| Match Pictures | Matches: 2012 – 2013 | 2012-13 Pictures |
Trivia
- Summer friendly, Germany tour
- Rangers voted to be in Div 3 SFL, not Div 1 as they kept pushing for.
- Glenn Loovens (out of contract) signs for Real Zaragoza.
- Joe McBride, Celtic Great of the 1960's passed away. RIP.
Review
Poor performance, but it's a summer friendly. Take little from it.
Teams
STUTTGART KICKERS (4-5-1):
Wagner; Evers, Auracher, Leist, Stadler; Leutenecker, Marchese, Jatta, Gondorf, Savranlioglu; Guttner
Subs: Krauss, Braun, Ivanusa, Sprung, Gerster, Dicklhuber, Fennell, Schmidt, Alvarez
CELTIC (3-4-1-2):
Zaluska; Toshney (McGeouch 64), Rogne, Mulgrew (K. Wilson 46), Blackman (Kayal 46); McCourt (Watt 71); Brown, F. Twardzik; Commons (Ibrahim 76); Hooper (Forrest 46), Murphy
Subs not used: Forster
Referee: –
Attendance: 6,800
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
Articles
Stuttgart Kickers defeat Celtic in pre-season friendly
By: Laura Brannan on 15 Jul, 2012 19:16 15 July 2012, Celticfc.net
Friendly
Grazi Stadion, Stuttgart
STUTTGART KICKERS 1
(Jatta 41)
CELTIC 0
STUTTGART Kickers prevented Celtic from recording their first pre-season win of the summer after they beat Neil Lennon´s side 1-0 in the Grazi Stadion.
The home team made the breakthrough, from an Omar Jatta header, shortly before the break and despite some good progress from Tuesday evening´s draw, Celtic couldn´t find an equaliser.
The Hoops had made seven changes from the midweek Augsburg game, with Scott Brown, Thomas Rogne, Kris Commons and Lukasz Zaluska making their first appearances sincereturning to fitness.
Celtic looked positive from the start and made good runs into Stuttgart Kickers´ final third. Daryl Murphy sent the ball to his striker partner, Gary Hooper, inside just two minutes, but the Englishman was blocked before he could make anything of it.
Rogne then saw his header come off the outside of the post after he´d found Commons´ corner at the far post. It was unlucky for the defender but it showed Celtic were keen to make an early breakthrough.
Commons was looking particularly active in front of a midfield diamond, and if he hadn’t slipped in the 23rd minute, as he unleashed an effort, his attempt to chip Daniel Wagner in goals would have been a thing of beauty.
Mahir Savranlioglu brought the home side back into it just before the half hour mark when he had a low drive on target, but Zaluska dealt with it easily.
Brown and Filip Twardzik were linking up well in midfield and showing good footwork, and the Czech teenager had an ambitious effort shortly before the break but it went wide of the far post.
Stuttgart Kickers, however, found the opener just before the break to give them the advantage in what had been an evenly balanced match. Fabio Leutenecker sent the ball across the penalty area to Jatta who headed it into the far corner and the home side went into half-time in the lead.
In response to that goal Celtic made three changes during the break, with James Forrest, Kelvin Wilson and Beram Kayal being introduced to proceedings. Forrest in particular looked impressive with a good turn and run down the flank almost immediately after the restart.
But the home side were also threatening at the opposite end and on 57 minutes they had a string of good passes which almost led to another goal. Their captain, Enzo Marchese, however, put the ball high and wide of the target, wasting a good opportunity.
Zaluska was brought into action towards the end of the second-half when substitutes, Kevin Dicklhuber, Sandrino Braun and Marcos Alvarez, threatened Celtic´s goal. But each time the Polish keeper narrowed the angle and minimised Stuttgart Kickers´ attack.
Dicklhuber slid the ball past the far post and Alvarez hit the side netting, but it was Braun who came closest when he cracked it off the bar.
Celtic tried to find a late equaliser but it wasn’t to come against the German side. Their next challenge will come on Tuesday, July 17, when they face VFR Aalen.
