Celtic kick off US tour with comfortable win over MLS team in Washington

Celtic began their US tour with a comfortable win over MLS club DC United in Washington.

The Scottish champions won 4-0 in the American capital on Saturday evening (early Sunday morning UK time), thanks to goals from James Forrest, Mikey Johnston and a double from Matt O’Riley.

Celtic also missed a penalty in a convincing win in the first match of their pre-season tour, which also sees them play English Premier League sides Manchester City and Chelsea.

Brendan Rodgers started the match with a mix of youth and experience, with youth players Colby Donovan and Matthew Anderson starting alongside the likes of Stephen Welsh, Tomoki Iwata, Reo Hatate, Luis Palma and Kyogo Furuhashi.

O’Riley, who started the match as captain with Callum McGregor on the bench, hit a first-half double to give the Hoops a 2-0 lead at half-time.

Newcomer Viljami Sinisalo made his debut when he replaced Scott Bain at half-time, with Yuki Kobayashi, Odin Holm, Yang and Johnston also in action.

After an hour, Rodgers made further changes, with McGregor, Forrest, Bosun Lawal, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Anthony Ralston and Greg Taylor all coming on.

And shortly afterwards it was 3-0 when Johnston fired the ball past the keeper to secure victory for Celtic.

Experienced winger Forrest, who has been at Parkhead for almost 16 years, provided the icing on the cake by making it 4-0, but Johnston missed a penalty in the closing stages.

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