Scottish Football News

Scottish champions Celtic jet off to Portugal on the back of a disappointing performance, after being defeated 3-1 in a friendly against English Premiership side, Fulham, at Craven Cottage.

Fulham fully deserved their win and were ahead after only two minutes. Celtic’s German right-back Andreas Hinkel was caught out of position after giving the ball away needlessly on the half-way line allowing Jimmy Bullard to cross for Erik Nevland to slide the ball home past Celtic goalkeeper, Mark Brown.

Celtic took their time to find their feet in the match but came close when Aussie striker Scott McDonald and Scots midfielder Barry Robson tested Fulham ‘keeper David Stockdale with efforts before Fulham scored a second on the half-hour mark through a rasping Bobby Zamora strike.

Robson pulled a goal back for the visitors with a free-kick just before half-time. The second-half was more kick-about than match with no less than fourteen substitutions made. Celtic played an improved second-half as they went in search of an equaliser, but it was Leon Andreasen who secured the victory for the Londoners five minutes from time with another fine strike.

The line-ups were:

Fulham: Stockdale, Konchesky, (Kallio 72), Pantsil (Volz 72), Hangeland, Andranik (Murphy 46), Nevland (Healy 65), Gera (Cook 65), Hughes, Bullard (Johnson 46), Davies (Dempsey 46), Zamora (Andreasen 46). Subs: Etheridge, Ki-Hyeon.

Celtic: Brown, Hinkel (Wilson 46), Naylor (O’Dea 59), McManus, Caldwell, McDonald (Sheridan 67), Brown, Donati (Hartley 46), Robson (Caddis 67), Killen (Samaras 46), McGeady (Mizuno 76). Subs: Fox, Balde, Nakamura, McGowan.

Meanwhile, Rangers were also in Friendly action as they took on Schalke in Gelsenkirchen. Gers manager Walter Smith saw his side – minus injury victim Kris Boyd - slump to a 1-0 defeat against the big-spending German side, who had recent signings Jefferson Farfan and Orlando Engelaar in their squad. It was, however, veteran Serbian stopper Mladen Krstajic who netted the only – and winning - goal in the first half.

In a match in which Rangers were largely outplayed, Rangers had few chances to score and recent signing Andrius Velicka came closest with a header which cannoned off the post from a Jean-Claude Darcheville cross.

Despite the defeat, Walter Smith remained upbeat, and said after the match:

“It was a good workout for us. Obviously with the standard of team Schalke are, it was always going to be difficult for us. They had more good possession of the ball, as you would expect from them when they are at home.

“In the first half, we were disappointed to lose the goal in the manner we did from a set-play but they deserved their lead at that time.

“Schalke have been in the top four in the Bundesliga for the last few seasons. They’ve had decent results in the Champions League as well. They’re a good team and they gave us a good test at the end of our pre-season build-up in Germany.

“It is always difficult at the end of the week because there is a little bit of tiredness in the legs and our play. But it has been a good trip for us because we have done a lot of intensive training as well as playing games.”

The line-ups were:

SCHALKE: Schober, Kobiashvili, Bordon, Streit, Ernst, Jones, Asamoah, Farfan, Rafinha, Krstajic, Pander. Subs: Fahrmann, Varela, Rakitic, Ze Roberto, Grossmuller, Howedes, Zambrano, Sanchez, Kenia, Engelaar.

RANGERS: Alexander, Whittaker, Broadfoot, Weir, Papac, Dailly, Novo, McCulloch, Thomson, Miller, Darcheville. Subs: Smith, Webster, Adam, Cousin, Furman, Velicka, Fleck.

In other friendlies to be played Saturday, Kilmarnock overcame Airdrie United 3-0 with goals by James Fowler and Danny Invincible, who notched a double. Meanwhile Dundee United continued their pre-season preparations with an easy 4-0 win over Raith Rovers. On-loan Northern Ireland striker Warren Feeney grabbed a hat-trick in the game, while Noel Hunt also netted.

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