Celtic Let Slip a Two-Goal Lead as Milan Roar Back at Celtic Park
There is a version of Saturday’s friendly at Celtic Park that Celtic fans will want to remember, and a version they’ll want to forget. Unfortunately, both happened in the same 90 minutes.
For 45 minutes, Martin O’Neill’s side were excellent. Camilo Duran continued his blistering start to life in Glasgow, closing down a hesitant Milan defence and finishing calmly to make it three goals in three pre-season outings. James Forrest doubled the lead soon after, and Celtic Park had every reason to be purring. The football was sharp, the pressing was relentless, and Milan — missing key personnel and still finding their pre-season legs — looked a yard off the pace throughout.
Then came the restart, and with it, a different Celtic entirely.
Ruben Amorim made wholesale changes at the break, and Milan came out with intent. It didn’t take long for the game to turn. Cameron Carter-Vickers, so assured in the opening half, was adjudged to have fouled his man inside the box, and Francesco Camarda made no mistake from the penalty spot. The goal breathed life into a Milan side that had barely threatened, and Celtic’s control of the match evaporated almost as quickly as it had been built.
Camarda wasn’t finished. Not long after halving the deficit, the young Italian rose to head home a second, leveling the score and completing a personal brace that will have delighted the travelling Rossoneri support as much as it will have frustrated the home crowd. What had been a comfortable, controlled afternoon for Celtic became a nervy, backs-to-the-wall finish, with Milan sensing a genuine chance of snatching all three points.
To Celtic’s credit, they found a way to hold on. The back line, rattled but not broken, dug in through a frantic closing stretch as Milan piled forward in search of a winner. The final whistle brought a 2-2 draw that, on the balance of the second-half chances, Milan may have shaded — even if the overall performance told a more even story.
There will be conversations this week about that second-half period, and rightly so. Defensive units that look composed for 45 minutes and porous for the next 45 are the kind of inconsistency O’Neill will want ironed out before competitive football returns. Carter-Vickers, a player Celtic have relied on heavily at the back, will know his concession of the penalty was the moment the momentum shifted, and there’s no hiding from that in the cold light of a match report.
But context matters. This was a pre-season friendly, heavy on rotation and short on match sharpness for a squad still building toward the real business of the season. Duran’s continued sharpness in front of goal is a genuine positive to take from Glasgow, even if the manner of the concession will sting for a few days yet.
Celtic will have taken plenty from the first half. It’s the second half they’ll need to fix.