Stefan Scepovic and Calvin Miller were on target as Celtic’s development side beat Falkirk 2-0 at Cappielow.
Both goals came in the second half as the hoops stuck to their task while the Bairns defence struggled to cope with the pace and power of Celtic with Aleksandar Tonev particularly impressive on the left wing.
Three nights before the visit of Inter Milan Tonev, Scepovic, Liam Henderson and Callum McGregor were given the chance to impress with Ronny Deila and Kennedy watching from the stand
Tonev was the main threat to Falkirk but the Bairns defence, directed by Alan Maybury, were well drilled and caught Celtic offside a number of times in the first half.
The on-loan Bulgarian did have the ball in the net in the tenth but the linesman had flagged for offside as soon as he received McGregor’s pass.
It was tough going for the hoops with Falkirk comfortable holding back as Celtic enjoyed the bulk of possession but created little in the way of scoring chances.
Towards the end of the first half Joe Thomson in the 37th minute and Tonev three minutes later got in behind the Falkirk defence but there was no takers when they sent the ball across goal.
At the start of the second half Michael Duffy and Miller replaced Henderson and McGregor with Jamie Lindsay missing a decent chance straight from the restart when he shot high over the bar from 15 yards out.
Eight minutes into the second half Miller came closer to the breakthrough but his shot from 20 yards bounced off the crossbar.
Celtic had to wait until the 62nd minute to open the scoring. Joe Thomson sent a great pass inside the Falkirk defence for Duffy to run onto, with just the keeper to beat he squared the ball to Miller who ran the ball into the net from 10 yards out.
Their first half exertions had clearly taken a toll on the Falkirk defence as they struggled to cope with the trickery of Tonev on the left while Scepovic, playing deeper to accommodate Miller showed a great eye for a pass.
In the 73rd minute Celtic’s superiority paid off when Scepovic headed powerfully across goalkeeper Graham Bowman from a perfectly drilled Tonev cross.
Five minutes from the final whistle Miller had the ball in the net from a Tonev cross but was denied his second goal by the offside flag.
CELTIC: Fasan; Fisher, Kelleher, McCart, Waters; Lindsay, Henderson (Duffy 46); Thomson, McGregor (Miiler 46), Tonev; Scepovic
SUBS: McCabe, McIlduff, Breslin, Hendry, Lafferty
