Peter Grant has praised Luis Palma after he came off the bench to score a wonder goal for Celtic against 10-man Ross County.
Brendan Rodgers’ side made the advantage count by scoring through David Turnbull just before half-time, but when Luis Palma was introduced into the action just after the hour mark, Celtic still needed that cushion and breathing space.
There was no threat from Ross County, it was just a case of making sure and Celtic’s £4 million summer signing (Sky Sports) did just that in fine style by scoring and assisting.
Luis Palma’s exquisite long-range effort from about 30 yards was described as ‘fantastic’ by Peter Grant, who added that he is a player who has ’that bit of quality’ and he is someone who causes ‘havoc’, as he told Sportscene.
The 23-year-old was dropped to the bench for yesterday’s match because of the upcoming Atletico Madrid clash in the Champions League. It just goes to show how important he has become to the team in such a short space of time.
From Luis Palma’s 13 games in all competitions since moving to Parkhead, he has five goals and four assists to his name, with Peter Grant adding that he is ‘excellent’ every time he watches him play.
Luis Palma’s goal for Celtic
“Palma has been excellent every time I have seen him this season,” said Grant. “When he came on. He scored the goal. He created chances.
“Every time I see him now, he looks a real threat. Positive in everything he does. He has real good quality. Inch perfect cross (for James Forrest’s goal).
“I think he does similar things to Jota. He creates chances. What I like about him is that when he comes inside, he doesn’t pass it back into midfield. He will deliver balls into the box and it causes havoc. He likes shots at goal – he has all of them up his sleeve.
“You think to yourself. He has that bit of quality. That wee bit of magic about him. And his goal was fantastic.”
Luis Palma – Another smart buy
The Honduras star doesn’t have the pace of the recently departed Jota and that’s probably one of only a few things missing from his game.
But for someone without that express pace or ability to just push past someone, he can sure make the ball tick in the final third, score that wonder goal or pick out teammates like he did with Matt O’Riley against Hearts.
It also needs to be noted that he has only been in Glasgow for a few months, so if he is producing this during his early days, then imagine what he will be doing in 12 months.
There are many examples within this Celtic squad, from the ‘best player in Scotland’ Matt O’Riley to star forward Kyogo, the recruitment at the club and the ability to pluck out those unknown gems is nothing short of outstanding.
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