£8m Celtic star looks like another Nygren in the making under O'Neill

What a Sunday of Premiership football, and what a title race, with Scottish champions Celtic more than playing their part amid a stunning comeback at Rugby Park.

All eyes were on events at Ibrox later in the day, although the Hoops had the chance to apply some early pressure with a positive result against an improving Kilmarnock side under Neil McCann.

What followed was the cliched game of two halves, with Martin O’Neill‘s men having trailed by two at the break following a simply dismal opening 45, before a trio of changes sparked the visitors into life after the interval.

An unlikely hero emerged at the death as Julian Araujo – whom some have suggested is still celebrating his stoppage-time winner – lashed in from close range to make it 3-2, with that coming after yet another strike for the in-form Benjamin Nygren to level things up.

The polarising Swede certainly has his critics, but boy does he know where the back of the net is.

Nygren’s performance in numbers vs Kilmarnock

What a peculiar figure Nygren is, a playmaker who can look so off the pace in one act, although so deadly in front of goal in another.

Like many of his teammates, the 24-year-old was perhaps fortunate not to be hooked at half-time following a lifeless early showing, with O’Neill’s side having shown no midfield cohesion, prior to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s entrance at the break.

Write Nygren off at your peril, however, with the elegant left-footer ultimately proving integral in the second-half fight back, showcasing his poacher’s instinct to prod home from close range after some penalty area pinball on the hour mark.

A cynic might suggest he is emerging as something of Celtic’s answer to Cyriel Dessers, a flawed and oft-maligned individual who still manages to get on the scoresheet, although regardless, there’s no denying Nygren’s growing importance, having surged up to 13 Premiership goals for the season after that latest effort.

Now level with Motherwell’s Tawanda Maswanhise at the top of the scoring charts, the former Gothenburg man has now scored five times in his last six league appearances, proving such a ruthless and reliable option in the absence of a clinical centre-forward.

Nygren stats vis Killie
Stat	Record
Minutes	90+
Touches	50
Pass accuracy	84%
Key passes	2
Goals	1
Assists	0
Possession lost	11
Shots	4
Dribbles	2/3
Prog.carries	2

Of course, the rest of his game can be questioned at times, having lost the ball 11 times from just 50 touches, while providing only two progressive carries, although on another day when O’Neill needed him to step up, the Scandinavian star delivered the goods.

On current evidence, Nygren looks set to be integral in this title race, although he certainly can’t do it alone.

Celtic could have another Nygren in the making

There felt something seismic about Sunday’s performance, and not just the result, with a changing of the guard having occurred in that second half, with the likes of Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate both replaced.

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Up stepped Sebastian Tounekti to emerge as Celtic’s new attacking threat off the left, while Oxlade-Chamberlain showed his class centrally, having immediately picked out fellow substitute Tomas Cvancara with a delightful ball in behind with almost his first involvement.

Cvancara, it must be said, should have done better with his tame attempt from the angle, although the Czech striker immediately offered a greater threat than deadline day arrival Junior Adamu, having replaced the Austrian at half-time.

Adamu, for what it’s worth, was starved of service and did effectively hold the ball up in the opening 45, yet it was hard to ignore the difference in impact and quality following Cvancara’s introduction.

The towering centre-forward simply occupies centre-backs for more impressively, having been at the heart of things for Nygren’s equaliser, following a looping, long throw from Araujo.

As for the winner at the death, Cvancara turned his man beautifully with a drop of the shoulder, before sliding the ball across the box for Araujo to convert, sparking some of the best scenes seen anywhere all season in the away end.

It would be fair to say that there is a clumsy, almost ungainly style to Cvancara’s game at times, in a similar mould to Nygren, with the on-loan Borussia Monchengladbach man having only boasted a 50% pass accuracy rate, losing the ball five times from just nine touches.

Like Nygren, he isn’t necessarily always involved in proceedings, although comes alive in the penalty area, with Sunday marking his third goal involvement already for the Glasgow side.

With an assist racked up against Hearts on debut, and a first goal notched against Falkirk, the £8m man is quietly making an impression at the top end of the pitch, mirroring Nygren in having hit a nice run of form at the perfect time.