A young Celtic team lost out to the academy of English Premier League side Fulham in their opening game of the Premier League International Cup last night.
The Bhoys travelled to London on Tuesday to take on Fulham in their first of four games after being invited to participate in the prestigious tournament.
Alongside the academies of clubs such as PSG and Porto, the Hoops will face English opposition in competitive fixtures across the next few months.
The team led by Stephen McManus and Darren O’Dea were drawn in group A and tasked with taking on Blackburn, Leicester City, Wolves and Fulham.
Celtic’s first game in the competition took place on Tuesday evening as they travelled south of the border to face Fulham.
The Celtic coaches named a familiar side, including the likes of Tobi Oluwayemi and Rocco Vata, who have been regulars for the B side in the Lowland League and UEFA Youth League this campaign.
However, there was also a place in the midfield for academy youngster Scott Robertson, who has spent the last few months with Ange Postecoglou’s first team.
It was an entertaining match-up between the two sides, who were involved in a six-goal thriller to open Celtic’s group stage campaign.
And it was the young Hoops who struck first, as Rocco Vata opened the scoring with another long-range strike just after the half-hour mark.
As Celtic looked to hold on to their lead going into the break, the home side were able to produce a late equaliser as Luke Harris smashed the ball home from inside the penalty area.
Both sides made a frantic start to the second 45 minutes, with Fulham taking the lead within minutes before Celtic hit back just 60 seconds later as striker Adam Brooks produced a smart finish.
With around 20 minutes remaining in the entertaining fixture, the game was flipped on its head as Celtic were reduced to 10 men after Ewan Otoo was judged to have brought down his marker. Those in attendance stated it was a harsh call made by the referee.
From that moment, the English Premer League academy side was able to kick on and take advantage of the extra man, producing two late strikes to take home all three points in a 4-2 victory.
Celtic kick off group stages with positive display in defeat
It was an unfortunate end to the game after what sounded like a positive display from the Celtic youngsters in their opening game of the group.
The Bhoys still have three more opportunities to get points on the board in the competition, which has previously been lifted by huge clubs such as Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
However, first, their focus switches back to the UEFA Youth League for their next game as they prepare to face Shakhtar Donetsk next Tuesday.
In other news, Josip Juranovic reveals his new important behind-the-scenes role at Celtic Park.
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