With four goals from his last four domestic appearances Virgil van Dijk is almost as vital in attack as he is in defence.
Last night’s 59th minute goal against Partick Thistle lifted Celtic three points clear of Inverness Caley Thistle and it’s likely that the gap will only grow in the weeks and months ahead.
How to assess van Dijk is a tricky subject with the Dutchman finding the challenge from Salzburg last week much more difficult that the domestic opponents that he handles with ease.
Against Thistle he sent through two fantastic passes to Stefan Johansen and Alexsandar Tonev but neither chance was converted as Celtic hunted for the opening goal.
Just before the hour mark van Dijk took matters into his own hands when he netted from a Johansen free kick for what was to prove the only goal of the night.
“He is a very good player who performs every week,” Ronny Deila said about his match-winner. “He is consistent and is a leader in the group and he is he is developing all the time.
“And when he scores goals he makes me even more happy.”
Looking at the match overall the Celtic boss was less happy saying: “We were dominant almost the whole game tonight. We created chances and deserved to win but it was an okay performance. Nothing more. I try to be positive but I have to think that we have played a lot of matches which is affecting the energy of the team.
“But they fought it and we got the three points and I am very happy.”
