Where would Celtic be without Benjamin Nygren?
The answer is probably in a bit more bother than they are, and certainly further away from this four-way title race Scottish football is cooking up this season.
On Wednesday night, Nygren came off the bench to score Celtic’s winning goal against Aberdeen; it was his 15th Premiership strike of the campaign, and he shared the elite mentality he has had since he was a ‘small kid’, which allowed him to come onto the pitch with such authority.
“That’s always been the mentality since I was a small kid,” said Nygren. “When you come off the bench, you want to come in and describe the game, especially when it was 1-1, we needed to get the win, and go forward.”
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Benjamin Nygren reacts to Celtic’s win over Aberdeen
Nygren started Celtic’s 2-2 draw at Rangers on Sunday, but Martin O’Neill dropped his top goalscorer for this rearranged fixture at Pittodrie.
Was this a case of O’Neill rotating his Celtic XI? Or responding to the team’s woeful start at Ibrox, and that timid, one-dimensional and much-criticised midfield showing itself up again?
Either way, Nygren did what he does best, and that’s ghost past the near post like he is the much-needed striker Celtic are craving.
Yes, the Hoops are struggling to produce 90-minute performances, but one thing has been a consistent, and that’s the contributions from the bench.
From Nygren’s perspective, he wasn’t sulking at being dropped, but showing the rest of his teammates how you should go about things when you are benched, as he told Celtic TV.
Nygren: “It’s a difficult away game, as we all know. It was a hard-fought win. But I think, in the end, we deserved it.
“I am very happy to be able to contribute to the team. That’s what I want to keep on doing.”
Celtic TV presenter: “And to come into the match as well and have that sort of impact. Is that sort of thing, as a player, you are just hoping you can come on and do”
Nygren: “Of course, that’s always been the mentality since I was a small kid. When you come off the bench, you want to come in and describe the game, especially when it was 1-1, we needed to get the win, and go forward.
“I am happy to score.”
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