Celtic Fan View: 3 talking points after beating the Accies

It was just another day at the office for Celtic as Brendan Rodgers’ men saw off Hamilton Accies without too much fuss. The 2-0 victory at Celtic Park means the Bhoys stretched their winning run domestically to 21 consecutive matches- and 32 unbeaten- as they now move to within five wins of the title.

In a largely comfortable afternoon for the champions, here are three talking points from the 90 minutes.

Magical Moussa

Despite being untroubled during the vast majority of this game, there was some spark lacking at the top end of the pitch for the Hoops. That was until Moussa Dembele curled home a sublime shot from 25 yards on the stroke of half-time. It was wonderful piece of individual skill that was perfectly timed and it was a sign of how confident the 20-year-old is.

He scored again in the second half which took his tally to 29 in all competitions and there’s every chance he’ll better Leigh Griffiths’ total of 40 goals from last season. So much has been said about his talent, how far he can go and how big a fee he’ll command when he inevitably leaves Parkhead to make the next step in his career. But it’s important the Hoops faithful enjoy watching the Frenchman prosper on a week-to-week basis as he enhances his reputation and follows in the footsteps of legends.

A statistic that shows just how massive an impact Dembele’s had since signing from Fulham last summer is that he’s scored more goals in his debut season than Henrik Larsson (19), Chris Sutton (14), John Hartson (24) Gary Hooper (22), Georgios Samaras (17), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (18) and Anthony Stokes (19). He’s the best striker the club have had since Larsson which is already some compliment and like the Swede he came up with a moment of magic when his team needed it to ease the frustration. Dembele definitely has a great chance of reaching heights similar to that of Celtic’s legendary number seven.

Lacking imagination

This was the third time the sides have met in two months and on every occasion the South Lanarkshire outfit have made life difficult for the league leaders. The previous meetings between the teams finished 1-0 and 3-0 in Celtic’s favour and they were prevented from engaging ‘rampant mode’ once again by Martin Canning’s men.

The fact that it took until the 45th minute for Celtic to break the deadlock is testament to how well Accies were organised defensively as they didn’t offer much space or opportunities with the host’s best chance falling to Stuart Armstrong well beyond the 30th minute. There was no typical green and white seige on their goal as Accies admirably stuck to their plan, remaining disciplined and staying in the game.

The three encounters between the teams in such a short space of time have undoubtedly been among the more testing for Rodgers’ charges as they’ve been well contained and eventually ground out a result instead of steamrolling the opposition. It’s not the first time Celtic have been tamed at Parkhead either; Dundee, Partick Thistle and St.Johnstone have all frustrated the Hoops by keeping 10 men behind the ball and remaining resolute in a deep block.

Rodgers touched on this in his post game assessment: “When teams sit in that deep, it’s always difficult. We still have moments where we could find the final pass a little bit better,” he said. This is where Tom Rogic’s presence is sorely missed, someone who possesses the vision and invention to carve out opportunities with the little room they’re afforded. It might also be an area worth strengthening in the summer transfer market.

On the spot

Moussa Dembele clearly doesn’t let nerves get the better of him. The moment he stepped up to take the spot kick on Saturday there was only going to be one outcome- the ball would end up in the net. This was the striker’s ninth penalty in Celtic colours and he’s calmly dispatched eight of those. The only one he’s missed was in Barcelona and that wouldn’t have had any bearing on the final result anyway.

He’s taken penalties of far greater significance such as the one against Astana in stoppage time during the Champions League qualification stages or against Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany and there was also the one in the League Cup final. His killer instinct and composure from 12 yards is a poignant reminder of the player he is; fearless, ready to take responsibility, confident and ultimately good enough to get the job done.