Celtic recorded a comfortable 3-0 win over Motherwell on Sunday to return to the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
After Brendan Rodgers guided his side to a positive result against Atalanta, the mood in the camp was positive and another three points were expected.
Luke McCowan provided that by opening the scoring, with Celtic’s midfield also consisting of Reo Hatate and Paulo Bernardo.
Callum McGregor was absent through injury for Celtic, so this was a great chance for McCowan and Bernardo, in particular, to send a little message to the manager.
Someone like Hatate certainly hasn’t been at his best this term, but he has done enough during his time at the club to feature far more regularly than the other two.
McCowan impressed during his 75 minutes against Motherwell and Bernardo lasted the whole game.
After the match, Chris Sutton spoke about that midfield and McGregor’s absence, as he posted on Twitter.
Callum McGregor has made the number 6 role ‘look easy’ at Celtic
McGregor has been one of the most consistent performers at Celtic for many years now and is a key reason why the team have picked up so many trophies.
Sutton pointed out that the now-retired Scotland international has made that number six role ‘look easy’.
But he thinks Bernardo, playing in that role, ‘grew into the game’ as he also hailed the impact of McCowan and his ‘terrific’ finish.
“Comfortable in the end for Celtic against a stubborn Motherwell,” wrote Sutton.
“Delighted for McCowan, terrific finish. Bernardo grew into his role but it just shows how that number 6 role isn’t an easy one… Callum McGregor has made that position look easy.”
What Brendan Rodgers said about McGregor before Celtic’s win over Motherwell
In truth, it was great to see how Celtic would fare without McGregor because you can’t always rely upon him and you have to prepare for the worst.
At least now, if anything long-term was to happen with the skipper, then Rodgers knows who to trust and how they are ready to prove their worth.
But before the game, Rodgers told Sky Sports that the reason behind McGregor’s absence was more about not taking a risk, more than anything else.
“Yeah, he just felt a little bit in his abductor yesterday,” shared Rodgers.
“He’s obviously played so many games, so many minutes, and we don’t really want to take the risk with that. That’s the reason he misses out today.”
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