Biram Kayal- the real entrance
The 22-year-old Israeli midfielder hadn’t started a match since September but showed that his hernia problems were well in the past.
Early on in the game his tenacious style looked like getting him into bother but he showed maturity beyond his years to stay on the right side of referee Craig Thomson to avoid a booking until the last ten minutes.
Neil Lennon rightly predicted that player’s Celtic career’s are judged on how they perform against Rangers with the former Maccabi Haifa man laying down the most impressive markers.
Competition for places in the Celtic midfield is incredibly fierce with half a dozen players fighting it out for at the most three places.
With his foot in the door it’s going to take something special to shift Kayal out of the Celtic team as his manager acknowledged.
Lennon said: “He did exactly what we thought he was capable of. We brought him here because he is good at breaking the play up and strong in the tackle.
“I thought he did that brilliantly. He was a bit rusty to start off with, which is understandable given the length of time he was out for but once he found a foothold in the game he was absolutely magnificent.
“We haven’t had a player like that for a while, especially away from home, who can dig in, break play up and put his foot on the ball. He did that well.”
Some players have been known to wilt in the heat of a Glasgow derby- Kayal revelled in the confrontation.
Despite his lengthy lay off he was still going strong in injury time and firing in shots that troubled Allan McGregor.
He said: “It was a huge game and I am happy about the victory, especially because it was my first derby here.
“It was obviously one of the biggest and, for the most part, fun games of my career. I really enjoyed it.
“I have played in the Champions League but that was nothing compared to this win. “It was just a dream to play and win and it was hard for me to understand just how big this game is – but I know now.
“The victory is so important for us. We are top of the table and if you want to win the title you have to win the derby games against Rangers. It was an extremely important win for us psychologically.”
Note Biram’s name seems to be spelt Beram and Baram by various sources but I’m assured that the Hebrew translation is Biram.
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Twitter aftermath to Celtic win
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