Young Celtic stars shine in thumping friendly win at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light

THIS was a match played to celebrate Sunderland’s 20th anniversary at the Stadium of Light.

Yet in the bright Wearside sunshine it was Celtic, and in particular their young Scots stars Callum McGregor and James Forrest, who sparkled.

Held to a goalless draw by Rosenborg in their Champions League qualifier at Celtic Park four days ago, the Hoops performed with a genuine swagger here to boost hopes of success in Wednesday’s return in Trondheim.

McGregor grabbed a hat-trick, Jonny Hayes and Stuart Armstrong singles as they underlined their dominance with a flurry of goals.

“It was a really good showing,” said Brendan Rodgers, who, with Leigh Griffiths still a doubt for Norway, picked out Forrest’s performance in the lone striker role as especially pleasing.

“We used James up front and he was outstanding. During the week we played Tom there and it wasn’t quite as fluent.

“For James it was a lot more natural, for him to spin in behind and come underneath. He was very good at turning in tight spaces.

“I would have no hesitation in playing him there in Norway but it was nice to see it in a good level of game.

“As for Callum, he is someone who is always in my thinking. We look at the team for every game. He was outstanding today. His touches, his quality and his finishing.

“He has really grown within this squad, particularly in the last seven months.”

The draw with Rosenborg led Rodgers to field a stronger side here than might otherwise have been expected.

Kieran Tierney, Scott Sinclair, James Forrest and Callum McGregor, all first-team regulars last season, were in the starting line-up.

Also in the 11 was Olivier Ntcham, the £4.5 million signing from Manchester City and Jonny Hayes, the summer pick-up from Aberdeen.

Up against that lot, Sunderland might have struggled even if they had got off to a decent start.

As it was, they started badly, very badly in fact, and fell away.

Defender Lamine Kone made a total hash of collecting a ball from keeper Jason Steele, succeeding only in playing in Callum McGregor.

The Scot, an unused substitute in the first leg against Rosenborg, didn’t need a second invitation slotting the ball home with confidence.

Ten minutes later he was celebrating again, this time after finishing off a fine, flowing move involving Hayes, Forrest, Eboue Kouassi and Sinclair.

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Things were to get even more miserable for Sunderland as the hosts passed up the opportunity to pull one back from the penalty spot when Ntcham tripped George Honeyman in the box.

James Vaughan stepped up confidently enough but Hoops keeper Dorus de Vries was more than a match for him, palming away his initial effort then blocking his rebound attempt with his legs.

McGregor showed how it should be done with a perfectly taken spot-kick, sandwiched in between singles from Hayes and Stuart Armstrong, aided by a deflection off Vaughan.

“Hopefully, if I get the chance to play, then I can score again,” said McGregor, who has scored for Celtic in Warsaw, Maribor and Reykjavik in European competition.

“I’ll do my best for the team, just as I do every time I pull that jersey on. It would be great to get a goal.”

The one off-note of the day came from the travelling support, praised by Rodgers for the atmosphere they created, with a smoke canister thrown on to the pitch from the away end during play and several others let off before kick-off.

Sunderland: Steele, Jones (Matthews 77), Galloway, Kone (O’Shea 54), Browning, Cattermole (Gibson 77), Ndong, McGeady, Grabban (Asoro 65), Khazri (Honeyman 31), Vaughan. Subs not used: Mika, Love,, Embleton, Djilobodji, Stryjek

Celtic: De Vries; Ralston, Ajer (McCart 73), Tierney (Hill 64), Miller (Benyu 73); Kouassi (Aitchison 86), Ntcham (Bitton 46); Hayes (Armstrong 46), McGregor (Henderson 78), Sinclair (Rogic 46); Forrest (Ciftci 64). Sub not used: Hazard.