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Griffiths states the case for Dembele partnership

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Leigh Griffiths proved that he can do his talking on the pitch by setting up Moussa Dembele’s matchwinner against Sevco at Hampden.

The former Hibs striker appeared as a 70th minute substitute for Tom Rogic and instantly brought an extra edge to Celtic’s attacking play.

With three minutes left to play he beat Lee Wallace to a 40-60 ball and raced into the penalty box.

A perfectly weighted pass with a flick of the outside of his boot was perfectly finished by Dembele to book Celtic’s place in the Hampden final against Aberdeen.

In midweek Griffiths had pleaded with Brendan Rodgers to give him a chance alongside Dembele but the Irishman responded by explaining his need to play five midfielders.

Today’s goal was the perfect justification for pairing the two strikers in attack as Griffiths highlighted after the match.

“The times we’ve played together have been limited, but when we have done so we’ve shown we can work well together,” Griffiths stated. “We’ve linked up.

“We showed it against Astana when I rolled the ball back for Moussa and we got the penalty. The same again today. The signs are there that we can play together but it’s up to the manager if he decides to go two up top.”

Commenting on the impact of his substitutes Rodgers said: “Leigh came in and he and Stuart Armstrong were brilliant. Stuart added a real thrust and energy into our game.

We’ve played a lot of games this season and because of the nature of how we play the game there’s a high level of physicality needed to press and be aggressive and shorten the pitch.

The minute that drops we need to reinvigorate the team. Stuart came on and added great power and running ability to the team. Leigh came on and did what he does best.

He looked a real threat and was disappointed he didn’t score but he showed his real unselfish nature by just guiding it into Moussa’s path and he had a real clever finish to give us the winning goal.”

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