UEFA Youth League Wednesday, October 23, 2024Stadio Comunale di CaravaggioATALANTA…2 (Camara 68, Goggi 90+2) CELTIC…1 (Turley 52) Celtic FC B suffered a late defeat in Bergamo after losing out to a stoppage time strike against Atalanta. Despite taking the lead early in the second half, a fightback from the Italian side saw them take all three points, scoring the winning goal in stoppage time. After suffering heavy defeat in matchday two of the UEFA Youth League, the young Hoops were once again on their travels in Europe. Heading out to Bergamo, the Bhoys were aiming to bounce back and get back to building upon picking up three points on the opening matchday in the competition. Of course, it was tough opposition who lay in wait for Stephen McManus’ side as they made the trip to Italy. It proved to be a competitive outing throughout, with the Celts putting in a strong first-half showing. The young Hoops almost made the perfect start to proceedings inside the opening minute of the match after some good work from Daniel Cummings. Pressuring the goalkeeper into a mistake, the forward did well to win the ball back before trying his luck with a shot from a difficult angle. But the goalkeeper managed to recover. Enjoying large spells of the ball, the Bhoys were looking to press the home side into mistakes with the goalkeeper being forced into kicking long. Just moments after their first opening, another almost fell the way of Josh Dede, who was found by a Jude Bonnar cross. But his shot was well blocked off. The Celts were working some nice combinations down either wing, trying to put dangerous crosses into the box in the opening 45. As the half grew on, the Italian side did start to enjoy more periods in the game, having their first effort on goal just beyond the 20-minute mark, which was dragged well wide. The game seemed to spring into life just before the break as Jude Bonnar came close to opening the scoring, when his cross almost caught out the Atalanta goalkeeper. But he did well to recover in time and save. One of the final actions of the first half gave Atalanta a huge chance to open the scoring as the home side were given a spot-kick, with Josh Dede being judged to have committed a foul in the area. But Celtic goalkeeper Aidan Rice was a match from the effort from 12-yards, making sure the game would be level at the break after saving his second consecutive spot-kick in the UEFA Youth League. Similar to the first half, the Bhoys came out quickly at the beginning of the second and almost grabbed the all-important first goal. Collecting a loose ball inside the area, Francis Turley headed for the byline before firing a dangerous ball across the six-yard box. But there were no takers After almost being provider, the midfielder soon turned goalscorer, opening the scoring for Celtic in the 52nd minute. Following some neat play inside the Atalanta penalty area, the Northern Ireland youth internationalist fired a powerful effort towards goal from the angle, which nestled in the back of the net. Having scored the opener, it was Celtic who continued to push on in search of a second. Some more positive play down the right looked to allow Cummings a chance to grab his goal on the slide. But he was denied brilliantly by the goalkeeper, before the flag would eventually go up for offside. Despite that positive period, the Italians started to grow into the game once more and would find themselves level with just over 20 minutes left to play as Henry Camara scored from close range to make the score 1-1. As the game approaching the closing stages, Celtic had a big chance to regain the lead, with substitute Andrew Kyle almost having an instant impact. A superb outside of the foot pass from Bonnar found the run of Kyle, who looked to find the bottom corner. However, the goalkeeper was out quickly to smother his effort. Despite having the chances to take home victory, and a draw arguably being a fair result, the Bhoys were hit with a late sucker punch as Atalanta scored a late winner in stoppage time. It will ultimately come as a disappointment to Stephen McManus’ side to not take something away from the match in Italy. However, they will look to take the positives from a good display and take those aspects into matchday four in the competition as we return home to face RB Leipzig at the beginning of November. CELTIC: Rice, Donovan, Robertson, Agbaire, Frame, Ure, Turley, McArdle (Kyle 74), Bonnar, Dede (Haddow 87), Cummings (Isiguzo 74). Subs: Shaw, Patterson, Borland, Ferns, Cannon, Dargie.FixturesAtalanta BC Vs. Celtic FCB – Wed, Oct 23rd 2024, 11:30
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