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Tag: Celtic

  • Iheanacho’s Celtic hammered 3-1 by Midtjylland

    Iheanacho’s Celtic hammered 3-1 by Midtjylland

    Celtic’s resurgence under Martin O’Neill suffered a heavy setback in Jutland as they were hammered 3-1 by FC Midtjylland.

    The Hoops’ hopes of extending their Europa League campaign into the knockout stages took a major hit as the Danish side struck three times in a frantic eight-minute spell in the first half.

    Teenage substitute Callum Osmand won a late penalty, which Reo Hatate converted, but the 19-year-old was soon carried off on a stretcher in tears with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, capping a night to forget for the Scottish champions.

    O’Neill, 73, had already witnessed Midtjylland’s threat firsthand last month when they defeated Ange Postecoglou’s Nottingham Forest, before stepping back into the Celtic hot seat following Brendan Rodgers’ shock resignation.

    They had travelled to the Danish city of Herning with a sense of optimism too.

    Back in the Hoops dug-out after 20 years, O’Neill had already led them to a morale-boosting 4-0 league win over Falkirk followed by Sunday’s rousing victory over Old Firm rivals Rangers to reach the Premier Sports Cup final.

    But good vibes and a retro tracksuit can only take you so far and Celtic were ruthlessly taken apart at the MCH Arena as Midtjylland made it four wins out of four to stay top of the 36-team league.

    Celtic actually had the first shot on goal after just 25 seconds, with Johnny Kenny firing straight at home keeper Elias Rafn Olafsson.

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    It was the Hoops only effort on target for the next 80 minutes. They were quickly under the pump, first when Callum McGregor was robbed in midfield and Dario Osorio fired narrowly over.

    Auston Trusty then had to make a last-ditch block from Osorio, with Franculino Dju blasting the rebound over.

    Former Rangers right-back Kevin Mbabu was denied twice by Kasper Schmeichel and Mads Bech Sorensen, the ex-Brentford defender, guided Osorio’s free-kick over the crossbar.

    The hosts came even closer when former Bournemouth midfielder Philip Billing dummied a low cross for Cho Gue-sung, who forced a point-blank save from Schmeichel, with Anthony Ralston taking the rebound right in the face.

    Schmeichel, back on home soil a day after his 39th birthday, was at full stretch to tip a 20-yard volley from Pedro Bravo wide.

    But he could only hold back the tide for so long and the dam finally burst following the resulting corner.

    Celtic cleared the initial cross, but Mikel Gogorza reached the byline again and his chip across goal was nodded in by Croatian defender Martin Erlic.

    Less than two minutes later Midtjylland doubled their lead when Arne Engels and Ralston let Gogorza squirm in between them and whip a low drive past Schmeichel.

    It was three by half-time from a Sorensen long throw, exciting Guinea-Bissau forward Dju collecting the second ball and curling his 18th goal of the season inside the far post.

    Schmeichel protested that he had been unsighted by offside Midtjylland players but a quick VAR check concluded otherwise.

    O’Neill threw on Osmand at half-time and the 19-year-old earned his side a penalty when he was brought down by Erlic.

    But Hatate’s spot-kick could not mask what was a chastening evening for Celtic, while Osmand’s late injury dampened the mood even further.

  • Iheanacho scores late winner on Celtic debut

    Iheanacho scores late winner on Celtic debut

    Nigeria striker Kelechi Iheanacho made a dream start to life at Celtic after netting the decisive goal in their 2-1 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Sunday.

    Daizen Maeda opened the scoring for the Scottish Premiership champions in the 55th minute but David Watson levelled for the hosts just seven minutes later.

    With the game heading for a draw, Iheanacho stepped up in stoppage time and calmly converted a penalty to hand Brendan Rodgers’ side all three points.

    Speaking to the club’s official website after the game, Iheanacho expressed delight. 

    Read Also: Iheanacho opens Celtic’s account with vital penalty

    He said: “I feel really, really good. It was the last kick of the game, and I got to take it, so I’m really happy. I’m happy for the opportunity, and I could see how the fans felt after that goal. It was a really important goal.”

