Journalist Craig Swan was blown away by Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley after his ‘sublime’ display in the Old Firm.
In their most recent Scottish Premiership outing, the Bhoys overcame their city rivals with a dominant 4-0 win that saw two goals from Liel Abada and further strikes from Jota and David Turnbull seal points.
And while the goalscorers will always likely take plenty of the acclaim, there seemed to be one man at the heart of things in a creative sense pulling the strings from midfield.
Indeed, this was noted by Swan in his player ratings for the Daily Record, as he handed O’Riley an 8/10 for his efforts and highlighted his passing ability.
He wrote: “Alert and alive to a quick throw-in and he delivered a cross for Abada to open the scoring and sublime through pass for Jota to bag the second. In the box at the third and a constant threat.”
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TIF Thoughts on Matt O’Riley and Celtic…
It seems as though Swan’s claims are pretty well backed up by the statistics provided on SofaScore. Indeed, the Dane finished the match with match highs of four key passes, two big chances created and two assists, while he also completed three out of three long balls.
Looking at those rather impressive stats, it’s fair to say the Celtic midfielder found his passing range on the day and played a key role in helping his side win such an important match.
O’Riley has started all six of the club’s games this season, providing five assists and being named in SofaScore’s Team of the Week on three occasions so far, proving just how important he has been to Ange Postecoglou. After such a fine start, he will no doubt already be aiming to win the league – and may well get what he wants if he can maintain this form.