Ange Postecoglou joked that Celtic’s Captain Marvel’s still “a bit rusty” after Callum McGregor’s inspirational display at Pittodrie this afternoon was rounded off beautifully with an 86th minute strike that gave the Scottish Champions and League leaders the three points to restore a nine points lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
IMAGO / Pro Sports Images. Celtic Manager Ange Postecoglou during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Aberdeen and Celtic at Pittodrie, on 17 December 2022. . Photo Stephen Dobsonx PSI
“He’s a bit rusty!” The Celtic manager joked in his post match interview with Sky Sports. “No, he’s such an important part of our team and we needed that today. It’s easy to say stick to the process when you’re on the sidelines, but when you’re out there it’s easy to get anxious.
Callum McGregorโs 90 vs Aberdeen:
๐ณ 170 passes completed (95% acc)
โ๏ธ 11 ball recoveries (3rd)
๐ 6 chances created (game high)
๐ฅ 5 shots (joint 1st)
๐ฏ 3 on target (game high)
๐ฅ 1 tackle
๐ช๏ธ 1 dribble
โฝ๏ธ 1 goal (thank f*ck)As good a return from injury as youโll ever see ๐ pic.twitter.com/r12WCWzVuv
— Hamill ๐บ๐ฆ (@CPHamill) December 17, 2022
“Cal kept the foot on the accelerator at the right time and he knew when to just keep the ball – you could see that when they tired at the end. We did awfully well without him but he is a fantastic footballer and he makes our team better.
“I was super happy to have him back in the side and he got what he deserved. He dictated the play in the middle of the park and made sure that we didn’t get too anxious about scoring, and took our time and he pulled off a great finish,” Ange Postecoglou noted.
๐ “๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ด๐ผ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐ด๐ฒ, ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ”
Another milestone for Celtic under Ange Postecoglou ๐ pic.twitter.com/Qu0owOMw6D
โ Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 17, 2022
On hearing that Callum’s winner today was the 200th goal since he took over as manager with 100 being at home and 100 away from home Ange Postecoglou had this to say: “The stat says we score goals. It’s who we want to be, home or away you saw our approach. We want to entertain our fans, we want to go at teams and play our football.
IMAGO / PA Images.ย Aberdeen v Celtic – cinch Premiership – Pittodrie Callum McGregor celebrates. Photo Steve Welsh
“It was really pleasing, i think they had one shot right at the end. It’s hard when you’re dominating a game like that, and a team is sitting so deep like that because you create the tempo and you’ve got to play the game.
“We created some chances that we’d normally put away but through that process we never moved away from our approach.
“It was great for the skipper to step up and it was a great way for him to come back into the team. We want to continue that and obviously it’s a difficult place to come to but we got our just rewards today.”
“He dictated the play in the middle of the park” ๐
Ange Postecoglou emphasises how important Callum McGregor is to this Celtic team ๐ข pic.twitter.com/BnSiszf4Nw
โ Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 17, 2022
Our national broadcaster at its best. Surprised they haven't used it as an excuse to rule the goal out. pic.twitter.com/xqEQJ08pUl
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) December 17, 2022