    The Nigerian forward admitted there was pressure but praised his composure in the crucial moment.

    “It’s a great feeling, but at the same time, there’s a lot of pressure with the spot-kick. I just took it calmly, and we won the three points today, which is massive. Hopefully, there are many more to come.”

  • Timothy Weah joins Scottish premier  league side Celtic

     

    Son of Liberian President Timothy Weah has joined Scottish league side Celtic on loan from Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain.

    The eight-time capped United States international signed on Monday for the rest of the season and joined his new team-mates at their training camp in Dubai.

    Timothy was put through his paces on the training field on Tuesday and was also pictured holding up a Celtic shirt next to his mum and George’s wife Clar Weah as well as his aunt Nancy Larnor.

    The 18-year-old forward, whose dad won the Ballon d’Or in 1995, netted twice in six first-team appearances for Ligue 1 side PSG.

    Manager Brendan Rodgers said on the club’s official website on Monday: ‘Timothy’s a young talent who is full international player. He has a long career ahead of him but he has those natural attributes in terms of his pace and technique. He’s hungry too.

    ‘He’s been in the PSG squad and featured for them in pre-season. With the quality of players they have, it’s difficult for him to get in and get any game-time. They wanted him to go out on loan and saw Celtic as a great possibility.

    ‘He has really good qualities technically, and tactically is always improving his game. Physically he’s very good, very fast and is a strong player. He’ll add competition to the squad.’

    Before the winter break Rodgers’ side were beaten by Old Firm rivals Rangers.

    Celtic still sit top of the Scottish Premiership with a game in hand over Steven Gerrard’s side.

    The Hoops return to competitive action on January 19 when they welcome Airdrieonians in the Scottish Cup fourth round.

     

     

     

  • President Weah’s striker son to join Celtic on loan from PSG

    Timothy Weah will leave French champions Paris St Germain (PSG) on loan for six months in January, the U.S. striker said on Tuesday.

    British media reported that the 18-year-old was set to join Scottish champions Celtic.

    Weah has played only three times for PSG this season as bigger names such as Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani have limited his first-team chances.

    In a message posted in French on his Instagram page, Weah thanked his PSG team mates, the coaching staff and supporters for making him feel part of the family.

    “These few months have been great even though I haven’t played much,” Weah said.

    “I’ve always been grateful for the opportunities I had at the beginning of the season because it opened (for) me many doors this winter.

    “I hope after these six months, I will be ready to return to the Parc des Princes and give everything for you, proud to be Parisian.”

    Since making his international debut in March, Weah has chalked up more appearances for the U.S. than for PSG.

    The club have dominated French Ligue 1 this season with 15 wins in their first 17 matches.

    Weah is the son of former Liberia, PSG and AC Milan striker George Weah who won the 1995 Ballon D’Or.

    He became the fourth-youngest U.S. men’s national team player to score a goal when he netted in a 3-0 win over Bolivia in May.(Reuters/NAN)

  • Former Celtic striker reveals nightmare in Glasgow

    Former Celtic striker reveals nightmare in Glasgow

     

    Former Celtic striker Pierre van Hooijdonk has revealed he was sent razor blades in the post during his time living in Glasgow.

    The Dutchman also claimed someone spat in his face when he opened a door and that he felt unsafe living in the city.

    Van Hooijdonk spent two-and-a-half seasons with Celtic between 1995 and 1997, and was involved in some intense Old Firm derbies with Rangers during that time.

    He was speaking as the two bitter rivals prepare to meet at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership this Sunday and also in the Scottish Cup semi-final next month.

    Van Hooijdonk, now an agent and television pundit in Holland, told BN DeStern: ‘Celtic v Rangers though, when I went for lunch somewhere or stopped at a traffic light with a Rangers pub on the corner, I was insulted and the middle finger went up.

    ‘I opened my door once and was spat on by someone who then ran away like a greyhound.

    ‘I even had razor blades sent to me in an envelope. That was intense.

    ‘There was hatred there and you could see it. Nowhere have I felt so unsafe as in Glasgow.’

