HOTSHOT DANISH
Don‘t bet against O’Riley breaking his duck against Dons after Rennes stunners
MATT O’RILEY has shown in 11 months at Celtic he’s just about got the lot.
But with captain Callum McGregor now back in the fold, the midfielder looks set to end an unlikely drought and add yet another string to his team’s bow.
O’Riley’s creative influence has been evident since he arrived in January as displayed when making a winning goal against Hearts on his debut for Giorgos Giakoumakis at Tynecastle.
The Denmark Under-21 star has a vision and a passing ability that can open up opposition.
O’Riley already has an assist of the season contender with his through ball to set up Jota to score the second in the 4-0 win over Rangers in September.
His dead-ball delivery is lethal and he can spot things quickly. That was clear during the second half of last season when Celtic won the title and was again clear through his opening 11 outings of this term.
But when McGregor damaged his knee and was left stuck on the sidelines for more than two months, O’Riley’s next 11 games showed his versatility and adaptability to do the other side in filling the void.
Covering the skipper is a daunting task for anyone but he took on the role superbly. O’Riley worked from the base of the engine room and made things tick.
He got his hands dirty doing the hard yards, making tackles, breaking up play and laying the platform for his team.
Although it was difficult in the Champions League, the fact Celtic didn’t have a slip domestically during the period without McGregor was testament to the work done by the likes of Reo Hatate and Aaron Mooy but especially O’Riley.
Even from the withdrawn position he kept making goals. The pass for Liel Abada against Dundee United, the desire in Motherwell’s box to win a tackle and put one on a plate for Kyogo at Fir Park.
Just like his captain he possesses the ability to make things happen at one end of the pitch and the application, workrate and game awareness to snuff out threats at the other.
Having only turned 22, there is bags more still to come and the weekend friendly against Rennes in Portugal gave notice the next thing that starts to flow out of the player is goals.
O’Riley managed four last season in 20 appearances. Considering he had seven for MK Dons in England’s League One in the same campaign before moving north, it was a reasonable return. But this term O’Riley is one of the few in Ange Postecoglou’s side who have yet to open their account.
Fair enough, if Kyogo Furuhashi hadn’t knocked one over the line against Motherwell at Parkhead that was probably going in anyway or he hadn’t been unfortunately striking the goal frame or being denied by keepers, he’d be off the mark already.
But the bare facts, despite getting on the scoresheet for his country’s Under-21 side this term, say zero.
Given the amount of chances he creates and the positions he gets into, that is surely going to change shortly. It may have been a bounce game but there was real quality in O’Riley’s finishing against Rennes.
The first was hit on the half-volley with his right foot. His second was swept artfully into the bottom corner with his left.
O’Riley has served notice that when returning to more advanced positions with McGregor back behind him, he is set to consign that scoring blank to the dustbin. It’s encouraging for Celtic given the fact they already have an array of weaponry in their ranks.
Adding goals from O’Riley gives opposition bosses another headache to add to their long lists.
Goals are, of course, not really an issue when it comes to Kyogo.
The Japanese star has 11 to lead the club’s charts at this stage of the season and he was back in the groove in Portugal with a typical run off the shoulder of a defender and a cute finish lobbed over the stranded Rennes keeper in the subsequent one on one.
O’Riley and Kyogo were among 22 players who got a run-out in the training match to assist their preparations for the real action which resumes away to Aberdeen.
Yuki Kobayashi got the final 12 minutes of the contest to get his first taste of Celtic action at the end of the working week in Portugal. Although the latest Japanese signing cannot feature for the first team until January 1, the rest look ready to go and will be supplemented by the return of a trio of World Cup stars for the next days at Lennoxtown.
Postecoglou has confirmed that although Josip Juranovic is still in Qatar with semi-finalists Croatia, Cameron Carter Vickers, Daizen Maeda and Aaron Mooy will all return from their Middle Eastern adventure at the game’s biggest show.
O’Riley just didn’t make the cut to go with Denmark but he’s vital to Celtic.
Ironically, his first goal for the club came against the Dons at Pittodrie. On the evidence of his frightening finishing in Portugal, O’Riley has already got his eye in for Saturday’s Premiership return to the North East.