It doesn’t get much more tense for a Celtic debut than what Matt O’Riley went through last night at Tynecastle against Hearts.
He saw the great and the… less great from Celtic’s season all within one game. In the first half, the Hoops were dominant, stylish even, as Hearts were put to the sword. In the second half, that control of the game was ceded, and it was a nervous watch for supporters.
What remained consistent though, or rather “who”, was Matt O’Riley. The signing from MK Dons only arrived at Celtic last week, and his selection was entirely necessary. Celtic somehow have two number 8s where we had none, and they both played and contributed effectively last night.
For O’Riley, though, let’s get into some specifics. There was of course, his assist, from an xA of 0.71. Beyond that, his numbers are quite ridiculous. O’Riley made 8 (eight!) key passes, crossed the ball 7 times and was pinpoint with both of his longer distributions.
He won 3 of his duels, which will improve when he’s adapted to the pace of the Scottish top-flight, but he kept the ball well and won it back, too; 6 times to be exact [Fotmob].
That’s some legitimately outrageous stuff, there. And no question, he passed the eye test. Celtic supporters were left extremely impressed by O’Riley’s debut, and his contributions leap off the page, numerically.
It was about as difficult an environment for a debut as you can get in the Scottish Premiership. Yet O’Riley handled it with relative ease.
Based off his debut alone, Ange Postecoglou has got it right with Celtic signing Matt O’Riley
An intelligent and industrious player, Matt O’Riley said all the right things upon signing. That he was excited about Postecoglou’s tactics, that the manager convinced him of his role, all the rest. He seemed articulate and a keen learner, something that boded well for the Celtic signing.
One game is far too small a sample size to get carried away yet. However, from the small sample of evidence we have, O’Riley looks really well-equipped for what he needs to do at Celtic. Naturally attacking, O’Riley’s assist showed exactly the dimension he can bring.
With Juranovic coming deep in the middle and Forrest overlapping, O’Riley drifted wide to the right and found Giakoumakis with a dangerous low cross, that the Greek striker happily dispatched. Dragging the play out like that from the middle forced Hearts to reconsider their defensive line. As for the cross itself, the timing was spot on.
He wasn’t able to get a clean shot away, but you sense that will come with time. His creativity, so lauded before his arrival, was on show though, and his industry in the press and aggression in trying to win the ball back should give Ange Postecoglou plenty to think about.
We’ve seen some excellent debuts this campaign; Carter-Vickers, Kyogo, Abada, Hatate and more. For sheer numbers and output though, O’Riley’s really does rank in the upper echelon. Massively encouraging stuff from the former England youth international.
Read more: Celtic summer signing Giakoumakis continues to prove his worth after difficult start
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