CELTIC 4 NEWCASTLE UNITED 0
BRENDAN RODGERS was all smiles after watching TWO Celtic teams overwhelm Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United at Parkhead this afternoon.
Returning hero Kieran Tierney was among the 22 players who made appearances spread over the entire 90 minutes.
There was a nice touch from Rodgers who sent on the fans’ favourite in isolation 10 minutes after the turnaround before he made wholesale changes eight minutes later.
Tierney earned a special cheer all to himself and there was an extra piece of applause for young Japanese arrival Hayato Inamura who had looked good during his stint on the pitch.
It was a good day all round in Paradise with Arne Engels (pen), Johnny Kenny, Yang Hyun-jun, Liam Scales the men on target.
Early on, Callum McGregor sent a raking defence-splitting ball towards Daizen Maeda, but, unfortunately, the flying winger’s first touch didn’t match the excellence of the pass and the chance was gone.
At the other end, Auston Trusty made a timely late interception to prevent the visitors breaking through.
Inamura showed up well, too, in his 55 minutes of action and the new Bhoy looked comfortable on the ball. He showed an eye for a good delivery with a sweeping crossfield pass to Yang, but the South Korean’s control failed him for about the only time today.
Engels passed up a great opportunity in the 13th minute when he mishit a right-wing cross from Yang. The ball bobbled up before falling at the feet of Kenny, but he was slow to react and the ball was smuggled wide for a corner-kick.
SPOT ON…Arne Engels gave Celtic the lead with an expertly-taken penalty-kick.
A fabulous save from Nick Pope denied the hoops the opener in the 18th minute when Fabian Schar sliced a clearance from another dangerous low cross from Yang.
The ball was heading unerringly towards the net when the pink-clad shotstopper managed to twist in mid-air to push the deflection wide of his left-hand post.
Eddie Howe’s men retaliated and only moments later Kasper Schmeichel had to make an acrobatic tip over the bar after an 18-yard effort had flicked off the challenging Dane Murray.
The breakthrough goal arrived for the champions in the 27th minute via the penalty spot after Engels had been sent sprawling as he moved onto a pass from Maeda.
Referee Nick Walsh had no hesitation in giving the award and the Belgian midfielder dusted himself down before slotting a perfect spot-kick low to Pope’s left as the keeper took off for his right.
In the 39th minute, Kenny missed a glorious opportunity from eight yards after yet another inviting cross from in-form Yang. The young Irishman didn’t make a proper contact and sent the all spiralling off target.
BAWL BHOY…Johnny Kenny snapped up a gift for Celtic’s second goal.
However, the frontman atoned just on half-time with a remarkable goal. Schmeichel launched a long ball straight down the middle that saw the striker running free through a static defence.
Pope raced out of his area, but the bounce completely flummoxed him as he tried in vain to head clear.
Kenny collected the ball and rolled it into the gaping net.
Three minutes after the break, Schmeichel pulled off a superb save to deny Osula after Anthony Gordon had raced clear on the exposed right flank of the Hoops rearguard.
The striker was clear smack in front of goal to whip in a drive, but the Danish legend blocked the effort and McGregor completed the clearance.
Yang hit the third goal in the 52nd minute following a sweeping move with McGregor and Kenny involved in the early build-up with the striker picking out Luke McCowan.
The hard-working midfield man zipped a low through pass to the rampaging Maeda. He chopped inside the helpless Dan Burn to roll the ball across the penalty area and the South Korean tucked a close-range shot low past substitute keeper Martin Dubravka.
Three minutes later, there was an extra cheer when returning hero Kieran Tierney replaced the impressive Inamura.
In the 62nd minute, Rodgers made the expected raft of changes with James Forrest accepting the captain’s armband as McGregor made way. The veteran forward took over from Yang who did extremely well.
Also coming on were keeper Viljami Sinisalo, Ben McPherson, Colby Donovan, Liam Scales, Benjamin Nygren, Paulo Bernardo, Reo Hatate, Adam Idah and Marco Tilio as the entire starting line-up was changed.
Scales headed in No.4 after Hatate had freed Tierney on the left and the comeback Bhoy’s delivery was inch perfect for the Republic of Ireland international to bullet high into the top right-hand corner of the net with Dubravka rooted to the line.
Now it’s onto Italy and Ajax on Thursday.
Keep up the good work, Celtic!
TEAM: Schmeichel (sub: Sinisalo 63); Ralston (McPherson 63), Murray (sub: Donovan 63), Trusty (sub: Scales 63), Inamura (sub: Tierney 55); McCowan (sub: Nygren 63), McGregor (sub: Bernardo 63), Engels (sub: Hatate 63); Yang (sub: sub: Forrest 63), Kenny (sub: Idah 63), Maeda (sub: Tilio 63).
