The Celtic performance against Dundee was not one of the best under Brendan Rodgers.
Whilst it was hardly the worst, the first half in particular was a bit of a hard watch as Celtic struggled to break the deadlock.
But whilst the Hoops huffed and puffed in the first half, the second half showed exactly why Celtic are the current champions and why Matt O’Riley was named in the WhoScored Team of The Week. [Sky Sports]
The Danish u21 midfielder played 73 minutes of the 3-0 win and was rated a magnificent 7.96 by the football analysis website.
O’Riley had two shots on target and scored for Celtic in the win whilst making two key passes, two long balls and completing two successful dribbles. He also made 39 completed passes in the game which converted to an impressive 84.8% success rate. And defensively, according to SofaScore, O’Riley also won all four out of his four duels.
The 22-year-old midfielder has been absolutely immense for Celtic this season. In six appearances, O’Riley has already scored three goals and created two.
His performance against Rangers was a particular highlight as he pulled the strings to ensure Celtic took all three points from Ibrox. It’s little wonder he attracted a, albeit derisory, £10m bid from Leeds United.
Former Celtic midfielder, Peter Grant has been a huge fan of O’Riley ever since he coached him at Fulham. Calling the Hoops star ‘fantastic‘, Grant also hailed O’Riley’s midfield performance against Rangers as a ‘masterclass‘.
Celtic are reportedly looking to offer O’Riley a new contract soon and that will be a move welcomed by all Celtic fans.
However, next up for the Hoops and O’Riley is the challenge that Feyenoord will pose on Tuesday night and Brendan Rodgers will be hoping that his 22-year-old midfielder will be on top form once more as Celtic look to get their Champions League campaign off to a winning start.
In other news, Four tackles, 92% passing accuracy: 23-year-old may have played his way into Celtic’s CL starting line-up