Celtic Fan View: Three talking points as Tierney becomes Hoops centurion

Celtic left it late but their patience paid off as they squeezed past Ross County at Dingwall. The 1-0 win in the Highlands extended the Hoops’ unbeaten domestic run to 64 matches and sets them up nicely for the trip to Paris-Saint Germain and the League Cup final against Motherwell next week. As the Bhoys march on we look at three talking points from the 90 minutes….

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Leigh responds positively

Last week on this platform I called on some of Celtic’s more prominent players to step up their form ahead of a massive period in the season. One of them was Leigh Griffiths who’s found himself on the substitutes’ bench of late after Moussa Dembele’s return from injury. It was key for the forward to remain patient and be efficient with the opportunities he’s given.

Griffiths was sent on in the 65th minute to provide some spark to a fairly dull performance. He did just that by curling home an exquisite free-kick 13 minutes later which turned out to be the winner. What will also please the Hoops faithful is the attitude Griffiths showed during his time on the pitch.

The Scotland international didn’t sulk because of his lack of starting opportunities of late. Instead he was aggressive, focused, he chased down everything and his quality swung the match in the Celts’ favour.

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100 up for KT

He’s only 20 but Kieran Tierney plays the game like a veteran. His career is certainly taking a trajectory veterans would be proud of. He made his landmark 100th appearance for his boyhood club at Dingwall, winning 4 major honours in the process as well as captaining both club and country in that time.

It’s remarkable that someone so young has played so many games for Celtic and at the same time had the influence on the team that Tierney consistently does. That was evident against the Staggies as he was defensively solid yet again showing the leadership qualities to help his team get over the line.

Brendan Rodgers said it best in his post-match comments: “He never has a bad game. He’s at least seven or eight-out-of-10 every time he plays. He then goes into nine and 10-out-of-10 sometimes. He’s so full of enthusiasm and he’s a wonderful young talent.”

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Bad pitch disrupts flow

It was a largely frustrating afternoon for the champions as the poor surface disrupted the rhythm of the side. If a bobble on the surface didn’t take the momentum out of attacks then the plethora of divots would definitely stop Celtic from building momentum in the match. The standard of the surface was shocking and nowhere near fit for the top flight.

The fact that the goal came from a set-piece was no surprise and it makes the win even more important. This was a potential banana skin especially heading into the late stages with the score level. But even with that obstacle in the way the Bhoys’ class told which helped them increase the gap on their nearest challengers when it could have been very different.