Celtic went 20 points clear of Rangers at the summit of the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
The Hoops put Hibs to the sword by a 3-1 scoreline as Nicolas Kuhn, Adam Idah and Reo Hatate all netted on a sunny afternoon at Paradise.
Hatate was easily the best player on the park again as 67 Hail Hail provided the Japanese midfielder with a deserved 9/10 rating.
Kuhn added an assist to his goal and impressed as well, but it was right-back Anthony Ralston who had the Celtic supporters posting on social media platform X.
Celtic fans deliver reactions to Ralston vs Hibs
Ralston started in place of the injured Alistair Johnston, who Brendan Rodgers said could be available again to face Aberdeen in midweek.
Perhaps not though given Ralston’s excellent performance against Hibs, with the right-back offering his services in attack and defence.
His ball was crucial for Nicolas Kuhn’s goal as he bent a delivery around the Hibs backline which evaded Adam Idah, but not the German, who then rounded the goalkeeper and finished with ease.
This Hoops fan wrote: “Ralston playing a blinder”.
Another said: “Ralston can hit a pass”.
And this Celtic punter posted: “Ralston can hit a pass”.
Someone published after the game: “Unreal Celtic Ralston was excellent today”.
While this account gave Ralston some special praise: “FT #Celtic 3 Hibs 1. Went a goal down against the run of play but Celtic ran out fully deserved winners. Lots of good performances Reo etc but special mention for Tony Ralston. Doesn’t get much game time. Solid last week and even better today. Big bravo”.
Ralston’s stats in full vs Hibs
FotMob gave Ralston an 8.5 match rating which was thoroughly deserved. He actually created five chances across the match, which was more than any other player.
| Category | Stat |
|---|---|
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Goals | 0 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Total shots | 0 |
| Accurate passes | 95/103 (92%) |
| Chances created | 5 |
| Expected assists (xA) | 0.18 |
| xG + xA | 0.18 |
| Duels won | 4 |
| Duels lost | 3 |
| Ground duels won | 2/5 (40%) |
| Aerial duels won | 2/2 (100%) |
| Was fouled | 0 |
| Fouls committed | 3 |
| Tackles won | 1/2 (50%) |
| Clearances | 2 |
| Headed clearance | 2 |
| Interceptions | 0 |
| Defensive actions | 7 |
| Recoveries | 3 |
| Dribbled past | 0 |
He had a 92 percent pass accuracy rate which is not to be sniffed at and won 100 percent of his aerial duels, underlining his determination.
Ralston is such a dependable back-up for Johnston, but he may now actually keep his place for the encounter against Aberdeen in midweek.
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