Celtic beat St. Johnstone 1-0 on Wednesday in the sixth matchday of the Scottish Premiership. Even so, the team was far from impressing head coach Martin O’Neill.
Despite dominating possession with 60% and posting an expected goals (xG) of 2.22 against the rivals’ 0.77, the Hoops struggled to convert the chances they created.
With 15 total shots and 9 on target, they could only score the goal that would finally give them the victory. One change in particular caught attention in the starting XI for this match: the exclusion of Colombian attacker Camilo Duran.
At the end of the match, speaking to Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, O’Neill made a blunt admission that also sent a strong message to his squad, especially his forwards.
Celtic Beats St. Johnstone 1-0 but Fails to Impress O’Neill
The admission has to do precisely with Duran. Celtic’s boss acknowledged that he thought they would do better than they did without the Colombian.
He said, “(Camilo) Durán doesn’t start for us. He’s just been class, and he looked tired in the game against St Mirren. But I’m not surprised for the amount of things that he does for us, both with the ball, which is terrific, and also the work that he does off it.”
“He’s second only to Daizen (Maeda) in terms of closing players down. So I wanted to try and see if we could do without him, and the answer is probably not.”
This season Duran has the same goal contributions as matches played: 9. He records 6 goals and 3 assists considering Premiership, League Cup and previous Champions League rounds.
In the match against St. Mirren on Sept. 5, he contributed an assist; before that, against Aberdeen on Sept. 2, he scored a goal and provided an assist. In those matches, he played 83 and 75 minutes, respectively, while against St. Johnstone he played only 17 minutes.
Duran arrived at Celtic this summer from Azerbaijani side Qarabag for 5.5 million euros, according to Transfermarkt.
What Is Next for Celtic In September?
Next up for Celtic are two important derbies against Rangers on Sunday, Sept. 13, for the Scottish League Cup quarterfinals and on Sept. 20 for the seventh matchday of the Premiership. In both matches, they will not be able to count on Yang Hyun-jun, as the South Korean will leave to play in the Asian Games with his national team.
Between the two derbies, they will also host Ferencvaros for the opening matchday of the UEFA Europa League on Sept. 17.
Celtic Boss Makes Blunt Admission With Strong Message for Squad