BOYATA IN CRUISE CONTROL
NEW Bhoy Dedryck Boyata strolled through his Celtic debut as they overcame their Dutch opponents at St Mirren Park.
And Saidy Janko, signed on a four-year deal from Manchester United just hours earlier, watched from the stand as the ex-Manchester City defender went through his paces.
But Gary Mackay-Steven was the star of the show. The winger scored one in only three minutes and created the other as the Hoops began their pre-season campaign with an impressive first-half show.
Stuart Armstrong and Mikael Lustig, who missed the second half of last season with an ankle injury, both went off five minutes before the break, but did not appear injured.
Ronny Deila did not include any of the nine players who were given an extra week off because of their international duties in June.
That meant starts for two academy players, left-back Kieran Tierney and midfielder Luke Donnelly, along with the likes of Tom Rogic and Stefan Scepovic, but Derk Boerrigter began on the bench.
Mackay-Steven scored after latching on to Stuart Armstrong’s through pass, rounding the goalkeeper and rolling the ball into the empty net.
He was the key to the second goal in 25 minutes, jinking his way past several players before his shot hit the Dutch goalkeeper and went in off defender Kadeem Pantophlet.
The former Dundee United winger was felled by a wild tackle which earned Jordy Winden a yellow card, but soon set up Donnelly, whose shot was cleared off the line.
Scepovic, Tierney, Henderson, Armstrong and Rogic all had first-half efforts saved and Lustig headed against the bar, but the second period was something of a non-event with a youth team playing the bulk of it for Celtic along with Boerrigter.
Leo Fasan played in place of Craig Gordon and the Italian knows he won’t get an easier 90 minutes in the forthcoming season.
CELTIC 2-0 DEN BOSCH
0
Share.
