Celtic moved one step closer to clinching a fourth successive Scottish Premiership title on Saturday with a hard-fought 5-2 win over St Mirren away from home.
The Hoops took advantage of Rangers losing 2-1 to Motherwell by winning their match and extending their lead at the top of the table to a staggering 16 points.
It now feels like a matter of when, not if, Brendan Rodgers and his men will be parading the trophy around Parkhead and Glasgow, with just nine matches left to be played.
The Scottish giants did make hard work of their win over St Mirren, though, as they were pegged back at 1-1 and 2-2 before going on to win the game comfortably.
There was a touch of controversy around the victory, however, as Alistair Johnston’s studs-up challenge, as shown above, went unpunished by the referee or VAR.
Rodgers will focus on things that he can control, though, and he may not have been too pleased with the performance of his starting centre-forward, Adam Idah.
Adam Idah’s performance against St Mirren
The Ireland international was recalled to the starting line-up by the Northern Irish head coach after Daizen Maeda had been selected ahead of him as the number nine in the 5-1 win over Aberdeen in the previous match.
It was a huge chance for the summer signing from Norwich City to prove to the manager that he has what it takes to start regularly for the Hoops, rather than playing a back-up role behind Maeda for the rest of the campaign.
Unfortunately, it was an opportunity that the 24-year-old marksman did not take, which tracks with his performances over the course of this season, as he failed to put in a strong performance at the top end of the pitch.
|
Vs St Mirren |
Adam Idah |
|---|---|
|
Minutes |
64 |
|
Shots |
0 |
|
Key passes |
1 |
|
Dribbles completed |
0/1 |
|
Duels won |
0/2 |
|
Pass accuracy |
71% |
As you can see in the table above, Idah offered very little in the final third, with no efforts on goal in 64 minutes, and did not provide the physicality that he is capable of, standing at 6 foot 3, with zero duels won.
The Irish attacker, who has only scored eight goals from 10.28 xG in the Premiership this season, has been wasteful in front of goal in the division, but did not even manage to get the better of defenders to work the goalkeeper against St Mirren.
This shows that the opposition defenders were able to easily outmuscle and ease the former Norwich academy graduate out of the game before he was taken off in the 64th minute.
Therefore, Rodgers must instantly and ruthlessly drop Idah straight back down to the bench for next weekend’s SFA Cup quarter-final clash with Hibernian.
The Celtic star who should replace Adam Idah
Whilst Maeda, who has scored 26 goals in all competitions this season, should replace Idah as the starting centre-forward, moving across from a wide position, Rodgers must bring in a player from the bench to take the Irishman’s place in the starting line-up.
The former Leicester City and Liverpool head coach has plenty of options to pick from, including Johnny Kenny, Jota, and Hyun-jun Yang – who were all on the bench to start with against St Mirren.
It is Yang, however, who should be given the nod to start out wide against Hibernian in the SFA Cup clash, because his outstanding cameo on Saturday should be rewarded by Rodgers.
As you can see in the clip above, Yang made it 3-2 to Celtic with a terrific header after coming off the bench, before he also assisted Maeda’s goal to make it 4-2 and then added a fifth for the Hoops with another header in stoppage time.
It was a terrific cameo from the South Korean star, who earned the Player of the Match award despite playing 25 minutes, and that is why he should be unleashed from the start against Hibernian to give him the chance to showcase his quality from minute one.
Hyun-jun Yang’s progression this season
It is fair to say that Yang has progressed since his debut campaign with the Hoops last term, as he has offered far more to the team at the top end of the pitch.
After the win over St Mirren, Rodgers suggested that the player’s girlfriend being in the country has helped him to shine on the pitch, and that is something that supporters may not think about, as Yang arrived at Celtic last summer in a new country, a new continent, and may not have felt entirely comfortable without his family or loved ones.
He has now had over 18 months to acclimate to life in Glasgow and having his partner with him has seemingly allowed him to flourish on the pitch.
|
Hyun-jun Yang (Premiership) |
23/24 |
24/25 |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances (starts) |
24 (10) |
17 (8) |
|
Goals |
1 |
4 |
|
Big chances created |
5 |
3 |
|
Key passes per game |
0.9 |
0.9 |
|
Assists |
3 |
2 |
As you can see in the table above, Yang has already racked up more direct goal contributions than he managed in the league last season, despite playing seven fewer matches so far.
At the time of his move from Gangwon in the summer of 2023, his former club president Kim Byung-ji claimed that the young winger has immense potential and compared him to another South Korean sensation, saying: “I hope Yang will continue to grow. He could easily become a world class player like Son Heung-min.”
Whilst it remains to be seen if he will go on to score 126 goals in the Premier League, as Son has, Yang is on the right track at Celtic, as shown by his progression this season.
The 22-year-old star has produced five goals and six assists in all competitions for the Scottish giants and will be hoping to add to that tally if he is included in the starting line-up on the flank against Hibernian next weekend.
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Rodgers has unearthed his next Idah in Celtic star with “incredible pace”
The Celtic head coach may have found his new Adam Idah in the impressive loan star.
His incredible showing off the bench, coupled with Idah’s poor display from the start, suggests that Rodgers should drop the Irish striker in order to unleash Yang in the quarter-final clash.
