Celtic maintained their perfect start to the season with a 2-0 victory over Hearts in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
In what was a dominant performance there were enough chances created to have had the home side comfortably ahead by the interval.
An Arne Engels penalty eventually put the Bhoys 1-0 up after 51 minutes. Making his first start for the club since an £11m move from FC Augsburg, Engels confidently put himself forward to take the spot-kick.
The midfielder coolly slotted it home to push his side towards the three points and put an exclamation point on an accomplished introduction as a starter in Scotland.
Another new signing, Luke McCowan, came on as a substitute and didn’t disappoint with a very classy finish from the edge of the box late on to put Celtic two up.
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How new Celtic signing Arne Engels played against Hearts
There’s plenty to be positive about when it comes to Engels. Even had he not scored it would have been an impressive beginning for him in Celtic colours.
Hearts were determined to give him a physical welcome to football in this country and seemed to target him with fouls in the first half, which Engels came through robustly.
His movement caught the eye and, as the game progressed, his combinations with teammates were sharp and fluid, helping build play into the final third. He likes a flicked pass and a one-two.
With 80 touches, including six in the Hearts box, he was a busy performer throughout his 80 minutes on the pitch, not afraid to get himself on the ball and get involved.
He won six of his eight duels, won a tackle and blocked a shot. He wasn’t directly creative at the other end but found himself on the end of several good attacking moves and hit the post with a fierce shot in the first half.
The mentality he showed to step up and take a penalty despite it being his first start is evidence he has the mettle to be a Bhoys star.
You can tell he has something about him. As he adjusts to life in Scotland and develops under Brendan Rodgers he’s only going to get better. Celtic fans will be feeling very happy he is at the club this evening. He is ready for more.
Celtic start league season with historic clean sheet streak
With a victory and a clean sheet, Celtic have won their first five league matches without conceding for just the second time in the club’s history.
Per the BBC, the first instance of this came way back in the 1906/07 season so a 118-year-old record has been equalled and Celtic can now go on to break it away to St Johnstone in the Bhoys’ next Premiership outing.
Kasper Schmeichel did have a bit of work to do this afternoon, making three saves and preventing 0.9 xG-on-target. He can take a bit of credit for setting an excellent defensive standard at the start of his Bhoys career.
Celtic are motoring right now and it doesn’t look like anyone in Scotland can stop them.
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