Premier League International Cup
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Kingsmeadow Stadium, London

CHELSEA… 3
(Morgan 8, 90, Silcott-Duberry 57)

CELTIC… 1
(Cummings 49)

Celtic FC B suffered an unfortunate defeat after a positive showing in the Premier League International Cup, losing out 3-1 to Chelsea.

After going behind early on, the Celts continued to play their football and found a leveller at the beginning of the second half through Daniel Cummings.

Despite hitting the post, the young Celtic side couldn’t find that all-important second half and ultimately suffered defeat in their third outing in this competition of the campaign.

Following a difficult start in the Premier League International Cup, the Bhoys put in an impressive showing in their second match against Brighton, and they were looking to do the same on their visit to London.

However, it started off in disappointing fashion as the home side opened the scoring inside the opening 10 minutes of the match. Breaking through on goal, Jimmy Morgan remained composed to dink the ball over the on-rushing Josh Clarke and into the back of the net.

The disappointment of conceding early on didn’t dishearten the Hoops, though, and they quickly got back to trying to find their first opening of the game.

It was a positive first-half showing from the Bhoys, who dominated large spells of the ball through the 45 minutes of action.

Their best chance fell the way of Lenny Agbaire after a corner into the box found the head of the central defender. However, he could only direct his header wide of the target.

After enjoying a strong first-half performance, the young Hoops went into the second half full of confidence, and kicked things off in ideal fashion, scoring an equaliser inside the first five minutes.

Remaining composed on the counter-attack, the ball worked its way out to the right hand side for Daniel Cummings who produced a thunderous finish at the near post.

After pulling themselves level in the game, the Celts came within inches of taking the lead for the first time in this competition as Kyle Ure struck the post.

Following Daniel Kelly’s cutback to the edge of the area, the midfielder kept his head down and hit a low effort towards the bottom corner, but was unfortunate to see it hit the post.

Moments after the Hoops went close, it was Chelsea who were able to show their clinical edge by scoring the all-important second goal.

As the ball was worked out to the left hand side, midfielder Zain Silcott-Duberry found himself in acres of space, before tucking a finish in off the post.

With the game approaching the closing stages, the Celts continued to try and probe the Chelsea goal as they looked to find another leveller.

Thomas Hatton came closest to producing that goal after directing a header goalbound, and he was unfortunate to see it strike the post once more.

After failing to find the way to goal, the home side managed to kill the game off, pouncing on a mistake at the back to score their third.

With so many different quality opponents on offer for the young Hoops, the Bhoys will take a lot away from another positive showing in the Premier League International Cup after being unlucky to lose out in London against Chelsea.

CELTIC: Clarke, Dede (Quinn 54), Mackenzie, Agbaire, Frame (Thomson 74), Kyle (Hatton 68), Ure (McArdle 74), Carse, Kelly, Vata, Cummings (Dobbie 54).
Subs: Morrison, Osagie

Celts lose out to Chelsea in Premier League International Cup