Celtic returned to Paradise last night ahead of Saturday’s league kick-off. The Scottish Champions faced Basque side Athletic Club in honour of James Forrest.
The club announced a testimonial for the one-club man earlier this year and the support responded in good numbers for the match. Before kick-off, the three (of Forrest’s 22) trophies were brought onto the pitch and the player was given a guard of honour. The pleasantries died down when the game started and the La Liga visitors were quickly in front through Unai Gomez.
Celtic rode the pressure from Ernesto Valverde’s team and battled their way back into the game. Reo Hatate struck after 36 minutes with a neat finish but seconds after the restart an error from Tomoki Iwata allowed Muniain to score into Siegrist’s net. The first half was poor with some sloppy play from Celtic’s midfield. The boost was certainly the return of Cameron Carter-Vickers at the back but Celtic would need to do more if they were to get back into the game.
First Half: Siegrist; Taylor, Nawrocki, Carter-Vickers, Iwata; Kwon, McGregor, Hatate; Maeda, Kyogo, Forrest.
There were ten subs at half-time with Rodgers ringing the changes. All but James Forrest were replaced with the man of the moment being subbed after 49 minutes. The ‘second’ XI came out and showed that they would be battling to prove themselves to the new Celtic manager.
Yang on the right, Abada with the overlapping Bernabei were causing problems for the Bilbao side along with Oh’s presence through the middle and the intensity from O’Riley, Turnbull and Holm in the middle.
Celtic’s second goal was excellent. Quick interplay between Bernabei, Turnbull and O’Riley saw the Argentine fullback net a really wonderful goal.
The third was again well worked. Yang found Oh, who turned into a tight spot. The South Korean striker would’ve likely tried to hit the target from this position last year but rather he looked up and cut the ball into Turnbull’s path to make it 3-2.
Celtic were good value for the win but the night was about Forrest and it’s fitting that a Celt who is synonymous with success was able to enjoy a win at his testimonial.
Second Half: Bain; Bernabei, Scales, Starfelt, Ralston; Holm, O’Riley, Turnbull, Forrest (Abada ‘49), Oh, Yang.