Celtic 1 - 0 Real Sociedad: Mackay-Steven on target

Posted Saturday, July 11, 2015 by PA

Gary Mackay-Steven's second-half strike gave Celtic a morale-boosting friendly win over Real Sociedad ahead of their Champions League sojourn.

Ronnie Deila's men begin their attempt to reach the group stages of European football's elite club competition when they take on Stjarnan in their opening qualifier at Celtic Park next Wednesday.

And the Scottish champions were tested against Davie Moyes' side in their final warm-up match at St Mirren Park.

The Hoops were second best in the first half, but in the 68th minute, seconds after new signing Nadir Ciftci had replaced Leigh Griffiths to make his debut, the Turkish striker was involved in the move which ended with his former Dundee United team-mate driving past goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli for the winner.

With one eye on next week's game against the Icelandic outfit, Deila started with a strong side.

Ciftci, the 23-year-old striker who signed a four-year deal in a B#1.5million move from United on Thursday, started on the bench along with fellow new signing Saidy Janko, the 19-year-old Swiss youth international full-back.

However, the visitors, managed by former Everton and Manchester United boss Moyes, a former Parkhead defender, controlled most of the first 45 minutes.

As early as the second minute Hoops keeper Craig Gordon brilliantly tipped a powerful drive from defender Yuri Berchiche over the bar for a corner, which came to nothing.

The slick La Liga side came close again in the 15th minute when forward Sergio Canales cracked a post with a 25-yard drive.

The Scotland keeper then made another save down at his right-hand post from striker Imanol Agirretxe's shot. Celtic's best response was a Griffiths strike which was deflected past a post for a fruitless corner.

The Parkhead striker hit the woodwork with a low drive five minutes after the restart after capitalising on slack play in the Sociedad defence to go through against Rulli.

Celtic had clearly stepped up a gear.

The expected raft of substitutions ensued with a huge cheer from the Celtic fans when Ciftci replaced Griffiths and only seconds later he linked up inside the box with Mackay-Steven, perhaps fortuitously, before the Celtic wide-man swept the ball low past Rulli.

Moments later, Rulli denied Ciftci a goal with a close-range block before Janko came on to make his debut at the expense of Mackay-Steven.

The game petered out to a welcome win for Deila's side whose season begins in earnest next week.