Football is like poetry; it tends to rhyme…
Fresh after signing a new contract at the club, Matt O’Riley’s 90+6-minute winner at Fir Park at the weekend is a tale that could only have been written by the football gods. Fast-forward four days and the football gods had karma on there minds as Pedro stole all three points for Lazio in the 95th minute of time.
In arguably Celtic’s best performance under Brendan Rodgers this season, fine margins decided the outcome of a game that the Celtic manager will feel his side had left behind them. Team selection was as expected from Rodgers, bar the inclusion of Yang over Palma.
His side started the game promisingly and got their just rewards after 12 minutes when Kyogo slotted home a brilliant Celtic move. Celtic continued to hold the upper hand in the game but lacked the quality and penetration in the final third to add to their lead, as Yang continually failed to fill the Jota gaped hole on the left side of the attack.
Lazio’s set piece equaliser came against the run of play and seemed to knock Celtic’s growing confidence in the game. In a pretty uneventful second half in terms of chances until the final ten minutes, Celtic dominated in terms of chance creation, creating double Lazio’s expected goals (0.51 to 0.24) and having six shots in the box compared to Lazio’s two in the second half.
The introduction of Luis Palma with just under half an hour left added a degree of quality to Celtic’s attacking play that had been lacking up to that point, and his cooly slotted finish on another day could have been a legitimate goal.
However, to the frustrations of the Honduran and the Parkhead faithful, it was not Celtic’s day. The loss certainly stings, and it would now take a small miracle for Rodgers to achieve his goal of staying in Europe past Christmas.
But huge positives can be taken.
This was a mature performance in the first home Champions League game of the Rodgers 2.0 era. His side displayed a consistency in their play that was lacking in Ange Postecoglou’s Champions League campaign last season.
Albeit however positive this Celtic performance was, the quality told. Failure to invest in key positions such as left back, defensive midfielder and arguably left winger has left Rodgers without the tools to progress in Europe’s premier competition. However, if the Irishman’s new look Celtic side can repeat this performance along with a greater degree of quality in the final third, they may spring a surprise or two in this group yet.
James French
Join The Celtic Star at the Kerrydale on Thursday 19 October when we celebrate the launch of Matt Corr’s new book Majic, Stan and the King of Japan which tells the story of Gordon Strachan’s first season as Celtic manager. We’ll have the trophies that the Celtic team won that season plus well delighted welcome our special guests John Hartson and Stephen McManus, both stars of that Celtic team.
And we have other guests to be announced later this week plus there’s live music from the wonderful Boolavogue. Tickets are selling fast for what is sure to be a wonderful night of Celtic conversation and music and you can order below…