Celtic Player Ratings v St. Johnstone

Celtic reached their maiden final under Ange Postecoglou on Saturday evening. It was an arduous slog for the Hoops which they eventually came through in the end. It wasn’t the most eye pleasing performance but wins are all the matters in cup competitions and that is exactly was Celtic achieved. 

Here is my player ratings from the match. 

Joe Hart - 6/10

I don’t recall any saves Joe Hart had to make. The Englishman had a few tentative moments with the ball at his feet although Hart still managed to help Celtic to a clean sheet in the semi final. 

Anthony Ralston - 7/10

Anthony Ralston had another performance which reflected his development this season. The new Scotland International was dogged, tough and all in all, hard to get by. Another thorough display from Ralston. 

Cameron Carter-Vickers - 8/10

Starting alongside Stephen Welsh once more, Cameron Carter-Vickers was frankly solid. The American played some great passes as well as going close to scoring. 

Stephen Welsh - 7/10

It was arguably the biggest game of Stephen Welsh’s young career this evening and he more than stepped up to the plate. The twenty one year old undoubtedly provides a more than sufficient option at the heart of the Celtic defence. 

Josip Juranovic - 8/10

Despite a couple of stray passes, Josip Juranovic had an overall tidy display. The full back went from one high to another this evening after securing Croatia a place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar midweek. It shows the quality Juranovic possesses with the fact he is consistently putting virtuous displays in his unnatural position. 

Nir Bitton - 9/10

I felt Nir Bitton had an outstanding display in the Celtic midfield today. The Israeli was rather harshly booked in the early stages of the match although he managed to keep his composure to have a typically silky, controlled performance in the remainder of the clash. 

Callum McGregor - 8/10

We seen Callum McGregor get a lot further forward than he usually does tonight. This is most likely due to the fact Nir Bitton’s presence gave the Scot the freedom to do so. McGregor was particularly prominent down the left side, linking up with Josip Juranovic and Jota ably. The twenty eight year old played the whole game, leading Celtic to their first final under his captaincy. 

David Turnbull - 6/10

David Turnbull had a rather quiet display in the Celtic midfield against St. Johnstone. The opposition limited Turnbull in creating many opportunities or taking several shots from range which he is so dangerous in doing. The twenty two year old had an early chance which he probably should’ve scored, however apart from this, Turnbull was fairly muted in the game. 

Liel Abada - 6/10

Similarly to Turnbull, Liel Abada had an early opportunity but endured to be quiet for the rest of the match. As I’ve spoke of previously, we cannot expect a youngster like Abada to be putting in consistent displays week in, week out. The twenty year old was replaced by eventual match winner James Forrest with around twenty minutes of normal time to go. 

Kyogo Furuhashi - 7/10

St. Johnstone’s defence done plenty to nullify the usually vitalised Kyogo Furuhashi. The Japanese though, put in a surfeit of off the ball work yet just couldn’t acquire any significant changes. You feel this might have been a game that suited a more physical forward like Giorgos Giakoumakis however injury prevented Ange Postecoglou from making the decision to bring the Greek in.  

Jota - 9/10

It was arguably one of the best displays Jota has had in a Celtic shirt so far on Saturday evening. It says a lot that he done this without even getting on the scoresheet. The Portuguese was unlucky not to grab himself a goal however his skilful trickery got several supporters off of their seats with his rabona cross being particularly striking. It is fair to say the twenty two year old came alive on the big stage.

Substitutes 

Ange Postecoglou made use of all five available substitutes this evening bringing on all of Albian Ajeti, Ismaila Soro, Mikey Johnston, James McCarthy and James Forrest. The three former were introduced in stoppage so there is little to report on them. James McCarthy was adequate for the seventeen or so minutes he played however the real substitute to talk about was James Forrest. The thirty year old scored his third and most important, at least so far, goal under Ange Postecoglou.  Forrest brought dynamism and drive down the right hand side which was perhaps missed with Liel Abada playing there prior to Forrest’s introduction. The Scot has a talismanic effect on Celtic and will surely be in the lineup at the BayArena on Thursday. 

This evening, Celtic took the next major step under Ange Postecoglou, reaching the final of the Scottish League Cup. The potential opponents in said final are Rangers and Hibernian who play each other in the second semi final on Sunday. 

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