Pre-season Friendly
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
AFG Arena, St Gallen, Switzerland

CELTIC…0

ST GALLEN…0

CELTIC were held to a goalless draw in the final game of their pre-season tour tonight (Tuesday) against FC St Gallen.

The first chance stemmed from some wonderful skill from Mikey Johnston, as the winger won possession in the opposition half. After turning two opposition players out on the touchline, the 20-year-old drove forward and slipped the ball to Forrest on the edge of the area. Johnston met Hayes’ cross at the near post with the slightest of touches but it was too close to the keeper who blocked the effort.

Some nice link-up play between Marian Shved and Odsonne Edouard yielded another opportunity moments laterbut the French striker’s shot inside the box was blocked.

The game was played at a high tempo in the early stages as both sides looked keen to get off the mark.

VAR came into play midway through the first-half when Tony Ralston’s long range shot was ultimately ruled to have been handled inside the box. Celtic were duly awarded a penalty, Edouard stepped up, but this spot kick was pushed onto the post by the keeper.

Ahead of the half hour mark, Shved was denied when his shot across goal was saved. Johnston was once again the playmaker, after skipping past his man on the halfway line, cutting inside and feeding the ball to the Ukrainian winger 20-yards from goal.

Celtic were the more dominant team during the first-half and showed some promising link-up play in the final third, despite being unable to craft any further clear-cut chances in front of goal.

St Gallen nearly took the lead late in the first period when the ball broke to their number 10, Dereck Kutesa. He tore towards goal but saw his shot come back off the post while running shoulder-to-shoulder with Jozo Simunovic.

Immediately after the break, Johnston burst from the traps to intercept from kick-off. He darted for goal, evading the opposition players swarming around him, before cutting inside and firing wide.

The tempo of the game was maintained in the second period and Celtic were kept busy in defence - Angelo Campos coming close from 20-yards ahead of the hour.

The home side’s willingness moving forward left them vulnerable to counter attacks, and Celtic tried to capitalise on the windows of opportunity.

The Hoops' best chance came in the 70th minute and was initiated by a sublime long diagonal ball from McGregor to Forrest on the left. He slipped it in to Johnston who threaded it through to Hayes. The return pass was slightly behind the winger, though, and he sent his effort wide of the post from close range.

With 15 minutes remaining, Celtic were dealt a blow when the referee reviewed a challenge by Simunovic and issued the Croatia with a red card. Scott Bain made a good save from the resulting free-kick to keep the score level, and Neil Lennon's men soldiered on with 10 men.

From there, neither side managed to break the deadlock before the referee blew for full-time. It was goalless on the night, however Celtic ended their tour of Austria and Switzerland undefeated.

CELTIC: Bain; Ralston, Ajer, Simunovic, Hayes, Brown, McGregor, Forrest (Dembele 87), Shved (Gutman 77), Johnston; Edouard
Subs: Hazard, Morrison, Henderson, Oko-Flex

ST GALLEN: Stojanovic (Klinsmann 45); Stergiou (Itten 45), Abril (Alves 45), Quintilla (Costanzo 45) Guillemenot (Muheim), Kutesa (Fazliji 45), Bakayoko (Solimando 45), Staubli (Krauchi 45), Kchouk (Babic 45), Letard (Ajeti 81), Rufli (Campos 45)
Subs: Strubi, Obst

Website Man of the Match: Mikey Johnston

Celts end pre-season tour undefeated with draw against St Gallen