UEFA Youth League Wednesday, September 18, 2024The City Stadium CELTIC…4 (Cummings 9, 22, Turley 47, Isiguzo 84) SLOVAN BRATISLAVA…0 Celtic FC B kicked off their UEFA Youth League campaign with three points after running out comfortable winners over Slovan Bratislava. A first-half brace from Daniel Cummings, followed by second-half strikes from Francis Turley and Samuel Isiguzo handed the Hoops a 4-0 victory as they started off their European campaign with a win. Kicking off their European campaign for another season, the Bhoys returned to The City Stadium aiming to make the perfect start in the UEFA Youth League. Playing the same opposition as Brendan Rodgers’ squad, but only in the first six games under the new format, the Celts faced off against Slovan Bratislava in their opener. With a home game to open their European campaign, the young Hoops were looking to make a bright start. And they did exactly that in the opening stages of the match getting off to a flyer with the first goal of the game inside the first 10 minutes. Having kick-started the league season in fine form, Daniel Cummings carried that over into the UEFA Youth League, grabbing the opener just nine minutes in. A sweeping move down the right-hand side saw the ball delivered to the forward on a plate inside the six-yard box, and he made no mistake with his finish smashing into the back of the net. In similar fashion, the young Celtic side almost had a second just two minutes later. This time, Josh Dede fired a low cross into the path of Cummings, who just couldn’t sort out his feet in time. The Celts continued to dominate the first half, and Francis Turley had a huge chance to double the advantage. After finding space in behind the Slovan defence, the midfielder tried to find the bottom corner, but was denied by a good save. The young Hoops didn’t have to wait long though for that second goal though as Cummings grabbed his brace. Turning provider, a well weighted thrown ball from Turley found the striker, who made no mistake with his composed finish into the bottom corner. After a dominant half of action, the Celts would have been looking for more of the same heading into the second half. And just as they had done in the first half, the Bhoys kicked off the second in ideal fashion scoring an early third. Picking up the ball from range, Francis Turley found the bottom corner brilliantly with a powerful low strike, giving the goalkeeper no chance. On countless occasions in the second half, the Celts fired a number of dangerous balls into the box, which were either cleared or collected by the keeper. Cummings came closest to adding to the scoring once more but was denied by another decent stop. As the game entered the closing stages, Celtic capped off what was a superb performance by grabbing a fourth. Two substitutes linked up to add to the scoring as Samuel Isiguzo met Aidan Haddow’s pinpoint perfect cross into the box, heading home from close range. It was a terrific performance and result from the young Hoops, who kicked off their UEFA Youth League campaign in style by picking up all three points. They will look to add to that tally in their next European outing as they travel to face Borussia Dortmund in Germany at the beginning of October. CELTIC: Rice, Donovan, Robertson, Agbaire, Frame (Kyle 71), Ure, Bonnar (McArdle 59), Turley, Dede (Haddow 80), Hatton (Dargie 59), Cummings (Isiguzo 80). Subs: Gill, Shaw, Davidson, Borland.FixturesCeltic FCB Vs. SK Slovan Bratislava – Wed, Sep 18th 2024, 14:00
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