Source: Team_Talk
Bhoys battle back to hold Lyon
Celtic scored twice in the final eight minutes to snatch a 2-2 draw in their Emirates Cup opener against Lyon on Saturday.[LNB] Aiden McGeady made his first appearance since May in the first match of this weekend's four-team tournament, with the transfer speculation surrounding the Republic of Ireland winger having reached fever pitch.[LNB]In a cameo of just under an hour, the 24-year-old showed flashes of the ability which has seen Spartak Moscow bid a reported £9.5million for him and rumoured interest from Aston Villa and Tottenham.[LNB]He left the field this afternoon with his side 2-0 down to last season's Champions League semi-finalists thanks to goals from Michel Bastos and Harry Novillo.[LNB]Celtic then staged a dramatic late comeback, with Gary Hooper scoring on his debut before substitute Georgios Samaras' header made it 2-2, giving both sides three points in a tournament in which goals are also worth points.[LNB]As well as bringing in McGeady and Hooper, manager Neil Lennon handed a debut to youth player Filip Twardzik, while recalling Milan Misun, Marc-Antoine Fortune and James Forrest.[LNB]In a lively start, Fortune missed two great chances to put Celtic ahead inside four minutes, first missing a diving header after meeting Forrest's right-wing cross unmarked and then ballooning a left-foot finish over the bar upon being put clean through by Hooper.[LNB]Scott Brown had the net bulging in the 11th minute but Fortune was rightly flagged offside delivering a low left-wing cross.[LNB]A few minutes later, Misun prevented Jean Makoun giving Lyon the lead when he blocked the midfielder's finish after it beat the sprawling Lukasz Zaluska.[LNB]Midway through the half, Kim Kallstrom rasped in a volley which was blocked by Fortune after Celtic only half cleared a corner.[LNB]If that was a warning shot, Lyon landed a decisive blow in the 33rd minute.[LNB]Celtic gave away a needless free-kick near the left corner of the area, which Bastos thumped past Zaluska high into the net.[LNB]Although it was fiercely struck, the Hoops goalkeeper will have been disppointed at leaving so much space to his right after shuffling the other way.[LNB]Lyon pushed for a second goal and Novillo dragged his finish wide after a clever one-two 20 yards out.[LNB]Moments later, Celtic right-back Cha Du-Ri burst forward into an acre of space onto Forrest's ball, smashing a volley straight at Remy Vercoutre when he should have played in Fortune.[LNB]The summer signing made amends with two pieces of classic full-back play before half-time, getting in behind the Lyon defence and delivering a pair of crosses which could easily have been converted.[LNB]But Fortune nodded the first into the ground, while the second evaded the head of Hooper by inches.[LNB]Lyon, who brought off goalscorer Bastos for Yannis Tafer at the break, almost made it 2-0 when Novillo's 20-yard strike hit the crossbar.[LNB]Celtic then withdrew Brown for Efrain Juarez, with their captain having hurt himself minutes earlier challenging Kallstrom for the ball.[LNB]Brown's departure nine minutes in was almost immediately followed by Lyon's second goal, Clement Grenier sliding the ball to Alexandre Lacazette, who cut it back for Novillo to fire home via a deflection.[LNB]The goal sparked a raft of double and triple substitutions by both sides over the subsequent 20 minutes, including the withdrawal of McGeady.[LNB]One of the new arrivals, Loic Abenzoar, played in Tafer for a fine volleyed finish which was rightly ruled out for offside.[LNB]The spell also saw Juarez fire just over for Celtic from 25 yards.[LNB]With 15 minutes remaining, Lyon substitute Jeremy Pied almost embarrassed Zaluska with a volley straight into the ground which bounced up and needed fingertips to turn over the bar.[LNB]Celtic's substitutes were also making an impact, Juarez striking the post with a superb 25-yard drive across Vercoutre and Maloney cutting inside and shooting straight at the keeper.[LNB]Their persistence was finally rewarded in the 82nd minute when Forrest's cross was volleyed in by the unmarked Hooper from point-blank range.[LNB]Zaluska made a sprawling save to prevent Tafer immediately restoring Lyon's two-goal advantage.[LNB]Celtic substitute Charlie Mulgrew set up Forrest for a header which flew over before playing in a free-kick from which Samaras made no mistake.
