Celtic Thrash Newcastle 4-0 In Friendly

Report as Arne Engels’ penalty, Johnny Kenny’s finish after Nick Pope’s error, a Hyun-Jun Yang counter-attack goal and Liam Scales’ header help Celtic secure a big win over Newcastle; Kieran Tierney’s return was celebrated by the home fans as Anthony Elanga made his Magpies debut

Celtic thrashed Newcastle 4-0 as the Scottish champions celebrated Kieran Tierney’s return to the club – and sounded alarm bells for Eddie Howe’s Premier League side.

Alexander Isak and Joelinton were among some big-name absentees for the visitors but a positive start was squandered as Joe Willock’s foul on Arne Engels allowed the Belgian to score the opener from the spot before Nick Pope’s howler opened the door for Johnny Kenny to tap in a second before half-time.

Newcastle made nine changes at the break, including the introduction of new signing Anthony Elanga, but Celtic capitalised on that shake-up, with Hyun-Jun Yang slotting in a third after an impressively swift and slick counter-attack.

Celtic’s season starts two weeks ahead of Newcastle’s and the Scottish side’s advancement in their preparations was plain to see. The home support revelled in the performance and gave a huge welcome back to re-signed Kieran Tierney, who came on to make his first appearance at Parkhead in six years, following his spell with Arsenal.

There was an even bigger roar when he crossed for another sub, Liam Scales, to head in goal number four.

The Hoops go bouncing into their final pre-season game against Ajax on Thursday, while Newcastle now head to Singapore for a clash with Arsenal.

Around 10,000 Newcastle fans made the trip to Glasgow for their side’s first pre-season game in public. They will be hoping for significant progress on the pitch and in the transfer market before their campaign starts for real next month.

Nick Pope made a stunning reflex save on 20 minutes to prevent Fabian Schar from scoring an own goal – but just moments later he gifted Celtic their second.

He came rushing out of his area to meet a long punt up the field from Kasper Schmeichel. The Newcastle keeper misjudged the flight, couldn’t reach the bouncing ball with his attempted header and Johnny Kenny gladly ran past to tap the ball into an empty net.

“Newcastle have been taught a bit of a lesson today. I know Celtic are ahead in terms of pre-season preparation – they’ve been back a couple of weeks – but there has been a gulf between the teams.

“Yes, Newcastle are missing the likes of Isak, Joelinton, Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall, but Celtic have been streets ahead.

“Newcastle fans will be thinking that they need to add more signings – they’ve only added Elanga so far this summer but on this showing, they’ll need a few more.”

Skysports.com