    Van Hooijdonk scored 56 goals in 92 appearances for Celtic during an often controversial spell before moving south of the border to Nottingham Forest in a £4.5million deal.

    Celtic have a six-point lead over Rangers and a game in hand ahead of Sunday’s showdown at Ibrox.

  • Celtic beat Rangers 2-0 to set up Scottish Cup final with Aberdeen

    Celtic on Sunday beat Rangers 2-0 at Hampden to set up a Scottish Cup final meeting with Aberdeen and the chance to complete a domestic treble.

    Callum McGregor’s superbly placed finish put the Premiership champions ahead during a dominant first half from Brendan Rodgers’ side.

    Scott Sinclair squeezed in a penalty kick after Rangers’ James Tavernier had fouled Leigh Griffiths.

    Goalkeeper Craig Gordon twice denied Kenny Miller in Rangers’ best attacks.

    But the Ibrox side could not prevent the first defeat of Pedro Caixinha’s reign as manager and must now focus on securing European qualification through the league.

    Celtic have already won that tournament and the League Cup and will face the Dons back at the national stadium on May 27.

    This will be the second Aberdeen-Celtic cup final this season as they hope to complete the domestic clean sweep for the first time since 2001.

    This was a difficult day for Rangers, but one can only speculate as to how much sorer it might have been had Andy Halliday been punished to the max after lunging in on Patrick Roberts early on.

    The Rangers midfielder took Roberts out and was fortunate to see yellow instead of red.

    Quickly, Celtic took hold of things and their greater intensity, accuracy and quality paid off with the opener.

    Mikael Lustig hit a long downfield ball over Danny Wilson’s head and into Moussa Dembele, who took it down, looked around him and saw McGregor steaming forward untracked.

    The Frenchman played it to McGregor, who stroked it coolly into the corner of Wes Foderingham’s net.

    Celtic were dominant but their mission was not helped when they lost Dembele to a hamstring injury just before the half-hour, with Griffiths coming on.

    Rangers had been fortunate to escape a dismissal earlier with Halliday and were lucky again when Myles Beerman, already on a yellow for fouling Roberts, impeded him again a minute later.

    Beerman survived, but it was not long before Rangers’ hopes of a cup final appearance were extinguished.

    Pedro Caixinha made two substitutions at the break — Joe Dodoo coming on for the peripheral Joe Garner and Barrie McKay replacing Halliday.

    But no sooner had those changes bedded in than Celtic hit their opponents on the counter and smoothed their passage to the final.

    It was Dedryck Boyata who broke up a Rangers attack and got his team on the front foot.

    Roberts took it on and put Griffiths into the box, where he was taken down by Tavernier.

    The spot-kick from Sinclair found the target via Foderingham’s diving hands and then the inside of his right-hand post.

    There could have been more. Foderingham tipped over Griffiths’ shot, Boyata headed over and Roberts had one saved.

    Celtic then lost their edge and Rangers got on top and started creating good chances.

    Just after the hour, Miller had a close-range header saved by Gordon, though the striker might have done a whole lot better.

    Then, with 10 minutes left, he had another opportunity — a point-blank shot kicked away by Gordon.

    Again, it was the type of opening that Rangers had to convert.

    Martyn Waghorn headed over from a good position, Dodoo forced a diving save from Gordon and, at the other end, McGregor’s replacement Tom Rogic hit a post for Celtic.

    Those late chances will give Rangers hope ahead of their Old Firm league meeting at Ibrox on Saturday, but Celtic’s victory was well earned and their treble dream remains very firmly on track.

  • Chelsea target Gordon seals new Celtic deal

    Chelsea target Gordon seals new Celtic deal

     

    Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon has signed a new three-year contract.

    The Ladbrokes Premiership leaders opened talks with Gordon after rejecting several offers from Chelsea during the January transfer window.

    The 34-year-old told his club’s official website: ‘It’s taken a little while after the interest in the January window but it’s good to finally get it done and concentrate on the rest of the season.’

