Celtic, despite a few unfortunate outcomes last month, were back to winning ways in recent weeks and enjoyed a victory over great rivals Rangers in season’s first Old Firm derby before the international break. The Bhoys were once again high on confidence and Brendan Rodgers, the Parkhead boss, was keen on building up a momentum tonight when his side travelled to Renfrewshire to contest newly promoted St Mirren to resume their title defence. The game, although thought to be a cakewalk for the visitors, turned out to be a frustrating occasion and ended scorelessly at St Mirren Park.
Below are the Celtic players rated in their scoreless draw against St Mirren.
Craig Gordon: 7.5
The veteran custodian was troubled by Cammy Smith a couple of times in the first half but maintained his composure between the sticks with his saves, decision making and distribution. A well-deserved clean sheet for the Scotsman under challenging circumstances.
Kristoffer Ajer: 8
Was steady, confident and covered a lot of ground starting the game down the right-hand side of Celtic’s ‘back three’ and also offered threats in their attacking third, particularly from set-pieces where he used aerial as well as physical supremacy above many.
Dedryck Boyata: 7
Was off-pace at times but brought back the much-needed stability in a vulnerable backline since returning to action amid the transfer conundrum and delivered a towering performance in the heart of the Celtic defence. The Belgian international had a glorious opportunity to seal it in closing seconds but failed to direct his header on target from a very close range.
Filip Benkovic: 6
A problematic debut for the Leicester City loanee as he had added pressure following Ntcham’s dismissal and the hosts were forming attacking threats from his side. Tierney’s overlap runs were allowing space for the St Mirren attackers to challenge Benkovic who was operating as a left centre-back but the Croatian managed to deal with it and was taken off after an hour mark to be replaced by Leigh Griffiths.
James Forrest: 7.5
A constant threat from the right flank with his dribbles, crosses and link-up football. Although started the game as a right wingback and was later switched to a much deeper role, the Scottish international mostly spent his time in the attacking third and saw a late attempt saved comfortably by Craig Samson.
Scott Brown: 8.5
Guided a ten-man Celtic like a true leader as he was running all over the pitch and often won back possession with timely blocks, interceptions and physicality. His experience and agility allowed the Hoops to push for it until the final whistle despite having a numerical disadvantage for the majority of the fixture.
Olivier Ntcham: 3
Sealed all three points against the Gers scoring the solitary goal of the game but the outing against the Saints turned out to be a nightmare for the Frenchman who looked clumsy from early minutes and received two bookings in quick succession inside the first half that forced him off leaving the Hoops a man short for the rest of the game.
Kieran Tierney: 6.5
Used his pace and mazy runs to trouble the opponents, whipped in crosses and also tried testing the custodian from a distance. But his shooting was below par tonight considering his high standards and the player should have done more defensively to help out Benkovic down the left.
Tom Rogic: 7.5
Looked purposeful whenever he got the ball and won multiple freekicks having been brought down by the hosts who were struggling against his swift movements, footwork and down the middle runs.
Callum McGregor: 6.5
Operated more centrally than usual following Ntcham’s exit but could not offer the desired creativity high up the pitch barring a few late movements even though those were not good enough to beat the keeper.
Odsonne Edouard: 6
Led the line all alone until being partnered by Griffith for the final half an hour. The Frenchman made some smart movements inside the box with or without the ball but lacked composure while having the final effort. Was replaced by Ryan Christie in the closing minutes.
Substitutes
Leigh Griffiths: 6
Skied one decent opportunity minutes into his introduction and scored one with the final touch which, however, was rightly disallowed for being in an offside position.
Ryan Christie: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
