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Chelsea 1-4 Celtic: Ruthless Bhoys brush Maresca's men aside

By Sports Desk July 27, 2024
Chelsea 1-4 Celtic: Ruthless Bhoys brush Maresca's men aside

A ruthless Celtic brushed aside Chelsea in a 4-1 thrashing at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday.

The Scottish champions scored twice in either half before Christopher Nkunku's consolation, with Enzo Maresca still without a win after his first two friendly games in charge of the Blues.

Matt O'Riley, who is being heavily linked with a move away from Celtic, put the Bhoys in front after 19 minutes before setting up Kyogo Furuhashi for a close-range tap-in just after the half-hour mark.

Kasper Schmeichel proved the difference for Celtic, making a string of fine saves in the first half to protect his clean sheet, though he got lucky as Raheem Sterling and Marc Guiu both struck the woodwork after the break.

Despite signs of life from Chelsea, they were masters of their own downfall for the third goal – Benoit Badiashile's loose pass out from the back went straight to Luis Palma, who pounced on the chance.

The Honduran then set fellow substitute Mikey Johnston up for a deft finish just three minutes later, though Chelsea salvaged some pride late on as Nkunku beat Vijami Sinisalo with an emphatic penalty, but it was too little, too late.

Data Debrief: Problems to solve for Maresca

While the scoreline certainly paints a picture of dominance by Celtic, the stats show that Chelsea matched their opponents out on the pitch, but lacked just one thing - a clinical edge.

The Blues created 23 chances, nine more than Celtic, and had 10 shots on target, though an inspired performance from Schmeichel certainly did not help.

As for Celtic, they round off their pre-season tour having scored four goals in both of their last two matches, having beaten Premier League champions Manchester City 4-3 earlier this week.

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