After a long three weeks, Celtic produced a champions’ performance on Sunday afternoon, putting Motherwell to the sword at Fir Park.
It was a complete, totally dominant display from the men in green and white, with Martin O’Neill‘s only concern likely to have been the failure to kill the game off sooner.
£5.5m man, Camilo Duran, certainly played his part, the free-scoring Colombian maintaining his rampant start to life in Glasgow.
How Celtic hit the jackpot with Duran signing
The first man to arrive in the building this summer has undoubtedly proven the most successful addition thus far, with Duran having been a hit right from the off across pre-season.
Be it off the right or through the middle, Celtic’s new number 11 has no doubt helped to fill the club’s Daizen Maeda void, proving such a terror both in and out of possession.
His standout outing still remains that home leg against LASK, although the 24-year-old has produced a string of consistent displays, already up to ten goals and assists in just 12 games in all competitions.
That includes seven goals and assists from his first eight Premiership appearances, the former Qarabag man shouldering the goalscoring burden amid Kasper Hogh’s struggles in front of goal.
Duran had endured a mini dry spell of his own heading into Sunday’s outing, although fresh from making his Colombia senior debut, the left-footer was back amongst the goals again.
Duran’s delightful Motherwell display in numbers
The Bhoys were bang up for it right from the first whistle at the weekend, providing the perfect response following that miserable last week before the international break.
It took just nine minutes for Duran to open the scoring on the day, the summer signing rifling in from range to squeeze his effort past the sprawling Alex Paulsen.
He could well have added a second mere moments later, with Duran lashing an effort on goal from close range following Kieran Tierney’s dinked cross, only to see Emmanuel Longelo deflect the ball away on the goal line.
In all, the South American recorded three shots, all of which were on target, while also providing one key pass and completing one of his two attempted dribbles.
The fleet-footed speedster also lost just one duel or tackle all game, and racked up an 87% pass accuracy to boot, prior to his late withdrawal in place of Haissem Hassan.
|
Duran vs Motherwell |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Record |
|
Minutes |
73 |
|
Touches |
48 |
|
Pass accuracy |
87% |
|
Key passes |
0 |
|
Succ. dribbles |
0/1 |
|
Crosses |
1/2 |
|
Carries |
15 |
|
Sprints |
20 |
|
Shots |
3 |
|
Ball lost |
7 |
|
Tackles & Duels won |
3/4 |
While Hassan, and others, haven’t quite made their mark as yet, Duran has been front and centre under O’Neill this season. He’s not the only one, either.
Why Celtic star looks like a future £25m player
Recent summers have all been punctuated by a marquee sale at Parkhead, be it offloading Jota and Matt O’Riley for £25m in 2023 and 2024, respectively, while also belatedly selling Arne Engels for £22m this time around.
As the case of O’Riley and Engels showcase, in particular, Celtic have so often struck gold in that midfield department, with even Reo Hatate beginning to find his groove away at Burnley.
In terms of Hatate’s successor, Mika Baur, the young German is arguably only behind Duran in terms of the club’s best signing of the summer, the 22-year-old really stepping up in recent weeks.
Of course, the make-up of Celtic’s midfield unit has come under scrutiny in key games, not least against Rangers, yet that is more to do with the combination of Baur, Callum McGregor and Benjamin Nygren, rather than necessarily to do with the £6.8m man himself.
The match-winner against St Johnstone previously, Baur is such a delightful, technical talent, so comfortable in possession even if not the all-action, powerhouse midfielder that some have been asking for.
You only have to look to the praise dished out by Germany boss Jurgen Klopp over the break, following the playmaker’s senior debut, with the ex-Liverpool hero lauding him as a “wonderful player”.
“We’ve really seen now that he’s a wonderful footballer, playing in the toughest league in the world. And to hold his own there with his physical attributes and put himself through that, that’s truly something special.”
He also likened the former Paderborn star to a Champions League-winning midfielder, with speculation rife that he was referring to a certain Thiago Alcantara, a man who worked under Klopp at Liverpool.
In any case, to have received such recognition from a man like Klopp really does speak to what a sensation Baur is, as he showed again with another complete showing against Motherwell.
Denied a goal himself by the woodwork, following an inventive backheel flick, the diminutive talent was also involved in the build-up to Nygren’s clincher, driving Celtic forward on the counter-attack.
In all, he ended the day with a 92% pass accuracy rate and having made four key passes, a tally only matched by Tierney across both teams.
Physically too, Baur wasn’t exactly caught out, losing just three of his nine duels, while he also completed 100% of his attempted dribbles, providing a perfect link between the midfield and attack.
It’s early days, but he’s already heading in a similar direction as O’Riley and Engels before him, a young, rising midfield star who could see Celtic rake in a record fee before too long.
