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Pre-season friendly
Městský Stadion, Ostrava, Czech Republic
July 13, 2022
BANIK OSTRAVA… 2
(Sehic 7, Tijani 71)
CELTIC… 4
(Kyogo 13, O’Riley 24, Giakoumakis 48, Abada 74)
Celtic continued their pre-season preparations with an impressive 4-2 victory over Banik Ostrava, scoring two goals in either half and dominating much of the match.
However, it was the home side, buoyed by the atmosphere generated by their supporters who were celebrating the club’s centenary, who started the game on the front foot, and they almost scored a freak goal inside the opening minutes.
Kuzamonic latched on to a pass from Jota on the halfway line, and seeing Joe Hart standing some 40 yards from goal, decided to try his luck with a shot which thankfully went just wide of the post.
But Banik Ostrava didn’t have long to wait for the opening goal. A cross from the right wing found Eidar Sehic at the far post, and he steered his effort beyond the Hoops keeper and into the net.
That lead lasted just six minutes, however, before Ange Postecoglou’s side fashioned an equaliser.
The ball was worked wide to James Forrest and he cut the ball back for Kyogo to supply the finish from eight yards out.
And on 24 minutes, Celtic took the lead. David Turnbull threaded a ball through to Matt O’Riley, who took a touch as he moved inside before curling a superb left-foot shot from the edge of the area beyond the Banik Ostrava goalkeeper.
The Hoops were now dominating the game and, indeed, enjoyed 70 per cent possession without adding to their goals tally.
That changed just three minutes into the second half when three of the half-time substitutes combined to score a stunning goal.
Liel Abada drove forward before rolling the ball into the path of the overlapping Anthony Ralston, and his cross into the box was volleyed home by Giorgios Giakoumakis.
Banik Ostrava had little possession in the second-half, and created no chances up until the 71st minute when they hit Celtic on the counter-attack, with Muhamed Tijani keeping his cool to slot the ball under Ben Siegrist after racing through on goal.
But the celebrations for the home support lasted all of three minutes before Celtic restored their two-goal lead.
Giakoumakis latched on to a loose ball and fired in a shot from the edge of the area which was pushed away by the Banik Ostrava goalkeeper, only for Liel Abada to follow up and fire the ball home to make it 4-2.
Next up for Celtic is their first home game of the game against Blackburn Rovers this Saturday.
CELTIC: Hart (Siegrist 65), Juranovic (Ralston 46), Carter-Vickers (Jullien 60), Welsh (Lawal 60), Taylor (Bernabei 46); McGregor (McCarthy 60), Turnbull (Johnston 60), O’Riley (Ideguchi 46), Jota (Maeda 46), Kyogo (Giakoumakis 46), Forrest (Abada 46).
Subs: Bain, Oluwayemi, Ajeti, Kenny, Urhoghide, Vata
Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou delivers mixed review of Banik Ostrava win and provides injury update
Ange Postecoglou admitted his Celtic side produced a mixed display despite a 4-2 win over Banik Ostrava in a pre-season fixture to mark the Czech club’s 100th anniversary.
By Matthew Elder
Wednesday, 13th July 2022, 8:22 pm
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/celtic-boss-ange-postecoglou-delivers-mixed-review-of-banik-ostrava-win-and-provides-injury-update-3767513
A capacity 15,000 crowd inside the Mestsky Stadion made for a boistorous atmosphere and a competitive match as Celtic recovered from going a goal behind to claim a 4-2 win in their third friendly of the summer after last week’s 7-0 win over Wiener Viktoria and the weekend 3-3 draw with Rapid Vienna.
After falling behind to Eidar Sehic’s opener on seven minutes, goals from Kyogo Furuhashi (13), Matt O’Riley (24), Giorgios Giakoumakis (48) put Celtic in the driving seat before Muhamed Tijani pulled one back for Ostrava on 71 minutes.
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Liel Abada killed off any comeback hopes with Celtic’s fourth goal three minutes later to ensure the Hoops finished their pre-season tour of Austria and the Czech Republic on a high note.
Postecoglou was happy with parts of the Celtic performance, which he described as “really good”, but admitted some areas also left room for improvement.
“We started a bit slow and I thought in general we were a bit sloppy with some of our passing,” he said.
