BEAMING Brendan Rodgers declared himself “really happy” as Celtic brought down the curtain on their US tour with a 4-1 win over Chelsea in Indiana this morning.
Kasper Schmeichel made three excellent saves in the opening 10 minutes as the champions took their time to settle into their stride at the Notre Dame Stadium.
However, once the Hoops found their rhythm there was no stopping them as they thumped in four goals for their third successive outing with the London club unable to cope with the waves of attack that flowed towards Robert Sanchez.
The Spanish keeper made three brilliant stops in the opening period, but could not prevent Matt O’Riley from sweeping in the opener in the 18th minute and Kyogo Furuhashi, looking sharp and purposeful, doubled the advantage just past the half-hour mark.
“REALLY HAPPY”…Brendan Rodgers delivers his aftermatch verdict. Image courtesy Celtic TV.
Rodgers made seven substitutions in the 73rd minute and they proved to be a success with Luis Palma snapping up a mishit pass to fire No.3 past Sanchez.
And then the Honduran, who had replaced a limping Daizen Maeda in the first-half, set Mikey Johnston scampering clear with a perfectly-weighted through pass.
The Republic of Ireland wide Bhoy raced through the defences, lured the netminder from his line and almost casually rolled the ball under him on its way to its intended destination.
The Hoops fans in the wildly cheering audience in the 90 degrees heat were delighted to witness their favourites in such rampant form as they emulated their scoring rate that saw them overcome both DC United (4-0) in Washington a week ago and Manchester City (4-3) in North Carolina in midweek.
A grinning Rodgers said: “I think there’s more to come. I am really happy with what we are seeing.
“We have another week to go before the league kicks off, but you can see the development in the players. It’s been a fantastic tour on and off the pitch.
“My pride comes from the work we do on the pitch and the level of football, the speed, the intensity, everyone running, fighting, scoring good goals and playing with personality.”
The Hoops gaffer, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “It doesn’t matter if it’s Chelsea, Manchester City or DC United, we play to our intensity and we are a hard team to play against.
“It was very pleasing, when you see the level of talent Chelsea had
“At any top team you need a structure and you need to have talent. Very importantly, you need to have the mentality to win. I think we had that from the very first kick of the ball to the end.
“Everything was very synchronised, the pressing, the work in such hot conditions. I was so pleased.”
Rodgers hailed the tour as a monumental success and added: “A huge thank you to the supporters.
“Celtic is a huge club, an iconic club, right throughout the world.
“But it’s a small family on the inside. That connection with the supporters is what makes Celtic.”
The champions are due back in Scotland today to put in another few days’ work on the training field at Lennoxtown before they welcome Kilmarnock to Parkhead a week today as the Premiership kicks off on Flag Day.
