Yesterday was a big day for everyone connected with the club, but perhaps nobody more so than Shane Duffy.
Since joining his boyhood heroes in the summer on a season-long loan from Brighton, Duffy has had his problems. Positionally all over the place, sloppy on the ball, and too slow to react at times – he’s had his issues as he’s struggled to adapt to his new club.
However, in yesterday’s game at Hampden in the Scottish Cup semi-finals against Aberdeen, the Irishman was up against the kind of opponent he was signed to combat.
In coming up against Sam Cosgrove, yesterday’s game was one of the first times we’ve seen Duffy in action against a genuinely powerful striker. And it’s fair to say he passed the test with flying colours.
Yes, Cosgrove did have an opening or two in the first 5-10 minutes. However, he was targeting Nir Bitton at that point, and even then he offered little threat. From there on in, Duffy was dominant as he won all of his aerial duels against the Englishman.
As well as that, Duffy ensured he got on the end of anything that Matty Kennedy or Ryan Hedges threw into the Celtic box. Scott Bain didn’t have a save to make, and it all came from the fact Celtic’s back-line were thwarting everything that came their way.
Sure, it wasn’t perfect. Ireland captain Duffy still gave away some needless fouls and produced at most a couple of sloppy passes when he tried to be over-elaborate. But for the most part, he stuck to keeping things simple.
Aspects such as shielding the ball, aerial battles, slide tackles, positioning – all of that was on point at Hampden. And in a game as big as yesterday, that’s a massive plus for Duffy considering the stick he’s had to take.
For the first time in a long time, the centre-back has something to build on ahead of Sparta Prague on Thursday night.
The Celtic supporters were also appreciative of his display too. Here’s a look at some of their reaction to Duffy’s dominance at Hampden:
https://twitter.com/tomoconor/status/1322938565152657420
https://twitter.com/CCEire97/status/1322938274915229701
https://twitter.com/Celtic_HQ1/status/1322932047661453313
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