Veolia Trophy
Groupama Stadium, Lyon
Thursday, July 16, 2020

CELTIC… 1
(Klimala 73)

NICE… 1
(Dolberg 38)

PATRYK Klimala scored his first goal for Celtic as Neil Lennon’s side drew 1-1 with Nice in their opening fixture of the Veolia Trophy at Groupama Stadium in Lyon.

It was the first action for the Hoops in just over four months and the Scottish champions played well against a Nice side who’ve already enjoyed a couple of pre-season friendly matches ahead of this fixture.

Despite the long lay-off, Celtic started the match in a sprightly fashion, sporting the new adidas Hoops kit, with the players clearly delighted to be back playing and keen to make an early impression.

And that came after just four minutes when Odsonne Edouard latched on to the ball after Ryan Christie had driven into the Nice area.

The Frenchman rounded the goalkeeper and coolly slotted the ball into the back of the net, but Celtic’s delight was short-lived after VAR ruled out the goal for an apparent infringement by Christie in the build-up.

Still, Neil Lennon would have been pleased with the way his side were playing, taking the game to their French opponents.

On 18 minutes, Greg Taylor delivered a superb cross into the box, but Edouard was unable to direct his header on target, while at the other end Scott Bain was called into action to deny Theo Pionnier.

Celtic immediately surged forward and another good move down the left hand side saw the ball cut back for Christie, but his goalbound shot was pushed away by Walter Benitez in the Nice goal.

The French side were starting to come into the game as the half wore on, and Jeremie Frimpong was called upon to prevent Ihsan Sacko getting a shot away inside the area.

But on 38 minutes, Nice managed to make the breakthrough. Danish striker, Kasper Dolberg, who was their top goalscorer last season as they finished sixth in Ligue 1, managed to skip mast a couple of challenges inside the Celtic area before steering a right-foot shot beyond Scott Bain from 10 yards out.

The second half started in a similar vein to the opening 45 minutes, with Celtic taking the game to their French opponents, and Christie had an early chance after being set up by Edouard, but his shot was narrowly wide.

And Christie forced Benitez into a good save on 55 minutes when he connected with a James Forrest cross.

On the hour mark, Neil Lennon replaced his starting XI, with Celtic now lining up: Hazard, Elhamed, Bitton, Welsh, Bolingoli, Ntcham, Soro, Dembele, Robertson, Henderson, Klimala.

Nice also made wholesale changes to their line-up, but it didn’t interrupt the flow of the game, which remained competitive and entertaining.

Bolingoli had an effort on 70 minutes which just went wide of the post before Klimala equalised for the Hoops three minutes later.

The Polish striker did well to close down the Nice substitute goalkeeper, dispossessing him before slotting the ball into the net from a couple of yards out. It was no more than Celtic deserved for their efforts in the heat of Lyon.

Ewan Henderson had a shot late in the game which went wide, but the match finished 1-1. It was an impressive showing from the Hoops on their first outing since early March. Next up is Lyon on Thursday night.

CELTIC: Bain, Frimpong, Jullien, Ajer, Taylor, Brown, McGregor, Forrest, Christie, Elyounoussi, Edouard.
Subs: Doohan, Hazard, Bitton, Klimala, Soro, Ntcham, Bolingoli, Connell, Robertson, Elhamed, Henderson, McInroy, Welsh, Dembele.

NICE: Benitez, Pionnier, Bambu, Pelmard, Kamara, Makengo, Thuram, Lees-Melou, Sacko, DOlberg, Gouiri.
Subs: Boulhendi, Cardinale, Dante, Atal, Hamache, Mestrallet, Daniliuc, Trouillet, Boudaoui, Parsemain, Ben Seghir, Brazao

Klimala on target for Celtic in entertaining friendly in France