![\"Martin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NJLR727EK2BD5IDBADT446OPWQ.jpg\")
Martin O’Neill, manager of Celtic. Photograph: Christian Bruna\/Getty <\/p>\nTroy Parrott comes on for Cucho Hernandez in the 71st minute to make his Real Betis debut.<\/p>\n
Full-time: Valencia 0 Real Betis 1<\/p>\n
A win for the Spanish side in their second game of the season. Good start for Parrott off the bench. Job done! He\u2019ll be in contention to start the next game after that you\u2019d think.<\/p>\n
Then a big defensive contribution by Parrott as he clears the ball in the box out for a Valencia corner. Otorbi looking tricky on the wing. Plenty involved is Parrott anyway.<\/p>\n
Parrott\u2019s substitution has helped change the game, although more credit may go to Pablo Garcia who scored the goal and has been equally lively. Valencia have had a few chances through Sadiq.<\/p>\n
Parrott pushed off the ball as Valencia pour on the attacks to get an equaliser.<\/p>\n
Parrott makes a run in behind again, but not a good touch this time and the defender kicks it away.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, it\u2019s a goal for Lask! Oh dear, Celtic are heading to extra-time after conceding a 90th minute goal. Flecker with a goal.<\/p>\n
Goal for Betis!<\/p>\n
And Parrott is well involved. Great touch by Parrott on the break again, fantastic flick that Ireland fans are used to seeing. Parrott shows his strength against the defender and flicks to get it to Pablo Garcia, who plays it to Fran Garcia. Great low pullback to the edge of the Garcia who cracks it into the corner. Brilliant finish.<\/p>\n
Valencia 0 Real Betis 1<\/p>\n
Bellerin, formerly of Arsenal and now looking like a 1970s rock star with long curly hair and a moustache, tries a cheeky looping half-volley over the keeper, was just offside though.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a hydration break, an update on the other games. Celtic are still hanging on with 85 minutes gone, 4-3 on aggregate there. Nathan Collins has scored again, a double for the centre-back, as Brentford lead Birmingham 6-1 in the EFL Cup.<\/p>\n
Parrott is looking sharp so far, confident to take a hold of the ball. He drops outside the box and plays a quick pass to Antony, who tries to curl it in his traditional style, but straight at the keeper.<\/p>\n
From a counter, Betis have a great chance, Parrott is in the box, but Antony finds Fornals in the box and he takes an awful touch to lose the ball.<\/p>\n
Oh wow, he nearly scored immediately! He got the ball through and just pulled a shot wide. Seemed like it was offside, but almost an incredible impact.<\/p>\n
Troy Parrott is on for his debut! On the 71st minute, he replaces Cucho. Great moment, looks good in the green.<\/p>\n
Cucho Hernandez blazes the ball way over the bar from distance and the TV camera pans straight to Parrott getting instructions on the bench. He\u2019s warming up!<\/p>\n
Goal for Nathan Collins for Brentford as their good start to the season continues, they lead 3-1 against Birmingham in the EFL Cup. Lincoln are winning 4-1 against Blackpool but Melia is off without a goal.<\/p>\n
Real Betis make subs… but no Parrott. Isco comes on for Riquelme, Garcia on for Junior Firpo. Isco is a baller and is always a welcome addition to any pitch, but still waiting on the main man.<\/p>\n
Some worry for Martin O\u2019Neill! Celtic have conceded twice in quick succession, Ljubicic and Adeniran put Lask 3-1 up and it\u2019s 4-3 on aggregate. A game on now there with more than 30 minutes left to play in Austria. Surely Celtic can\u2019t blow a 4-0 aggregate lead?<\/p>\n
Martin O’Neill, manager of Celtic. Photograph: Christian Bruna\/Getty <\/p>\n
No changes at half-time by either manager. Betis start the half with a lot of territory in Valencia\u2019s third.<\/p>\n
Half-time: Valencia 0 Real Betis 0<\/p>\n
A drab game that needs a spark. Luckily we have just the man for you Mr Pellegrini on the bench.<\/p>\n
In the EFL Cup, a goal from Tom Cannon has put Sheffield United 1-0 up against Blackburn. Corey O\u2019Keeffe has scored for Barnsley as they lead 3-1 against Crewe.<\/p>\n
Mason Melia is playing his first game for Lincoln in the EFL Cup tonight. No goal yet, but he has been booked.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a hydration break, World Cup-style, but then it is 34 degrees at night in Valencia, can\u2019t blame them. Riquelme looks the pick of the Betis forwards so far, Antony looking more like his Man United self.<\/p>\n
