Celtic continue US tour with victory over Man City in North Carolina goal-fest

Celtic have continued their pre-season tour with a win over Manchester City in North Carolina.

The Hoops beat the English champions 4-3 in the early hours of Wednesday morning UK time with a double from Nicholas Kuhn and goals from Luis Palma and Kyogo Furuhashi.

Kasper Schmeichel made his debut and played the first 45 minutes before being replaced by fellow new recruit Viljami Sinisalo.

He started behind a back four of Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh, Liam Scales and Greg Taylor.

Callum McGregor captained the side in a midfield three with Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley supporting a front trio of Kyogo, Kuhn and Daizen Maeda.

Man City had a largely young-team alongside some big names including Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips and Ederson.

The victory makes it two wins out of two for Brendan Rodgers’ men stateside and an impressive eight goals scored following the 4-0 win over MLS side DC United in Washington at the weekend.

Kuhn put Celtic ahead after 12 minutes before Oscar Bobb equalised for Pep Guardiola’s men on the half-hour mark.

But just minutes later Kuhn restored the lead to make it 2-1.

The German winger then turned provider and set up Kyogo to make it 3-1 just before the half-time break.

Rodgers made four changes for the second-half with Sinisalo, Tomoki Iwata, James Forrest and Mikey Johnston being introduced to the action.

City pulled themselves level with goals from Max Perrone and Haaland to make it 3-3 on the hour-mark.

Palma then restored Celtic’s lead with just over 20 minutes remaining to make it 4-3.

It’s Chelsea up next for the Hoops on Saturday before they return to Scotland to turn their attention to domestic matters with their competitive campaign kicking-off against Kilmarnock at Celtic Park a week on Sunday.

Last season’s double winners will be looking to retain their title while also taking part in the new Champions League format.