There was some consolation for Matt O’Riley last night as he picked up the UEFA Man of the Match award from Celtic’s 1-1 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk.
With Mykhaylo Mudryk in the visitors line up it is quite an accolade for the 21-year-old experiencing the Champions League for the first time. The goal scoring Ukrainian winger is believed to be a £40m transfer target for Arsenal.
To give the award real context, a year ago today O’Riley was playing for MK Dons against Aston Villa’s u-21 side in the Football League Trophy.
Great to see that @mattoriley8, deployed deeper than usual, became MoM
UEFA’s Technical Observer: “He was excellent in central midfield as a playmaker in distributing passes. O’Riley was also defensively balanced, winning back possession and stopping counterattacks.” pic.twitter.com/VBizpzOiw8
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) October 26, 2022
Last night was O’Riley’s eighth match of the month, with Callum McGregor out of action until December and David Turnbull just returning from injury Ange Postecoglou has had to lean heavily on O’Riley and Reo Hatate.
Throughout the match O’Riley was always making himself available for a pass, quickly he’d be looking to get the ball forward as Celtic chased that elusive first win in the competition.
O’Riley has yet to score this season, next Wednesday there is a great arena where he might put that stat behind him, or it could be at the Toni Macarroni on Sunday.