Celtic survived a scare to book their semi-final ticket in the League Cup when they put five goals past Falkirk on Sunday.
Brendan Rodgers made a host of changes following a packed opening few months of the season and the huge Champions League fixtures coming up.
At the half-time break, Celtic were 2-1 behind to the second-tier outfit, but when the full-time whistle blew, Nicolas Kuhn had come off the bench to inspire his team to victory.
The 24-year-old scored two goals and also provided two assists despite only being on the pitch for half an hour.
Kuhn moved to Parkhead during the January transfer window and made a fairly quiet start, but he is starting to explode this season, now that he has settled in and had a pre-season under his belt.
That’s five goals and six assists in all competitions for the versatile forward and Kuhn is proving a lot of people wrong because everyone is now seeing his real worth.
Not only is he proving people wrong, but he is also forcing people to change their minds, which he did with Simon Donnelly.
The ex-Celtic star was asked to pick his ‘moment of the weekend’ and he admitted that he was going to go for Nikky Clark for his two free-kicks for St Johnstone during their 3-3 draw at Ross County.
But then Donnelly watched Kuhn be at his destructive best over a short period of time and he handed that title to the Celtic man.
Donnelly admitted that Kuhn’s performance ‘epitomised his start to the season’, as he told The Scottish Football Podcast.
Nicolas Kuhn changes Simon Donnelly’s mind after Celtic beat Falkirk
“Moment of the weekend, for me, up until halfway through that second half at Celtic, it was going to be Nicky Clark’s two free-kicks for my old club, St Johnstone,” said Donnelly.
“I think Nicolas Kuhn coming off the bench at Celtic Park. Celtic were 2-1 behind at the time. Two goals and two assists, in about 15 minutes. It just epitomised his start to the season, so that’s my moment of the weekend.”
Celtic’s bench delivers mixed results
Celtic have a realistic chance of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League, so the workload of the key players needs to be managed more than ever.
Rodgers handed several bench players a chance against Falkirk, and in truth, they delivered mixed results, especially the backline.
READ MORE: Celtic hero Kyogo Furuhashi’s wordless response to UEFA’s class Champions League shout-out
But this is where there needs to be patience because those players just need more exposure, and down the line, they will come good.
In the meantime, Celtic are still flying, unbeaten and looking forward to their toughest test of this season’s Champions League when they face Borussia Dortmund in front of their famous yellow wall.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
