Celtic vs Leicester City match report: Riyad Mahrez dazzles amid Arsenal talk as Foxes win on penalties at Parkhead
Celtic 1 Leicester City 1 (5-6 pens): The Algerian winger proved why Claudio Ranieri is unprepared to sell him to Arsenal as the Foxes got their International Champions Cup off to a winning start
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Riyad Mahrez was mobbed by a clutch of Algerian tourists after scoring a sumptuous goal as Leicester City secured a shoot-out victory against Celtic in the International Champions Cup.
The Algerian winger had dominated the morning’s headlines following reports in France which linked him with a £47m move to Premier League rivals Arsenal. Arsene Wenger had referred to the transfer market as a “poker game” earlier in the day but all the chips were in Leicester’s hands when Mahrez curled home from just inside the area to put his side ahead in the 46th minute.
Eoghan O’Connell’s equaliser 12 minutes later complicated matters, activating a peculiar rule which sent the fixture to penalties at full-time, but Leicester’s fantastic Mr Fox continues to be their star attraction, earning an ovation from all corners of Celtic Park when he eventually retreated to the substitutes’ bench.
Kasper Schmeichel, at the sixth attempt, guessed correctly to parry James Forrest’s spot-kick. Daniel Amartey then stood up for the English champions to score the decisive penalty, leading to the sight of Wes Morgan hoisting another trophy aloft at full-time.
Leicester started brightly. On 11 minutes, Danny Simpson galloped down the right flank and found Leonardo Ulloa. The Argentine, ghosting into a pocket of space, fluffed his lines from seven yards, however, scuffing a meek effort wide of Craig Gordon’s left post. Celtic responded in kind when new Foxes signing Luis Hernandez hacked at a clearance in his own penalty area, allowing the ball to bobble into Moussa Dembele’s path.
The former Fulham striker, a thorn in Leicester’s side throughout, corkscrewed his body to get a shot in and forced Ron-Robert Zieler into a decent save. Mahrez, in the red of Leicester’s away kit and not Arsenal, earned applause from the home faithful moments later. Cutting inside Mikael Lustig, the Algerian fizzed a 30-yard curler just wide of Gordon’s net. It wasn’t to be the last we would hear from him. While the match was not so much end-to-end, the distribution of chances had a certain symmetry nonetheless.
Next up for Celtic was a fierce free-kick by Leigh Griffiths seven minutes before the break. The Bhoys’ goal hero against Lincoln Red Imps in midweek unleashed a fearsome, driven free-kick from 22-yards but Zieler, a £2.3m signing from Hannover, leapt to his right and parried behind for a corner.
Ranieri promised he would experiment with tactics this summer and was true to his word after the break, bringing on record £16m signing Ahmed Musa and shifting gear into a 4-4-3 formation. The tinker took less than a minute to reap its rewards. After the morning’s events, all eyes were on Mahrez and he duly delivered. Even the Celtic fans were purring when the 25-year-old cut inside Stuart Armstrong to place it above and beyond Gordon into the hosts’ net.
Later being substituted in the 70th minute, all corners of Celtic Park rose to their feet to acknowledge his mercurial talents. No wave goodbye, just a raised hand of appreciation, towards the visiting supporters in the Springfield Road end. Meanwhile, there were several moments when the buoyant home crowd needed reminding this was just a glorified friendly. A stadium-wide Poznan, with all 32,658 fans turning their backs and linking arms, springs to mind as one example.
Another arrived in the 58th minute when Celtic equalised. Hernandez, who had looked flaky at times during in the first period, conspired to lay it on a plate for O’Connell, almost inviting the Irishman to shoot from 20 yards. Stylishly tucking it off the post and past Schmeichel, O’Conner was giving Mahrez a run for his money. Aside from announcements lauding various American sponsors – including the ‘Uber driver of the match’ – the latter stages passed with little incident as the sheer volume of substitutions nullified the spectacle somewhat.
That was until Simpson burst into space on the right flank with a minute to go. The former Queens Park Rangers full-back floated a delicious ball onto Shinji Okazaki’s forehead but the Japanese striker glanced his effort just over the bar. Penalties it was.
Christian Fuchs, Marcin Wasilewski, Danny Drinkwater, Ben Chilwell, Okazaki and Amartey all fulfilled their duties for the visitors. Same too Nadir Ciftci, Stefan Johansen, Scott Allan, O’Connell and Ryan Christie for Celtic. Just Forrest flinched. It was only then, with the trophy presentation in full swing, did Ranieri push a beaming Mahrez towards a small group of supporters who had unfurled an Algeria flag behind the dug-out.
Never before have Leicester had such a superstar on their hands. They’re unlikely to give him up without a fight.
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