Celtic Debut Bumblebee in Style

By: Matt | July 24th, 2009

Celtic wore their new “Bumblebee Kit” today and they did the famous kit justice by easing their way to a 5-0 victory over Egyptian side Al-Ahly today in the opening match of the Wembley Cup. Massimo Donati started the rout shortly after the half-hour mark for Celtic, before Shaun Maloney, Chris Killen and a brace from the lively Scott McDonald rounded off a comfortable evening’s work. Celtic controlled the match from the beginning, though Artur Boruc had to make a few good saves to keep the Egyptian champions off the score sheet. There were also a few instances where Celtic’s goals were on the verge of being offside, and one might have the feeling that the goals would have been flagged in *ahem* the SPL. Massimo Donati also got Celtic on the score sheet first by capitalizing on some poor defending by Al-Ahly. Scott McDonald then put away a penalty later in the first half. McDonald doubled his tally in second half, and Shaun Maloney and Chris Killen also got goals in the Celtic rout. Join me after the jump for some post-match thoughts and video of the goals (while they last).

-For the second game in a row, I was impressed by Marc Antoine Fortune and Landry N’Guemo’s work rate. Both worked hard, kept good possession of the ball, and were important to the Celtic attack.
-After struggling in the match against Cardiff City, Scott McDonald got two goals, which really, is the most important thing for a striker.
-Did Lee Naylor look like a guy fighting for his job or what? I’ve never seen Naylor go as forward as much as he did today. Naylor probably sees the writing on the wall, what with a frantic scramble yesterday to sign young Danny Fox. Naylor worked hard today, but most of his offensive endeavors ended with either dribbling into a midfielder or sending the cross into the fourth row. Enjoy the reserves, Lee.
-How did Massimo Donati start again? Besides the goal, he was again unimpressive. The goal was a Ramadan gift from Al-Ahly, so hopefully that does not earn him more playing time. Marc Crosas did get a run out in today’s game and passed the ball well. Even if Scott Brown is not going to be healthy enough for the home leg of the Champions League Qualifier, Crosas should be starting over Donati.
-Chris Killen is making a case to be the third striker for Tony Mowbray. Killen struggled in Cardiff, but had another goal today. Frankly, I don’t care if you score all your goals having the ball bounce off your arse, scoring three goals in three games is good enough for me. Shaun Maloney has also played well and could play up with Marc Antoine-Fortune and Scott McDonald.

Highlights courtesy of Eighteen88.com

Celtic Highlights by Eighteen88 – Watch Rate and Share Celtic Videos

So a good start to the Wembley Cup and nice to get some goals. I would expect to see some more reserves in the side for Sunday’s match against Spurs, but we’ll see. Tomorrow, my discussion with Spurs blogger Drew about the match on Sunday. Until then,….

TAL!