You could see the reaction on the faces of the Celtic players as Alistair Johnston scored what was a pretty fortunate goal against Ross County on Saturday.
Someone like Matt O’Riley just couldn’t hide his laughter as he watched his teammate net his second goal in Celtic colours, with the ball going over the line in slow motion after a deflection.
You would have thought that the first-minute goal would open the floodgates for the home team at Parkhead and Derek Adams’ side would start to get punished.
But it turned out to be the complete opposite, with Celtic ending up missing two penalties (including the re-taken one) via the boot of Luis Palma and failing to score again in the match.
That’s why there was a sense of frustration from the fans, which also probably stems from the lack of business via the January transfer market.
But one man who was upbeat about it all was, Daizen Maeda, who is currently on national duty, as he liked what he saw from his teammate, Alistair Johnston.
The Japan star responded to the right-back’s Instagram post by applauding the player for his latest performance, whilst midfielder Paulo Bernardo added with a comment ‘I told you’.
Alistair Johnston scores for Celtic
Celtic’s performances under Brendan Rodgers
These aren’t exactly Oscar-worthy performances from the team, but displays that are worthy of going into the ‘worst performance of the year category’.
As previously mentioned, the team hasn’t been anywhere near its high, high standards, yet is sitting on top of the tree in the Premiership.
That needs to be seen as a huge positive because imagine the damage that will be done when Celtic finally start to click consistently.
And what’s even more important to note is that the Bhoys have talked the talked in the biggest of games this season and there is no reason why that shouldn’t continue until the final ball is kicked.
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