STUTTGART KICKERS (4-5-1): Wagner; Evers, Auracher, Leist, Stadler; Leutenecker, Marchese, Jatta, Gondorf, Savranlioglu; Guttner
Subs: Krauss, Braun, Ivanusa, Sprung, Gerster, Dicklhuber, Fennell, Schmidt, Alvarez
CELTIC (3-4-1-2): Zaluska; Toshney (McGeouch 64), Rogne, Mulgrew (K. Wilson 46), Blackman (Kayal 46); McCourt (Watt 71); Brown, F. Twardzik; Commons (Ibrahim 76); Hooper (Forrest 46), Murphy
Subs not used: Forster
Stuttgart Kickers 1 Celtic 0: Kick-start to Celtic's tour stays elusive
Ronnie Cully
Senior Sports Writer
The Herald
CELTIC's search for form, fitness and the net remains ongoing after two games of their pre-season tour.
The goalless game against Bundesliga side Augsburg on Tuesday was last night followed by a 1-0 loss to Stuttgart Kickers, who play in the third tier of German football.
Slack defensive play allowed Omar Jatta to head past Lukasz Zaluska four minutes before half-time. With Marcos Alvarez, Kevin Dicklhuber and Sandrino Braun all spurning good opportunities against a tiring Celtic side in the closing minutes, the defeat could have been much heavier.
While results are not the important aspect at this stage of pre-season, Neil Lennon is very aware that his team face their opening Champions League qualifier in just over two weeks, and the lack of a goal threat will be a concern.
Celtic face Bundesliga Two side FC Aalen tomorrow before heading to Amsterdam to play Ajax, and the Celtic manager knows that a cutting edge must be found quickly.
With the players who had been on international duty and returned late from their summer break still getting up to speed and not being considered ready, Lennon was still able to make seven changes from the line-up which started against Augsburg.
Captain Scott Brown was among those to see his first action of the tour, while Thomas Rogne and Kris Commons had recovered from the slight strains which sidelined them against Augsburg.
Kickers play two divisions below the Bundesliga, but the presence of the Scottish champions drew live TV coverage and a crowd of around 6800 to their attractive Gazi-Stadion, many of them Celtic supporters based in Germany.
The intermittent drizzle and cool conditions made it feel more like Barrowfield than Bavaria, and suited the Celtic players who had been made to work very hard in the heat of Donauworth and at their training base nearby before the three-hour journey north-west for this match.
The Celtic players wore black armbands and a minute's silence was observed as a mark of respect to Joe McBride, who died on Wednesday. It would have been fitting had Celtic then proceeded to deliver the type of attacking display for which the former striker was renowned.
However, with Daryl Murphy and Gary Hooper up front, there was power but very little pace. This was reflected in the fact that, in the first half, Celtic's best chances came from a Rogne header after he rose to meet a Commons corner, saved at full length by agile goalkeeper Daniel Wagner, and a Commons shot which dropped over the crossbar after he slipped on the lush turf.
Murphy and Hooper were willing targets for a midfield with Commons at the head of a diamond and Paddy McCourt sitting deep to pick up the ball from his defenders. Lennon expected that, having removed some of the rust and rough edges in their opening game, this would be a much more coherent and assured performance. There were signs of improved fitness, but not enough to allow Celtic to take control of the match.
Prior to the goal, Celtic had restricted Kickers to a few long-range free kicks, none of which troubled Zaluska, who made his first save after 29 minutes and coped easily with Mahir Savranlioglu's low drive.
Patrick Auracher's header from a free kick should have been a warning to Celtic that they were not marking tightly enough, but they were caught sleeping four minutes from the break when Fabio Leutenecker got to the goal-line and found the head of Jatta with his driven cross.
Lennon's decision to introduce James Forrest, Kelvin Wilson and Beram Kayal for Charlie Mulgrew, Andre Blackman and Hooper indicated the manager was determined to avoid a bloody nose, even in a friendly.
The sight of Forrest on the ground, holding his left ankle, after an accidental collision off the ball with Savranlioglu, was of more concern to Lennon. But he was relieved to see the 21-year-old, who missed the final three months of last season with an injury to his other ankle, return to the action after treatment.
Brown was also in the wars, leaving Jerome Gondorf in no doubt what he thought of his ill-judged tackle.
Commons' epitomised the night when his free kick found the trees surrounding the stadium, the signal for Lennon to replace him with Rabiu Ibrahim. By the end, the traffic was all one way, and Celtic's quest for that elusive first goal now moves on to Aalen.