Celtic 1 (Kyogo 6) Wolves 1 (Cunha 86 PEN)
Wolves and Celtic shared the spoils in an entertaining pre-season battle in Dublin as Julen Lopetegui’s players continued their preparations for the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.
Celtic took the lead early on through Kyogo Furuhashi during a first-half where they struck the woodwork twice, while Wolves were unable to find the net despite several opportunities of their own.
But the Old Gold were much the better side after the break, and their pressure finally told in the final five minutes when Matheus Cunha found the back of the net from the penalty spot after substitute Matt Doherty was upended in the penalty area by Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Although the majority of the crowd in the Aviva Stadium were backing Celtic, it was Wolves who started bright as they pressed the Scottish champions into errors – although Craig Dawson was not able to make that pressure tell as his header from a Pablo Sarabia corner narrowly missed over the crossbar.
However, Celtic didn’t take long to get into their stride and inside the opening six minutes the Scottish outfit took the lead – moments after Reo Hatate had struck the crossbar.
Mario Lemina was caught on the ball midway inside the Wolves half allowing the green and white hooped shirts to pounce, and once the ball ended up at the feet of Kyogo he raced into the box, played a neat-one-two with Liel Abada, before firing the ball past Jose Sa and into the back of the net.
The woodwork came to Wolves’ rescue once again as Celtic broke with 10 minutes on the clock. The goalscorer was played in between Maximilian Kilman and Dawson and lifted the ball over the top of Sa, but the keeper was relieved to see it bounce back off the crossbar.
Moments after Sa denied Celtic from a one-on-one situation, Wolves broke up the other end but spurned on opportunity of their own. Pedro Neto did excellently to dance round the Celtic defence, and after the ball ended up at Matheus Nunes with the goal at his mercy, the Portuguese couldn’t keep his effort from flying over the crossbar.
Wolves improved as the first-half went on and Sarabia had Hart floundering in the Celtic goal just before the half-hour mark. The Spaniard picked up the ball just outside the penalty area and, after finding space on his left, curled an effort just wide of the upright.
The gold and black shirts continued to search for an equaliser before the break and Cunha had an opportunity to turn the ball towards goal when his head met a Nunes miskick inside the Celtic box, but he was unable to test Hart as he directed the ball wide. Lemina then headed an effort wide when he was picked out by Sarabia’s free-kick.
In spite of Wolves’ pressure, Celtic were never far away from doubling their lead, and twice came close through Maeda. After Sa had closed down the angle the ball ricocheted to the Japanese international who poked an effort on target, but Kilman was back on the line to clear the danger. He had another chance moments later but blazed the ball well over the crossbar.
Half-time | Celtic 1-0 Wolves
The intensity of the first period wavered after the break as mistakes began to creep into both sets of players. Nunes had a good opportunity to run at the Celtic defence early on, but a loose touch meant the ball would run away from the Portuguese.
However, there was still chances, with the first of the half falling Wolves’ way. Following neat interplay by Semedo and Sarabia down the right, the Spaniard set Cunha through behind the Celtic defence, and from the tightest of angles the Brazilian was able to direct the ball towards goal, but he was denied by the foot of the post.
As legs tired, further mistakes, late challenges and a raft of substitutions started to affect the flow of the second half, yet there were still chances for Wolves as the began to assert a foothold on the game.
Cunha again was unable to direct a header on target after Nunes found the forward from the right, before Neto’s left-hand cross found Sarabia at the far post and Hart made the block to scoop the ball off the goalline.
Substitutes Rayan Ait-Nouri and Fabio Silva combined with Nunes to create another chance for the Old Gold as the trio broke the full length of the pitch alongside Cunha. The ball eventually ended up being played back to the Brazilian on the edge of the box, but his shot was deflected away from Hart’s goal.
Wolves were handed a way back into the match in the closing minutes when Silva played a clever pass between the Celtic lines and onto the run of fellow substitute Doherty who took a touch before being tripped in the box by Hart. Cunha stepped up to the penalty spot and sent the former England keeper the wrong way as he guided the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.
The goal gave those in gold and black a lift heading towards the four added on minutes and the acrobatics of Ait-Nouri almost gave his side a winner as he connected onto Toti’s cross from the left, but the Algerian was unable to direct his effort on target.
Hart was called into action in the final moments to deny Cunha after he was played into space by Silva on the edge of the Celtic box. The Brazilian’s powerful, curling shot was heading into the far corner, but the keeper was able to push the effort away from goal, which saw the teams run out all-square in Dublin.
Full-time | Celtic 1-1 Wolves
Celtic | Hart, Iwata, Welsh (McPherson 67), Scales, Taylor, McGregor, O’Riley (Kwon 61), Hatate (Haksabanovic 71), Abada (Holm 71), Maeda (Oh 71), Kyogo (Yang 61).
Unused subs | Bain, Siegrist, Turnbull, Bernabei, Lawal, Forrest.
Wolves | Sa, Semedo (Doherty 79), Dawson, Kilman, Bueno (Ait-Nouri 46), Lemina (Silva 79), Hodge, Nunes, Sarabia (Toti 71), Neto (Hwang 71), Cunha.
Unused subs | Bentley, King, Pond, Jonny, J. Gomes, Traore, Esen, Farmer, Fraser, Kalajdzic.
