Celtic restore pride with tour win

Melbourne Victory 0 Celtic 1

Celtic finished their three-match tour of Australia with a 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory at Ammi Park today.

A second-half goal from substitute Scott Brown was enough to give Neil Lennon’s side their second victory Down Under.

A 1-0 defeat by Central Coast Mariner in Celtic’s opening game was followed up by a 2-0 success over Perth Glory.

The Parkhead club, skippered by their Greece striker Georgios Samaras as a tribute to the big Greek community in the city, were worthy of their win in what was another highly-competitive friendly match.

And had it not been for home goalkeeper Tando Velaphi, the margin of victory for Lennon’s side would have been greater.

In front of a crowd of 20,794, many of whom were backing the Glasgow club, the 24-year-old pulled off a string of fine saves to thwart the Hoops, only to be beaten by Brown’s 78th minute drive.

He twice denied Samaras in the first half and his save from Charlie Mulgrew’s free-kick just after the break, when he tipped the ball over the bar, was particularly impressive.