Como Cup Saturday, July 26, 2025Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, Como CELTIC…1(Trusty 49) AL-AHLI…1(Galeno 22 ) CELTIC WIN 5-4 ON PENALTIES Celtic signed off pre-season with a penalty shoot-out win over Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia in the Como Cup after the game finished 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes. The first real opportunity for Celtic came with 20 minutes on the clock, when a ball crossed in to the box from the left-hand side found Johnny Kenny, buhis header from 12 yards out drifted over the bar. It was Al-Ahli who took the lead a few moments later when Galeno produced a brilliant overhead kick inside the box from a Riyadh Mahrez cross to fire the ball beyond Vil Sinisalo. Celtic went looking for an equaliser and James Forrest used his experience to cause Al-Ahli problems on the left wing, but the Celts were limited to very few chances. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi found himself with a good shooting opportunity for Al-Ahli with just under 10 minutes of the half left, but his curling effort drifted high and wide of the target. With just a few minutes of the half remaining, Arne Engels sent a dangerous ball through the Al-Ahli defence which Johnny Kenny was unfortunate not to get on the end of, with the Irishman being narrowly beaten to the ball by the keeper. Brendan Rodgers made one change at half time, bringing Shin Yamada on for his first appearance for Celtic in place of Johnny Kenny. Less than five minutes into the half, Celtic found the equaliser. A Luke McCowan corner found James Forrest at the back post. The winger immediately picked out Auston Trusty with a first-time pass, and the American made no mistake as he fired the ball beyond Mendy to make it 1-1. It looked like Yamada had given Celtic the lead 10 minutes later when he picked up on a pass in to the box from Marco Tilio and fired the ball into the net, but the flag went up for offside, denying the Japanese forward his first Celtic goal. Celtic began to dominate the match as the second half progressed, and with 25 minutes to go, Engels had a big opportunity to give the Celts the lead, but his shot from inside the box sailed over the bar. Vil Sinisalo was called in to action as Al-Ahli went looking to put the Bhoys under pressure, and the Finnish keeper made a smart stop with his feet to deny St. Maximin who tried to pick out the bottom corner with a strike from close range. The Saudi Arabian side had another big opportunity when Eid Al-Muwallad took a shot from six yards out, but somehow Auston Trusty and Vil Sinisalo were able to block the effort and send it behind for a corner. James Forrest found himself with a similar chance just seconds later, and this time it was Al-Ahly who defended well and blocked Forrest’s effort. From the resulting corner, another chance came Celtic’s way, and Luke McCowan was denied by the post when it looked like his effort from outside the box had given the Celts the lead. With the match ending 1-1 after 90 minutes, the result was settled by a penalty shoot-out, which the Celts won thanks to a Vil Sinisalo save and five perfect spot-kicks, the last of which was taken by Shin Yamada. The victory rounds off Celtic’s pre-season in the best possible way, and the Cchampions will now look ahead to the start of the season next Sunday when they play host to St Mirren. CELTIC: Sinisalo, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Inamura, Bernardo, McCowan, Engels, Forrest, Kenny, Tilio.Subs: Schmeichel, Doohan, Rice, Scales, Nygren, Idah, Yang, Yamada, Osmand, Summers, Maeda, Hatate, McGregor, Murray, Donovan, Ralston, Welsh, TierneyFixturesAl-Ahli Saudi FC Vs. Celtic – Sat, Jul 26th 2025, 19:30
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