Chris Sutton reckons that Celtic deserve enormous credit for coming through a tough run of four away fixtures unbeaten with three wins and a draw…
Starting with a first ever competitive win in Germany, a crucial victory at Pittodrie and two notable results at Ibrox with a spirited fightback from 2-0 down in the league match to earn a well deserved point then prevailing at the home of the Rangers in the Scottish Cup for the first time since 1957 via a penalty shoot-out triumph that absolutely broke the Rangers support.
Writing in his weekly newspaper column the former Celtic striker reckons that we are now set for what could potentially be a massive weekend in the race for the Scottish Premiership title.
On his former club, Sutton had this to say, while writing in Daily Record: “Martin O’Neill and this patchwork Celtic team deserve enormous credit for coming through such a brutal run of away fixtures unscathed.
“Not many would have backed them to got to Stuttgart, Aberdeen and Ibrox twice and reel off three wins and a draw that keeps them in the hunt for the league and in the Scottish Cup. There’s almost been a sense of relief from some fans that they survived with the season still alive. But they are far from out of the woods,” Sutton warned, once again talking up his admiration for today’s visitors to Celtic Park.
“Motherwell today might be the toughest game of the lot. Stuttgart was a dead rubber after the first leg and Aberdeen are not exactly in great shape. Coming back from 2-0 down to Rangers in the Premiership game was massive in the context of the title race, and edging Danny Rohl’s side out on penalties in the Scottish Cup would have been special.
“I’ve seen Celtic get a bit of criticism for the performance in the cup tie, with the accusation they sat in and played for penalties. I get that. It was far from pretty, and it’s never great when a team fails to register a single shot on goal,” Sutton noted.
“It was needs must for O’Neill though. Not many fans would have been confident when they saw the team sheet before kick-off. They were already missing key players like Cameron Carter-Vickers, Jota, Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels. To lose Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney looked ominous.
“They got the job done by hook or by crook though. It was almost a European style away performance, trying to absorb pressure and hit on the counter. They managed the former but didn’t get much of a look in with the latter. It did frustrate Rangers and their lack of quality in the final third killed them.
“But this is not a game plan that’s going to work against Motherwell. The struggle will be to find one that will,” Sutton warned.
Motherwell certainly played Celtic off the park in December at Fir Park, during the ill-considered and ill-fated reign of Wilfried Nancy. Celtic looked lost, baffled and beaten by their own board’s stupidity that night. It will have no bearing whatsoever on Martin O’Neill’s Celtic side this afternoon and how they get on against the impressive For Park outfit.
Look at it this way, how would Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic have got on away to VfB Stuttgart, Aberdeen and the Rangers twice? Three wins and a draw? Not a chance in hell.
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