Celtic 2 - 2 Lyon: Samaras shows the way

Published on Friday 30 July 2010 19:06

COMEBACKS are going to be the theme of the week for Celtic. Now, overturning a three-goal deficit against Braga in midweek will be something altogether different from what Neil Lennon's men pulled off in the final minutes of their encounter yesterday.

• Georgios Samaras

But that made their two-goal comeback against Lyon in the Emirates Cup no less welcome.

The 90 minutes told much about where Celtic seem to find themselves in the here and now. Just as they should have emerged with better than a forbidding 3-0 reverse from their Champions League third round qualifier in Portugal, so yesterday again they contrived to fnd themselves 2-0 down despite producing the more incisive football and creating the lion's share of the chances.

However, they atoned for that with the perfect late response that was begun in the 84th minute when the excellent James Forrest floated over a cross from the right.

Gary Hooper rose powerfully to head it high into the net and in the process earn himself a scoring debut following his 2.4 million move from Scunthorpe. Then substitute Georgios Samaras capitalised on an exquisitely-delivered free-kick by Charlie Mulgrew from the right flank to nod in a last-minute equaliser.

The intrigue in the Celtic line-up would have been the presence of Aiden McGeady. The future of the 9m-rated - by his current employers at least - winger has become the soap opera of the close season.

Wanted by Spartak Moscow but, crucially for him, no English Premier League side, McGeady looked as if his mind was elsewhere in a first run-out of the season following various well-publicised injuries. He lasted 58 minutes before he was replaced by Shaun Maloney.

There were a number of other novelty factors about Celtic's line-up as Lennon sought to juggle his squad for a competition that will pit them against Arsenal this afternoon only three days before they face Braga in Glasgow. Young Czech defender Filip Twardzik was given his first taste of senior action and the 17-year-old looked the part with a performance that had his manager gushing. At the other end Hooper looked in need of games to get up to speed, yesterday being his first game of the season.Cha Du-ri looked a threat going forward and, in one bound up the field, a clever ball in from the impressive Forrest set him up for a shooting opportunity that allowed Remy Vercoutre to produce an acrobatic save.

By then another less than glorious moment from Lukasz Zaluska had been captured by the TV cameras, with the Polish keeper appearing wrong-footed when beaten by a thunderous Michel Bastos free-kick from fully 25 yards to the right of goal approaching the half-hour mark. It just hasn't been the Pole's week, though his luck was in when Harry Novillo beat him with a low drive, only for Milan Misun to clear on the line minutes before the opener. Novillo wasn't to be denied his moment, a shot from him crossing the line in the 54th minute but only after it took a wicked deflection off Glenn Loovens to leave Zaluska helpless.

From this hopeless position, Celtic refused to chuck it, and after Scott Brown was forced off with an ankle knock that will not threaten his participation in midweek, Mexican Efrain Juarez appeared and injected renewed energy into his team's forward thrusts. They will need that in spades in their Champions League qualifier on Wednesday, but only after they seek to avoid a slapping down this afternoon against an Arsenal team who dished that out to them in Europe's premier competition last year.

Celtic: Zaluska, Cha (Hinkel 58), Loovens (Rogne 58), Misun, Twardzik (Mulgrew 66), Forrest, Brown (Juarez 52), Ledley, McGeady (Maloney 58), Hooper, Fortune (Samaras 66). Subs: Hinkel, Samaras, Maloney, Crosas, Ki, Rasmussen, Mulgrew, Rogne, Murphy, Cervi.

Lyon: Vercoutre, Lovren, Kallstrom (Gonalons 83), Bastos, Reveillere, Makoun (Pied 70), Grenier, Seguin, Lacazette, Umtiti, Novillo. Subs: Lloris, Gassama, Pjanic, Gonalons, Tafer, Pied, Blanc, Abenzoar, Reale.