Boyota rises to occasion as he shows true worth
Defender’s second goal in three games gives Rodgers reasons to be cheerful
BRENDAN RODGERS may have been disappointed that he only managed to add Eboue Kouassi to his Celtic squad during the January transfer window.
The Irishman had been eager to recruit more extensively – so his new arrivals had settled by the time the Champions League qualifiers get under way in the summer.
Yet, the sudden and completely unexpected re-emergence of Dedryck Boyata as a first-team player at Parkhead in the last fortnight has increased the options available to him considerably.
A second-half Boyata goal secured, just as it did seven days earlier against St Johnstone, a 1-0 victory over Aberdeen at Celtic Park.
The narrow triumph extended Celtic’s record unbeaten domestic run to 28 games and stretched their lead over Rangers at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership to 25 points.
Rodgers could probably field Gary Mackay-Steven at centre half and Celtic would still win a sixth consecutive Scottish title with ease, such is their total dominance in this country.
Aberdeen have finished second in the top flight in the last two seasons and their spirited performance last night, coupled with the sorry capitulation of Rangers in the capital, suggested they could make it a hat-trick this term.
But Celtic were always in control of this game – Craig Gordon had one save to make from a tame Andrew Considine header – and it would have been an injustice if their opponents had earned a draw.
But the surprising resurgence enjoyed by Boyata, a player who became the forgotten man of Scottish football last season after being signed for £1.5 million by Ronny Deila, is hugely encouraging for his club.
Rodgers made one change to the team which defeated Hearts comfortably three days earlier; Mikael Lustig came in at right back having recovered from the back strain which had sidelined him for the previous fortnight.
That meant there was, once again, no Leigh Griffiths or Moussa Dembele up front for the home team. But the absence of their two first-choice strikers certainly hadn’t hindered them at the weekend when they netted four times.
Kieran Tierney, who had set up two of those goals, came close to opening the scoring in just the fourth minute. He cut inside from wide on the left flank, threaded his way past several opposition defenders and sent a shot just over.
Aberdeen had won their last five games fielding exactly the same starting line-up so it was no surprise that Derek McInnes put his faith in it once again. The visitors showed why they had been on such an impressive run in the first half.
They contained their hosts well and their goalkeeper Joe Lewis was untroubled. Rodgers played James Forrest and Scott Sinclair wide and Patrick Roberts up front – just as he had in the closing stages of the Hearts game – but they were unable to engineer an opening.
The Pittodrie club sought to score on the counter attack and Graeme Shinnie very nearly did so in the 18th minute. He outmuscled Nir Bitton, advanced unopposed towards goal and struck the side netting with a low shot.
Aberdeen certainly competed far more tenaciously than they had on their last visit to Glasgow to play Celtic in the Betfred Cup final back in November. The improvement they have made since that disappointing 3-0 loss at Hampden was stark and noticeable.
Still, Celtic could have taken the lead if their forward players had been sharper in the final third – or if they had been able to call upon Dembele or Griffiths. Roberts was dispossessed by Shay Logan after he had been sent through on goal by his captain Scott Brown in the 36th minute.
Ryan Jack came to the rescue of his side three minutes later after Callum McGregor and Roberts had linked well to tee up Sinclair. The midfielder’s intervention prevented a certain goal.
Boyata was once again preferred to Erik Sviatchenko at centre half
and the 26-year-old netted a crucial header at a set piece for the second time in three games. He broke the deadlock in the 57th minute after Jonny Hayes had brought down Tierney wide with a clumsy winger’s challenge.
Sinclair whipped the ball into the Aberdeen six yard box, Boyata got in front of Ash Taylor, rose well to meet the delivery and headed home.
Sinclair was unfortunate not to add to his side’s tally after that. His delightful chip in the 64th minute arched over Lewis only to strike the crossbar.