Celtic are on the verge of becoming Scottish Premiership champions again.
On Saturday, Brendan Rodgers masterminded his side to another win over Rangers – their third win in the Glasgow derby this season.
Matt O’Riley has shone in every single one of those matches, including opening the scoring at Parkhead with an outstanding low finish in the bottom corner.
Just like at Ibrox during the 3-3 thriller, Celtic started the game fast, maintained authority and it was only a matter of time before they were going to score.
After brilliant build-up play down the right channel, Callum McGregor played a fantastic well-weighted pass to the tucked-up O’Riley inside Rangers’ penalty box and he fired it past Jack Butland before he could scream and shout at his teammates.
Kenny Miller might have been waffling on about the red card to John Lundstram and not being able to comprehend that Celtic are the better team.
But he was wise enough to realise the brilliance of O’Riley, alongside Kris Boyd, and how he has had an ‘outstanding’ campaign for the club, as he told Sky Sports (11/05/24 at 1:05 pm).
The former striker hailed the midfielder’s finish as ‘incredible’ whilst berating the Rangers backline for giving him so much space – that’s 17 goals and 17 assists in all competitions this season.
One worrying point that Miller did touch upon was the future of the 23-year-old ahead of the summer transfer window, amid past January interest.
Transfer interest in Matt O’Riley
“It was an incredible finish,” said Miller. “Really good play in the build-up again – you can’t give top players that many opportunities or that much space in the box.
“He is having an incredible season. He is having an outstanding season, that’s why he drew so much interest around about the January transfer window and there is no doubt that there will be more interest in the summer.”
Keeping Matt O’Riley
The title party will officially start next week when Celtic host St Mirren on home soil for the final game of the season – the title can be sealed away at Kilmarnock on Wednesday night.
But there is still the matter of the Scottish Cup final on May 25 and this is Rodgers’ chance to, once again, stamp his authority and dominance at the club.
READ MORE: Celtic have advantage over Benfica in race for ‘exceptional’ ace with £17m clause
Many will be hoping this isn’t O’Riley bowing out because it would be a crying shame, even if ridiculous money is put on the table for his talents.
Celtic must do everything they can to try to keep the Denmark international because that would really lift the fans because he only recently signed a new contract, so from the perspective of value, they have a lot to fall back on.
The post 'No doubt': Kenny Miller makes confident Celtic transfer claim about ‘outstanding’ player appeared first on HITC.
from HITC https://ift.tt/mxGTLju
No comments: