ANGE POSTECOGLOU didn’t attempt to hide his frustration and disappointment after Celtic’s 2-1 loss to Sydney FC at the Allianz Arena this morning.
The Hoops were a pale imitation of what we have been witnessing in recent times and this performance was down there with the slipshod offering in the unfathomable defeat to St Mirren in Paisley in September.
Kyogo gave the Hoops the lead when he diverted in a long-range shot from Alexandro Bernabei, but the hosts levelled just before the interval when the visiting defence was shredded with one through pass to allow Robert Mak to race away from a toiling Stephen Welsh to drill an effort low past the blameless Benji Siegrist.
THE SIGNS ARE GOOD…Kyogo Furuhashi celebrates his goal against FC Sydney, but disappointment beckoned.
Postecoglou must have winced again when the rearguard adopted the look of statues when Max Burgess waltzed in from the right to curl the winner beyond the Swiss keeper who was making a rare first-team appearance in place of Joe Hart.
The experienced 75 times-capped England international had the day off while his team-mates had an off day.
After the opening defeat in the Sydney Super Cup and the second and final game coming up against Everton on Sunday morning, Postecoglou observed: “It was fair to say that we were nowhere near the level we needed to be.
“It was an entertaining game with plenty of goalmouth action for both teams, but we were well off it today.
“To Sydney’s credit, especially in the first-half, they had the better chances and deserved to win.”
HAPPY DAZE…Yosuke Ideguchi congratulates his countryman Kyogo Furuhashi after the opening goal in Sydney.
The Hoops gaffer, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “The support was brilliant as always, whether it’s back home or around the world, our supporters are passionate about the football club and they always make a great atmosphere.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t reward them on this occasion, but, hopefully, we will on Sunday.
“We’ll just recover and have a session on Saturday, prepare as we always do and try to make sure we’ve got a good mindset, the mindset that we need to be successful.”
