For many, Celtic‘s Premier Sports Cup victory over Dundee United on Saturday was pretty much the Benjamin Nygren Show.
The Swede was outstanding in the 67 minutes he was on the park, scoring the goal of the match to make it 4-0, supplying assists for Auston Trusty and Sebastian Tounekti and providing the defence-splitting pass that led to Camilo Duran’s effort.
When manager Martin O’Neill was asked to detail the individual performances that pleased him most, though, he headed off in a different direction.
‘I thought (Camilo) Duran’s was an exceptional performance,’ he replied. ‘He is a really good player. He was terrific.’
The Colombian has certainly made a strong impression since arriving in the summer and looks like another one of those real personality players who can thrive at clubs with the expectations and demands of Celtic.
Kasper Hogh has taken a lot of the headlines and attention in these early weeks of the campaign, of course. His £11million price tag and the fact he has been given the role of leading the line play a part in that, along with his larger-than-life character, his man-bun and his energising effect on his new team-mates.
Camilo Duran shows off his pearly whites after netting to put Celtic in control at Tannadice
Duran is showing so many positives in that regard, too, though. He’s got his little shamrock earrings, he lifted his shirt after scoring on Saturday to reveal a ‘Fuerza Colombia’ message – dedicated to those affected by the earthquake in the west of his homeland last week, which has taken around 300 lives – and, most appealing of all, loves showing those pearly whites.
It’s great to see players who play with a smile, who look like they are relishing it out there, and his grin after scoring, in particular, was just infectious. As is his energy.
When Duran signed, much was made of his scoring record at Azerbaijani outfit Qarabag. He gained important game time in the Champions League there last season and netted, five times in total, against Benfica, Ajax, Newcastle United and Eintracht Frankfurt amid a season’s total of 15 in all competitions.
That experience will, naturally, stand him in good stead ahead of Wednesday night’s home first leg of the qualifying play-off for European football’s premier competition against Austrians LASK. However, he played mainly as a centre-forward at Qarabag and has been exhibiting so far at Celtic that there is just so much more to his game.
Operating at right wing is evidently not a problem. He’s played there often enough in his career and, left-footed or not, is clearly capable of offering so much in that position.
He has technical ability, an engine, works the flank, makes clever runs and isn’t shy about closing players down. O’Neill stated in pre-season, after Duran had scored in a friendly loss to Sporting Lisbon, that he looked like being a new version of Daizen Maeda and it is becoming progressively easier to see where he was coming from.
Duran, you see, looks like way more than just a scorer. Towards the end of the first half, he provided the most delicious little chipped pass to find Hogh at the back post and the truth is that the Dane should have burst the net rather than sending his first-time volley wide.
Duran scores Celtic’s second of the afternoon after showing good energy to get in position
As the teams went off at the interval, Hogh even sought Duran out to offer what looked for all the world as an apology.
Goals are great and Duran looks like he’s going to bring them, but serving as a creator as well is going to be hugely important to the team. He has an assist to his name already from the resounding league win at Kilmarnock, but his stats from Qarabag suggest his contribution here is going to be considerably more rounded than many might have imagined.
Although playing primarily through the middle, he came up with ten assists in addition to his 15 goals. He is clearly a team player. Being asked to start this season on the wing hasn’t fazed him or put his nose out of joint. What’s more, there should be bags of development in the guy.
He’s had one campaign in the Azerbaijani top-flight. Prior to that, he was playing in the Portuguese second-tier with Portimonense. So far, he’s grabbing this opportunity with both hands and showing he should have the versatility to play all across the attacking positions in all sorts of formations.
In truth, Celtic’s attacking options ought to be frightening for teams at home and capable of offering real food for thought for stronger opposition in UEFA competition.
The fact Dundee United did hit the woodwork an incredible five times on Saturday offered warning signals about other areas of the team, of course. New players need brought in for different areas with the jungle drums already beating over Hajduk Split’s defensive midfielder Niko Sigur.
Given what exists up front, though, it looks like Celtic will just have too much in their armoury for Premiership rivals.
Duran revealed a hand-written message to his homeland after the earthquake in Columbia
Haissem Hassan got a second-half cameo and will have his eyes on that right-wing slot before long. Tounekti, who really has to announce himself this season, looked good, Jota will be back in the mix before long and the likes of Yang Hyun-jun, Callum Osmand and James Forrest will expect involvement.
Hogh fluffed a couple of decent chances at Tannadice on Saturday night but he leads the line really well and just changes the way Celtic play. He can hold the ball up, offers an outball, links well with those around him. Nygren spoke afterwards about the relationship he is already building with Hogh and it worked to great effect here.
This game really was all about the former Nordsjaelland man, no matter what O’Neill said. Fantastic in a central position behind Hogh, he looks a different character this season. Three goals and three assists in three games reflect that beautifully.
With 21 goals to his credit last season, he has picked up exactly where he finished on that front and is sure to be a central figure in this exciting attacking structure providing no one from down south emerges with a bankbusting offer.
Speculation on that front seems to have cooled following a little bit of noise last month and an admission from the 25-year-old during World Cup duties that he wants to play at the highest level possible.
Celtic ought to be hoping that’s the way it stays. In among all the new faces and the multi-million pound investment, this guy has the look and vibe of having a really special campaign ahead in a team just bursting with attacking intent.