“On the flipside of that our good moments were really good.
“Shades of early pre-season and cobwebs. They are working awfully hard in training so they are not going to be buzzing going into games, but I thought after that we picked up.
Ange Postecoglou admitted Celtic had ‘sloppy’ moments in their 4-2 friendly win over Banik Ostrava. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Ange Postecoglou admitted Celtic had ‘sloppy’ moments in their 4-2 friendly win over Banik Ostrava. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
“Our good stuff was really good but there are other areas we can still improve on.”
Postecoglou also revealed Celtic came through their pre-season camp with “no significant injuries” as they prepare to return to home soil to face Blackburn Rovers in their next friendly on Saturday as preparations continue for their Scottish Premiership title defence.
“The last three games have been perfect and we’re back inside Celtic Park on Saturday so it’s been a great build-up so far,” Postecoglou added.
“We’ve got some good training into the guys and most of them have got some decent match minutes and we’ve no significant injuries so from that point of view it’s been a really good camp.
“And for players in general to come back in and have a really good attitude, the environment and the dressing room still feels like it’s got a lot of energy which is great.”
After facing Blackburn, Celtic travel to Poland for a friendly with Legia Warsaw next Wednesday before completing their pre-season schedule against Norwich City at Celtic Park on Saturday, July 23.
Then the competitive action starts with a trip to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen in the opening match of the new Premiership season on Sunday, July 31.
Meanwhile, Celtic have been linked with a £2million move for Paris Saint-Germain teenage star Edouard Michut.
The 19-year-old midfielder has featured for the French giants eight times but with three years remaining on his deal is looking to leave in search of regular first-team football.
According to Sky Sports, the Scottish champions are preparing a £2million offer for Michut.
Celtic have had previous joy in unearthing talent without a future at PSG, signing Odsonne Edouard before selling him to Crystal Palace for a profit.
Banik Ostrava 2-4 Celtic: Errors then exciting football from Celtic
By Editor 13 July, 2022 https://thecelticstar.com/banik-ostrava-2-4-celtic-errors-then-exciting-football-from-celtic/
Celtic started slowly and were lucky to be just one goal behind with Joe Hart almost being embarrassed for the second match in a row when Jota conceded possession in the centre of the park with Hart stuck hopelessly in no-man’s-land. Luckily the opportunist effort drifted wide of the empty net.
Callum McGregor in action today. Photo: Imago
Hart could do little about the opener for the Czech side celebrating their centenary when Juranovic was caught at the back post and Sehic headed home to open the scoring. And Hart was forced to make a decent save moments later to prevent Banik Ostrava doubling their lead.
Celtic weathered that early storm and decent play from James Forrest on the right wing set up Kyogo for an easy finish to level the scoring. And the increasingly impressive Matt O’Riley scored a screamer shortly afterwards as Celtic gained an ascendancy that they didn’t lose for the remainder of the match.
Half-time changes were few this time around. Ideguchi, Bernabei, Ralston, Abada and Giakoumakis all coming on. And three of these subs combined straight away to make it 3-1 to the Scottish Champions. Abada and Ralston know each other’s game so well, the Israeli international found Ralston on the overlap and his cross found Giakoumakis with the cross to score with an excellent overhead kick.
Jota fights for the ball. Photo: Imago
More changes followed in a game Celtic were dominating and Siegrist, Lawal, Jullien, McCarty and Johnston were all introduced. And Johnston lost possession to allow xxx a free run at the substitute keeper and the Banik sub found the bottom corner.
Any hope of a the Czech side doing a Rapid Vienna on Celtic by pulling a late equaliser out of the hat was gone after a powerful Giakoumakis effort was parred and Abada made no mistake with the follow-up.
Kyogo in possession. Photo: Imago
So a 4-2 win for Celtic, making it two wins and a draw on the three matches in this part of the summer pre-season build-up. 14 goals scored, 5 conceded and plenty of game-time in the squad’s legs.
The Celtic party will be heading home to Scotland this evening well satisfied with all of this, particularly this afternoon’s win. Next up is the visit on Saturday lunch-time of Blackburn Rovers.
Here’s a very happy Ange Postecoglou speaking after today’s game…