Five shots on goal, five duels won… 21-year-old produced his best performance this season for Celtic yesterday

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Mikey Johnston has been receiving all the plaudits for his role in Celtic’s 3-0 win over Dundee yesterday.

Rightly so. Because the Celtic winger has been getting a lot of criticism lately for his inconsistent performances in the green and white hoops so it is only just that he gets the credit when it’s deserved.

However, there is one other player that played out of his skin yesterday and that was young Paulo Bernardo.

The on-loan Benfica man has been a bit part player this season but after his performance yesterday, it is little wonder the Celtic fans are calling for him to start against Rangers on Saturday.

Paulo Bernardo was outstanding for Celtic in win vs Dundee

Rated an impressive 8.3 by football stats site, Fotmob, Bernardo’s Dens Park outing was his best performance of the season.

In the 90 minutes he was on the pitch, Bernardo had 57 touches of the ball. Of those he made 40 passes with a success rate of 93%.

On top of scoring his first goal for Celtic, the 21-year-old also created a chance, had five further shots on goal, and nine touches in the Dundee box.

Defensively, Bernardo put in a shift as he made two clearances, seven ball recoveries and nine defensive actions.

Bernardo also won five duels and never lost any of his aerial battles. It was a really accomplished performance from the youngster and one that has definitely played him into contention to start against Rangers this Saturday.

And Celtic will need him to be on top form. Struggling to have Reo Hatate fit, Brendan Rodgers needs someone he can rely on to put on a show against the Hoops’ biggest rivals.

With Odin Thiago Holm and David Turnbull not trusted recently, it looks like it could be down to Bernardo to help push Celtic to a crucial Glasgow Derby win.

In other news, ‘100%’… Former SFA official believes VAR failed Celtic in Dundee win yesterday