Friendly Report: Celtic 1 - 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Hoops huddle ahead of kick-off against Wolves in Dublin

Hoops huddle ahead of kick-off against Wolves in Dublin Credit: Al Robinson (ETPhotos)

Wolves netted a penalty in the last five minutes to ensure that this game at the Aviva Stadium finished in a draw.

The Premier League side found it tough going against a lively Celtic forward line and squandered chances of their own. Wolves boss Juan Lopettegui knows the challenge facing him at both ends with the season soon to begin.   

It was frustration for the large Celtic support who turned out for this though. Having impressed throughout the first half, they were unable to make their advantage count and were caught out near the end.

Hoops boss Brendan Rogers can be glad given the recent issues they have been experiencing in defence during the summer.   

He elected to go with a makeshift back-line in the absence of recent signing Maik Nawrocki. Carl Starfelt was surprisingly omitted altogether. Other recent signings of Hyunjun Yang and Hyeokkyu Kwon joined Republic of Ireland u-21 midfielder Bosun Lawal on the bench.

Lopetegui started his own Ireland under-21 international with Joe Hodge in a deep lying role and elected to go with Nelson Semedo at right back as Matt Doherty was still not match ready. He joined his fellow recent signings of Tom King and Boubacar Traore on the bench.

It was a fast start for the reigning Scottish champions. Daizen Maeda had already clipped the outside of the post in the first two minutes before he helped set up the opener.

He won the ball high up the pitch before feeding Leil Abada. He cut it back inside for Furuhashi Kyogo to sweep it past Jose Sa in the Wolves net. He then struck the post before Sa came out to deny Maeda.

The best opportunity for Wolves came when Pedro Neto led a break away from a Celtic corner. He cut past Tomoki Iwata before playing it inside to Matheus Cunha. He left it for Matheus Nunes who blazed it over the bar from a few yards out.

Nelson Semedo charged forward to set up Nunes who was just ahead of the pass inside. Semedo was grateful for a saving tackle from Mario Lemina after he was caught still up the pitch as Celtic broke.



The game ebbed and flowed for the remainder of the half. Max Kilman and Lemina both headed wide from set piece deliveries by Neto, Pablo Serabia saw his curling effort go just to the left of Joe Hart’s post and Daizen put his effort over the bar when Kyogo dummied the ball into his path from a cut back by Abada.

The closest either came to a second was when Kyogo evaded the challenge of Craig Dawson to burst into the penalty area. His shot was saved by Sa before the rebound came out to Daizen. His follow-up was cleared off the line by Kilman.

Hart almost gifted Wolves an equaliser straight from the kick-off. His attempted pass from the back hit Neto but the keeper recovered in time.

It was starting to become somewhat of a drab start to the half before a chance at either end. Cunha struck a post as he attempted to evade the on-rushing Hart whilst Kyogo slipped when shooting over at the opposite end. He was taken off as a precaution.

Cunha seemed to be having one of those afternoons and he was left frustrated yet again. His header under pressure from a cross by Semedo was just to the wrong side.

A spate of substitutions arrived and one of those brought about the equaliser.



Matt Doherty in his own national stadium and back in a Wolves shirt after his stint in Sapin was slipped through by Cunha and he went to ground as Hart attempted to get to the ball. Despite his protests, Cunha stepped up and put it to the wrong side of him.

Cunha could have landed a winner as he took a pass inside from Rayan Ait-Nouri but his low effort into the corner was touched away by Hart.

All even at the end as both sides approach the end of their warm up ahead of their domestic campaigns. Celtic finish up with a testimonial for James Forrest on August 1st before they kick-off at home against Ross County on the 5th.

Wolves conclude against Luton (August 1st) and Stade Rennais (August 5th) before taking on Manchester United at Old Trafford on August 14th.

Glasgow Celtic: Joe Hart; Tomoki Iwata, Stephen Welsh (Ben McPherson 66), Liam Scales, Greg Taylor; Callum McGregor, Matt O’Reilly (Hyeokkyu Kwon 60), Reo Hatate (Odin Thiago Holm 71); Leil Abada (Saed Haksabanovic 71), Daizen Maeda (Hyeongyu Oh 71), Furuhashi Kyogo (Hyunjun Yang 60).
Subs not used: Scott Bain, Benjamin Siegrist, David Turnbull, Alexandro Bernabei, Bosun Lawal, James Forrest.
Booked: Greg Taylor (32)

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Jose Sa, Nelson Semedo (Matt Doherty 78), Max Kilman, Craig Dawson (Josh Esen 70), Hugo Bueno (Rayan Ait-Nouri 46), Joe Hodge, Mario Lemina (Fabio Silva 78), Matheus Nunes, Pablo Serabia (Tote Gomes 70), Matheus Cunha, Pedro Neto (Lee Chan Hwang 70).
Subs not used: Dan Bentley, Tom King, Boubacar Traore, Joao Gomes, , Sasa Kalajdzic, Jonny, Natan Fraser, Alfie Pond, Owen Farmer
Booked: Nelson Semedo (65)

Referee: Rob Harvey
Attendance: 28,241
extratime.com Player of the Match: Furuhashi Kyogo (Celtic)

About Philip Morrissey

Philip is a Cork City fan for his entire adult life. From bad times to good, whether this was taking on some major European sides or in the First Division. Philip went back to college … View Full Profile