Celtic were denied victory at the death in a pulsating pre-season friendly against old foes Rapid Vienna as Ange Postecoglou saw his side held in a six-goal thriller at the Allianz Stadium in Austria.
Matt O’Riley’s brilliant early opener was cancelled out by Bernhard Zimmermann who capitalised on defensive mix up to level before David Turnbull restored the Hoops lead. Rene Kriwak levelled for a second time before Kyogo fired the visitors ahead again. Emanuel Aiwu headed home a leveller at the death.
Postecoglou brought out the big guns for a huge step up in class from their opening friendly seven-goal stroll against regional outfit SC Wiener Viktoria. Last season’s loanees Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers were given their first run-outs since penning permanent Parkhead deals.
And it was Jota who was so close to grabbing a quickfire opener but Paul Gartler made a brilliant point blank save after Callum McGregor - who has now ditched his protective mask - setting him.
However, there was nothing the Rapid Vienna keeper could do as the Hoops took the lead moments later - and this time Jota the provider. The former Benfica man showed exactly why Postecoglou was so keen to get him tied down on a permanent deal with a great ball to O’Riley and the Danish Under-21 international - looking to catch the eye for the full time in World Cup year - sent a brilliant finish low into the corner.
It was a bright start from Celtic but the home side were dangerous on the counter and Joe Hart again showed how vital he is - and what a task Benji Siegrist has to get into the side as the former England captain got down brilliantly to keep out Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn’s effort after he beat Osaze Urhoghide to a cross.
But he didn’t cover himself in glory as Rapid levelled before the. break. Carter-Vickers played a pass across the six-yard box back to Hart but he let it run across him and that allowed Ante Bajic to nip it in and win possession before squaring to Zimmermann who had the simple task of knocking the ball into the empty net.
Postecoglou made 10 changes at the break with only Urhoghide remaining from the starting XI and they were back in front 10 minutes after the restart. Christopher Jullien sent Kyogo racing away and the Japanese star's brilliant ball was met by Turnbull who fired home.
The pair would link up again to find the net - but only after the Austrians had levelled. Urhoghide was caught under a deep cross and while Scott Bain pulled off a fine save to deny Marco Grull, he could do nothing to prevent Kriwak netting the rebound.
But Celtic were back ahead when Turnbull did brilliantly to win the ball and he fed Kyogo who provided the finish to return the earlier favour from his team-mate.
A combination of Bain heroics and then the woodwork denied Rapid Vienna another equaliser but Celtic couldn't hold out as Aiwu headed home the corner at the death. Here’s three talking points from the Allianz Stadium.
Hart-stopper
Joe Hart pulled off a world class save to deny Rapid Vienna a leveller and underline just how important he is to Celtic. But then he produced a moment that can be prone to as the Austrians were allowed to equalise all too easily.
It wasn’t the best pass from Cameron Carter-Vickers back to his keeper but the former England No. 1 allowed it to run across him instead of just lashing it away. He didn’t stop the danger with Ante Bajic lurking and he made a great challenge to win the ball, square to Bernhard Zimmermann and he just had to knock it into the empty net.
It’s the type of incident you can afford in a pre-season friendly but it wasn’t uncommon last season and the defence have to stamp out those kind of lapses when the competitive action starts.
Dare to World Cup dream
It’s a huge year for Matt O’Riley who, with Champions League football as a platform, will have ambitions of gatecrashing Denmark’s World Cup squad for Qatar 2022. And this wasn’t bad for starters in a big season.
So many of Ange Postecoglou’s signings were pivotal in Celtic winning back the Scottish Premiership crown but O’Riley is one who almost slipped under the radar after arriving from MK Dons.
But he took his opening goal brilliantly here and the classy midfielder must have a chance of heading to the Middle East this winter.
Oh-saze Urhoghide
Pre-season is a time for managers to find out who they can rely on in the new season and maybe find some fringe players to step up to the plate. But it has to be said the Dutchman didn’t do himself any real favours here.
The 22-year-old, on loan at Oostende last season, was given his chance to show what he can do as the only player given 90 minutes but badly misjudged the cross for Rapid Vienna’s second goal and generally just didn’t look up to holding his own in the first team. There will be more opportunities to come but not on this evidence as a late booking compounded a frustrating day.
READ NEXT
