James McFadden was impressed with the way a makeshift Celtic defence competed against Feyenoord on Wednesday night, noting that they kept red-hot forward Santiago Gimenez very quiet.
Gimenez has scored an impressive 20 goals in 20 appearances for the Dutch side so far this season and was again trusted by Arne Slot to lead the line at Celtic Park.
The Mexican, said to be rated in the transfer market at around £44m by Goal, didn’t get much joy up against the Bhoys backline.
BBC Sportsound pundit McFadden left impressed by the entire back five in the 2-1 European win, telling listeners that this defence proved they can perform the ugly side of the game well.
He also had special praise for Stephen Welsh who was making his first start in 14 months. It was a big ask for Welsh to come in at the elite level off the back of recent surgery and perform, but he was effective alongside man-of-the-match Liam Scales.
Celtic defence earns praise against Feyenoord
McFadden said when asked about Welsh: “I thought he did well. I thought the backline did really well for Celtic. They did have to ride their luck at times. Feyenoord had chances, they were always going to have chances.
“There were some brilliant blocks, he was brave on the ball. He gave it away a couple of times and it didn’t fluster him, he took it again and again. I thought all four of them – Taylor, Scales, Welsh and Johnston – were excellent and, at times, under serious pressure in the second half.
“Joe Hart also came up with some decent saves. Defensively, Celtic showed they can win a game when it’s not all pretty football. They had to defend, get blocks in, and make it as difficult as possible.
“We came here tonight looking forward to watching Gimenez. I’ve no doubt he’s a fantastic player but he didn’t really do a lot tonight against that Celtic backline.”
Celtic defenders have had some difficult nights in Europe this season so they’ll take the praise when it comes. Welsh can indeed be proud of his performance.
He’s at least shown he should be given more minutes ahead of temporary signings such as Nat Phillips, although could find himself back on the sidelines with Cameron Carter-Vickers’ return this weekend.
In other news, Feyenoord boss Arne Slot makes it clear what he thinks of Celtic after Champions League group.
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