McGregor rues the one that got away as Bhoys fail to fire
SINCE easing to a 3-1 victory over Livingston on the Premiership’s opening day, Celtic’s league form has been decidedly shot-shy.
Only two goals have arrived in the four subsequent fixtures, with Friday night’s stalemate at St Mirren another blank for Brendan Rodgers’ champions.
Defender Dedryck Boyata and midfielder Olivier Ntcham emerged as the match-winners in the slender victories over Hamilton and Rangers, games that followed a familiar pattern of territorial dominance with little cutting edge.
The sight of Callum McGregor (below) failing to get a clean shot away when given a sight of Craig Samson’s goal in Paisley was symptomatic of the malaise.
Normally an assured finisher, McGregor admits he could have done better. And, in a wider sense, he only hopes Friday’s dropped points had more to do with a combination of factors that saw St Mirren tangibly galvanised by the arrival of new manager Oran Kearney and Celtic depleted when Ntcham was needlessly sent off in the first half.
‘I just couldn’t quite get it out of my feet,’ said McGregor of his opportunity. ‘When I got through, I was expecting the boy to come but he dropped and I needed an extra touch. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t.
‘It was a frustrating night. When you go down 10 men you have to try to find a way to win the game but while we dominated possession in the second half, we just couldn’t find a way to get that goal.
‘They were playing for their point, and especially when we went down to 10 men it was a great opportunity for them just to hold on. You have to give them credit, though, they were tight all night.
‘And there was also probably a wee bit of the new manager coming in to give the players a lift.’
The deadline-day sale of Moussa Dembele to Lyon may have been unavoidable, but it has left Celtic short of a striker comfortable enough to operate as a targetman.
Record signing Odsonne Edouard prefers to do his work running at a defence but kept charging into dead ends at St Mirren, while Leigh Griffiths had to be content with a cameo from the substitutes’ bench on the day he signed a new four-year contract.
While Celtic may be struggling to break teams down domestically, their European results suggest they should fare a little better against Rosenborg when the Europa League group stage commences on Thursday night.
Despite falling behind to the Norwegians when the teams met in the Champions League qualifiers, they responded to win the home leg by a 3-1 margin that saw Edouard find the net twice. And it’s unlikely Rosenborg boss Rini Coolen will instruct his players to sit quite as deep as Kearney’s players did on Friday.
‘It’s only been a couple of months since we played Rosenborg but that’s a good thing because we know exactly what we need in terms of prep and the way they play,’ added McGregor. ‘It’s the first game in the group and we’re trying to achieve something in the Europa League, so the first game is vital.’