set to step up his search for a new striker.
Levein missed out on signing St Mirren striker Steve Lovell last week and
hopes to boost his strikeforce with a new arrival before Monday’s friendly
with Inter Milan.
City impressed against the Scottish Cup holders and should have gone ahead
within two minutes.
Mark De Vries caught the visitors’ defence napping and squared to strike
partner Dion Dublin, who was upended as he squeezed the trigger with the
goal gaping.
But Celtic keeper Artur Boruc dropped to his left to keep out Dublin’s spot
kick.
DeVries was a bustling, uncompromising presence throughout the opening half. He dispossessed Stanislav Varga and forced Boruc to race from his line and smother at his feet and had another near-post effort well saved.
He also sent a second-half header whistling just over the bar.
The quartet of new signings who featured – Rab Douglas, Momo Sylla,
Nils-Eric Johansson and substitute Patrik Gerrbrand – all showed up well.
Sylla was the pick – his pace and quick feet gave the Celtic midfield plenty
to think about and a bit of wizardry that took him past a couple of
defenders brought fans to their feet.
Johannson and Douglas were largely underemployed against a visiting side who had to wait until the 28th minute for their first effort on target.
Celtic were never going to fully exert themselves a week before the start of
their European campaign, but the action was always competitive.
The only disappointment for a crowd of 13,084 was the sight of teenager
James Wesolowksi being stretchered off a minute before the break.
Wesolowski had fared well in the pre-season tour of Norway and faces an
anxious wait to discover how serious the injury is. He has a suspected broken leg.
City: Douglas, Maybury, Stearman, Wesolowski (Gudjonsson 45), McCarthy, Johansson (Gerrbrand 76), Sylla, Williams, Dublin, de Vries (O'Grady 84), Tiatto © (Wilcox 76). Subs not used: Henderson, Sheehan.
Celtic: Boruc, Irvine (Beattie), Balde, Varga, Camara, Petrov, Lennon, Sutton, McGeady (Wallace), Hartson (Aliadiere), Zurawski.