Celtic v Lask is 1-1, Celtic leading there 4-1 on aggregate. McGregor and Usor with the goals. Azerbaijani side Sabah are heading to the Champions League as they lead Hapoel Beer Sheva 6-4 on aggregate.<\/p>\n
A long ball over the top and Cucho Hernandez, Parrott\u2019s striker rival, shows his pace. Hernandez takes up the role of Artem Dovbyk from last year\u2019s Roma episode with Evan Ferguson. The other guy.<\/p>\n
A promising counter by Betis, with Riquelme at the heart of it but Antony breaks it down losing the ball then they play a long ball out of play.<\/p>\n
A slow start for Betis, a cagey opening for both teams, struggling to make things stick up front. Two good chances for Valencia, Danjuma and Sato with decent efforts.<\/p>\n
The match is under way in Valencia anyway, no sign of Troy yet on the TV coverage. But he is on the bench, ready to pounce if called upon at any point!<\/p>\n
In other soccer news, Manchester United<\/a>\u00a0have completed the signing of the Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba in a deal worth up to \u00a370m (\u20ac81m)<\/a>. The Cameroon international is the third midfielder to join this summer, after Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans.<\/p>\n Playing tonight also is Celtic against LASK in a Champions League qualifier, they\u2019re 3-0 up from the first leg. Liam Scales is on the bench there.<\/p>\n Parrott doesn\u2019t start.<\/p>\n Cucho Hernandez keeps his place in the team.<\/p>\n Real Betis: Valles; Ortiz, Gomez, Llorente, Firpo; Fornals, Bernal, Deossa; Antony, Hernandez, Riquelme<\/p>\n Real Betis are adding to the hype anyway with two social media posts about Parrott in the past five minutes. One with his jersey, number 19 looking pristine, and one with a young fan with a flag \u201cwhat\u2019s the craic Troy?\u201d<\/p>\n Read Gavin Cooney\u2019s profile of Parrott:<\/p>\n \u201cForsaking English football has been the making of Parrott.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce he established himself in the Netherlands, Parrott spoke with his customary eloquence as to why he got out of England. The style and pace of play in the Eredivisie suited him, while he also got away from some of the external pressure.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Trying to live up to the hype at such a young age, it was never going to happen that early because football isn\u2019t so easy,\u2019 he said in 2024. \u2018For me it was more about growing up a bit and trying to block out the noise.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n [\u00a0Troy Parrott is off to Real Betis. Forsaking English football has been the making of himOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n In case you were living under a rock, Irish striker Troy Parrott<\/a> has signed for Real Betis<\/a> from AZ Alkmaar last week and Ireland\u2019s hat-trick hero from Budapest could make his debut tonight in La Liga<\/a>, as Betis play Valencia at 8pm in the Mestalla. We await manager Manuel Pellegrini\u2019s confirmed team, the instinct is that Parrott might come off the bench, but starting would be welcome.<\/p>\n Pellegrini said he is \u201cready to play\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cTroy has not been working with us for a long time,\u201d Pellegrini said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe joined us only a day before the last game. But he has been working hard and he is on the list because he is ready to play.\u201d<\/p>\n Betis, who are in the Champions League this season, won their first game against Real Sociedad thanks to a Rodrigo Riquelme goal. With Antony likely a lock on one wing and Riquelme on the other, Betis have been playing Colombia\u2019s Cucho Hern\u00e1ndez as central striker, who scored a not-to-shabby 11 La Liga goals last season. That\u2019s who Parrott has to dislodge from the team, although it beats playing in the Championship for West Ham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Troy Parrott comes on for Cucho Hernandez in the 71st minute to make his Real Betis debut. Full-time:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,27562,105153,112,44452],"class_list":["post-604503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-la-liga","tag-real-betis","tag-sports","tag-troy-parrott"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}