Celtic finally got back to winning ways in the Scottish Premiership after having three weeks to stew over three successive losses before the break.
Camilo Duran and Benjamin Nygren both got on the scoresheet in a 2-0 win away at Fir Park against Motherwell on Sunday afternoon, as Martin O’Neill‘s side secured all three points and a clean sheet.
Viljami Sinisalo keeping a clean sheet was much-needed after the Hoops had conceded seven goals in their previous three games, making it three clean sheets in seven league outings this season for the Finland international.
Whilst there were plenty of positives for the Scottish giants to take from the win, Sebastian Tounekti’s display on the left flank could be viewed as a negative.
Why Celtic need more from Sebastian Tounekti
The Tunisia international was selected to start on the flank because Hyun-jun Yang came back from international duty with a hamstring injury, and Jota is not yet ready to start games after returning from his long-term ACL injury.
Tounekti had plenty of the ball and cannot be accused of shying or hiding away from responsibility, to his credit, as he took 74 touches in 74 minutes on the pitch.
However, Celtic need more from the forward because he failed to score or create a goal from those 74 touches and did not create any ‘big chances’ for his teammates.
|
Vs Motherwell |
Sebastian Tounekti |
|---|---|
|
Minutes |
74 |
|
Touches |
74 |
|
Crosses |
8 |
|
Key passes |
3 |
|
Assists |
0 |
|
Dribbles completed |
2/5 |
|
Shots on target |
2 |
|
Duels won |
4/10 |
There was plenty of nice approach play from the winger, who got down the line consistently, but his final pass or decision was not up to the level that the Hoops need from him.
Duran, meanwhile, showed Tounekti what a Celtic winger should be doing when he raced in from the right flank to open the scoring in the ninth minute with a stellar strike.
Celtic must drop forward who was worse than Tounekti
As frustrating as the Tunisian attacker’s end product was, the 24-year-old wide man was not the worst performer on the pitch for the Hoops against Motherwell.
O’Neill should be looking at centre-forward Kasper Hogh as the player who should be dropped from the starting line-up for the clash with Benfica in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The £11m signing from Bodo/Glimt in the summer was even worse than Tounekti in the win over Motherwell, despite providing the assist for Nygren’s goal.
His all-round display in the centre-forward position left far too much to be desired and his pass for the second goal should not cloud over the rest of his performance.
The Denmark international has now gone 12 matches without a goal for club and country and his general play as a striker is not making up for his lack of goals for the Hoops.
In the win over Motherwell, Hogh had fewer touches (31) than goalkeeper Sinisalo (64) and Tounekti (74) and came off the pitch without any shots on target at Fir Park.
|
Vs Motherwell |
Kasper Hogh |
|---|---|
|
Minutes |
73 |
|
Touches |
31 |
|
Shots |
5 |
|
Shots on target |
0 |
|
Dribbles |
0 |
|
Key passes |
1 |
|
Ground duels won |
1/2 |
|
Aerial duels won |
0/0 |
The Danish striker had five opportunities to hit the target and test the goalkeeper or score a goal, yet he saw three of his five shots blocked and two of his shots fly off target.
Hogh’s best chance came when Colby Donovan sent a sensational crossfield pass over to him to set up a one-on-one against a defender heading into the box, but he failed to create space to take a shot to test the goalkeeper.
It was very similar to a chance that the striker had against Rangers in the 3-0 loss to them in the League Cup, from a similar pass from Donovan, and he also failed to get a shot away in that situation.
His lack of mobility and athleticism allows defenders to get the better of him far too easily in one-on-one situations, as evidenced by his 30% success rate in ground duels in the league this season.
Hogh was even worse than Tounekti, who had more touches, won more duels, completed more passes, and created more chances for the team, and should be taken out of the side against Benfica.
Celtic may need more mobility at the top end of the pitch against the Portuguese giants, which is why Duran should be deployed up front and Haissem Hassan should come in on the right flank.