    Gordon’s previous contract expired in the summer but Celtic had an option to extend it for a year. The new agreement means Gordon is committed to the Scottish champions until 2020.

    The Scotland international said: ‘It was quite stop-start, there was a lot of things going on within the club, it wasn’t a continuous thing, it wasn’t like we were talking about it for months.

    ‘There were two or three occasions when we sat down and talked about it, it was fairly straightforward in the end, I wanted to stay.’

    Gordon’s Celtic career looked in doubt in August when Brendan Rodgers signed his former Swansea goalkeeper, Dorus de Vries, from Nottingham Forest.

    De Vries went into the team for five matches but Gordon won his place back and has kept it ever since.

    The former Hearts and Sunderland player said: ‘I think it’s the same for every player when a new manager comes in, you want to prove your worth to the team. You also want to stay in the team and it’s taken a little while for me to do that and to be able to adapt to the way he wants me to play.

    Thankfully I’ve been able to do that and hopefully I’ll be able to continue to do that over the next three years.

    Hopefully that’s not the end either; I’m hoping to play on as long as I possibly can. There may be one contract beyond this but it’s good for the next three years to know that stability is there and I’m going to be here fighting for trophies.’

  • Celtic table bid for Nigerian youngster Onyekuru

    Celtic table bid for Nigerian youngster Onyekuru

    Scottish top side, Celtic, has tabled an official bid for Nigerian youngster, Henry Onyekuru, who has taken the Belgian league by storm this season.

    After a superlative debut season in the Belgian top flight, the 19-year-old Onyekuru has interested several top clubs across Europe including top German clubs Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig as well as Russian champions CSKA Moscow and Turkish giants Fenerbache.

    Onyekuru told AfricanFootball.com Celtic is now locked up in discussions with his Belgian club AS Eupen.

    “A lot of teams have shown interest in signing me – from France, Germany and Turkey. Celtic is interested in me and the club has tabled an official bid for me,” he added.

  • Monchengladbach 1-1 Man City: Iheanacho benched as Citizen secure draw

    Monchengladbach 1-1 Man City: Iheanacho benched as Citizen secure draw

    Kelechi Iheanacho was benched as Manchester City sealed a place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 1-1 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach at Borussia-Park this evening.

    Had Barcelona not defeated Celtic, Pep Guardiola’s men would have needed to beat Gladbach, but it turned out that the Spanish giants earned a 2-0 win Glasgow.

    In Germany, Raffael put the Bundesliga outfit ahead with a goal, but City found a lifeline when David Silva scored on the stroke of half-time.

    Both teams had a man sent off in the second half, with Gladbach captain Lars Stindl and City’s Fernandinho being shown second yellow cards by referee Cuneyt Cakir.

    The hosts had to wait patiently as City dominated possession in the first half, but they went ahead in the 23rd minute when Stindl left John Stones in a heap before cutting the ball back to the centre of the box to find Raffael, who hammered the ball into the back of the net.

    One minute later, City found an equaliser through Silva, who nudged the ball home from close range after De Bruyne fizzed the ball across goal after darting towards the byline. Both sides had opportunities towards the end of the game, but neither could find a winner as City booked their place in the knockout rounds, while Gladbach will be hoping for Europa League qualification. There is one more round of fixtures left in the group stage.

  • Rodgers appointed Celtic manager

    Rodgers appointed Celtic manager

    Former Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, has been appointed Celtic’s new manager.

    The 43-year-old has been out of work since he was sacked by Liverpool in October last year and has signed a 12-month rolling contract with the Scottish champions, Goal reports.

    “I am absolutely delighted to be named Celtic manager. This is genuinely a huge honour for me. I have followed Celtic all my life and to be given this fantastic opportunity and to be part of such a truly great football club is a dream come true, “Goal quoted Rodgers as saying on his appointment as Celtic’s manager.

    “I will give my new role everything I have and do all I can to bring our supporters exciting, entertaining and winning football.

    “The club has been in magnificent shape in recent years and has collected silverware regularly during this time. My objective now, of course, is to continue this work, to keep us at the top and again make our mark in Europe.”