The Celtic support are divided over today’s news that Leigh Griffiths has been given a new one year deal with the club. Griffiths has made 261 appearances for the Bhoys, scoring 123 goals. However, many of those appearances have been as a substitute over the last few seasons and thus his goal per minute ratio is much more impressive. Indeed, the striker averaged a goal every 0.87 matches until his spell on the sidelines due to mental health and physical fitness issues. Since then, he has not been quite as prolific but still boasts an impressive strike rate of a goal in every 1.11 matches.
Regardless of the debate over his contract extension, one thing is certain – Leigh is still a top goalscorer. With that in mind, we tracked down footage of the crucial goals that he scored for Celtic last season.
- With the score locked at 0-0 in Perth, Griffiths came on as a late substitute to put Celtic ahead in the last minute against St Johnstone.
- Two games later, he was at it again. This time scoring the equaliser at Pittodrie.
- After scoring against Sparta Prague on 5 November, Griffiths netted in the 2-0 victory over Ross County a month later, before producing an instinctive finish to give Celtic the lead in extra time of the Scottish Cup Final. Ultimately helping to secure the quadruple treble, via penalty kicks, few goals come as important as this one.
- A week after winning the quadruple treble, Celtic beat Hamilton 3-0 at New Douglas Park. Griffiths got on the scoresheet and hit the post in that match, whilst he scored against the same opponents at Paradise in January 2021. He had fallen out of favour again by that stage and thus had to wait until April to score his next goal. It was another crucial strike as he rescued a point against Aberdeen with a header in the last minute.
In the worst case scenario, these video clips show that Leigh can still be an effective super sub when the Bhoys are in need of a goal. Although, we very much hope that he is now back to full fitness and ready to commit his best football to Celtic throughout the entirety of the campaign. If so, he will undoubtedly be an asset to Ange Postecoglou.
