Five talking points from Celtic’s last gasp win away to St Johnstone

Celtic’s win over St Johnstone provided more talking points than could have been anticipated pre-match.

When the team was announced there was no direct replacement for Callum McGregor with Sead Haksabanovic preferred in front of Oliver Abildgaard, James McCarthy and Aaron Mooy. Two goalkeepers on the bench was also surprising.

Like other recent fixtures the team has struggled to find a cutting edge. On other days packed defences have been ran ragged but without a McGregor pass or a Tom Rogic run St Johnstone kept their shape, held Celtic at bay and rode their luck to an extent.

Thankfully the winning mentality remains very much intact, just as it was last season with last gasp winners from Tony Ralston and Liel Abada. Today Giorgos Giakoumakis was the hero, starting and finishing his first SPFL match of the season he certainly put down a marker for starting Tuesday’s match against RB Leipzig.

ALEXANDRO BERNABEI– Outstanding. Exactly what you are looking for from a player coming into the side. Greg Taylor is without doubt the first choice left-back but the young Argentine can be counted on as a very able deputy. Sound defensively and confident going forward, he never stopped with a critical contribution to the priceless winner from Giorgos Giakoumakis.

OFF IT– Liel Abada. Normally a very assured finisher virtually nothing went right from him today. Jota’s early pass should have been a gift but maybe with too much time he got it all wrong with a poor finish over the bar. We expect a lot, even of a 21-year-old, Abada will have better days.

JAMES FORREST Still has something strong to offer, more than an experienced older head that knows the club and the landscape of Scottish football. Showed some pace out on the right but also good link up play. A very useful option even if starting games appears less likely.

OLIVER ABILDGAARD Seems to have attracted mixed reviews but looks the part to me. Can form a very effective screen to central defenders, has good positional awareness and a presence that is lacking in other midfielders. He can become very important over the testing next five weeks.

VAR Badly, badly needed. It won’t solve everything but those borderline offside calls that seemed to go in a certain direction will come under greater scrutiny- by video rather than the questionable eye-sight of assistants such as Alastair Mather. After all of those offside calls it defies belief that he missed the late handball from Connor McLennan that denied Giakoumakis a clear run at goal.