CELTIC 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 1
CAMILO DURAN marked his first appearance at Parkhead with a blistering strike in the stalemate with Middlesbrough this afternoon.
Unfortunately, the Colombian hitman’s debut goal was witnessed by a sparse crowd as Hoops fans stayed away from the friendly against the Championship side.
However, that didn’t take away the quality of Duran’s landmark strike that was executed with power and precision.
In the 26th minute, the visiting fans were celebrating when their side took the lead through David Strelec who got in front of Cameron Carter-Vickers to a knockdown before firing past the exposed Viljami Sinisalo.
Five minutes later, Duran netted his first home goal and it was a superb finish to cap an excellent build-up.
Callum McGregor brought James Forrest into play wide on the left and the evergreen winger picked out Luke McCowan on the edge of the box.
The midfielder shaped to have a shot at goal before checking and slipping a pass into the tracks of the £5.5million striker.
The livewire frontman didn’t hesitate as he timed his run foward to perfection before hammering a ferocious drive into the roof of the net.
DREAM DEBUT…new Bhoy Camilo Duran runs away in triumph after leaving Boro keeper Sol Brynn helpless for his first goal at Parkhead.
At the start of the second-half, Martin O’Neill introduced Reo Hatate, Arne Engels and Callum Osmand with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Luke McCowan and Forrest making way.
Sinisalo was brought into action on a few occasions as Boro broke forward with speed and the Finnish international No.1 responded with confident handling of the ball.
Just before the hour mark, new recruit Duran was replaced by Michel-Ange Balikwisha while Carter-Vickers and Sean McArdle also came off with Joe Haney and Thomas Hatton getting the nod.
In the 67th minute, Osmand hit BOTH posts in a remarkable escape for the Championship outfit.
A neat pass from Balikwisha on the left set Haney clear and he whipped a low ball into the box. Osmand nudged the ball wide of the keeper only to see his effort clatter off the left-hand upright.
It rebounded straight to the grounded Osmand and somehow he got his head to the ball, but this time he hit the opposite post.
In the 72nd minute, McGregor and Dane Murray made way for Paulo Bernardo and Francis Turley.
Five minutes later, Adam Montgomery, celebrating his 24th birthday, came on for Liam Scales.
In the 85th minute, it was the turn of Ross Doohan and Kyle Ure to get a run-out as they replaced Sinisalo and Colby Donovan.
At the end of an afternoon bathed in sunshine, it was a brisk work-out for the champions and now it’s all about preparing for the visit of Serie A giants AC Milan in a week’s time before the real stuff kicks in.
TEAM: Sinisalo (sub: Doohan 85); Donovan (sub: Ure 85), Carter-Vickers (sub: Haney 59), Murray (sub: Turley 72), Scales (sub: Montgomey 77); McCowan (sub: Engels 46), McGregor (sub: Bernardo 72), Oxlade-Chamberlain (sub: Hatate 46); McArdle (sub: Hatton 59), Duran (sub: Balikwisha 59), Forrest (sub: Osmand 46).
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