The power of a game-changing bench cannot be underestimated, and Celtic fans have been well accustomed to that this season.
In the aftermath of Celtic’s breathless Scottish Cup semi-final triumph against St Mirren last Sunday, 67 Hail Hail has looked into just how crucial those replacements have been this term.
Once again, the spotlight fell on the much-talked-about Kelechi Iheanacho.
The Nigerian forward emerged from the Hampden Park touchline to score a vital brace after extra time, which shouldn’t be a surprise, because his name regularly features on this season’s list of impact goalscorers.
- READ MORE: Celtic Scottish Cup semi-final win sees Frank McAvennie hit out at backlash to St Mirren keeper
Would Celtic’s style be better if Greg Taylor was still at the club?
Share your thoughts, Celtic fans…
How many goals have Celtic scored from the bench this season?
What is truly amazing, however, is a remarkable underlying statistic: Celtic have not lost a single match in any competition this season when a substitute has found the back of the net.
It hasn’t mattered whether Brendan Rodgers, Wilfried Nancy, or Martin O’Neill have been prowling the technical area – that magic bench consistently delivers the goods.
As the Hoops prepare for a defining run of post-split fixtures, leaning on that formidable squad depth will be essential to conquer this tense, three-way title race against Hearts and Rangers.
Nonetheless, here is the list of Celtic’s goalscorers from the bench, and there is a lot to get your teeth into.
The magic number you are looking for is 24 goals scored in total from the bench (as of April 22). That’s 14 in the Premiership, two in the League Cup, five in the Scottish Cup, and three in Europe.
| Player | Opponent | Competition | Score before goal | Final score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McCowan | St Mirren | Premiership | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Kenny | Livingston | Premiership | 2-0 | 3-0 |
| Iheanacho | Kilmarnock | Premiership | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| McCowan | Partick Thistle | League Cup | 3-0 | 4-0 |
| Iheanacho | Red Star Belgrade | Europa League | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Nygren | Motherwell | Premiership | 1-2 (losing) | 3-2 |
| Osmand | Rangers | League Cup | 2-1 (ET) | 3-1 |
| Tierney | Kilmarnock | Premiership | 1-0 | 4-0 |
| Engels | Kilmarnock | Premiership | 3-0 | 4-0 |
| Nygren | Feyenoord | Europa League | 2-1 | 3-1 |
| Forrest | Aberdeen | Premiership | 2-1 | 3-1 |
| Nygren | Dundee United | Premiership | 2-0 | 4-0 |
| Tounekti | Auchinleck Talbot | Scottish Cup | 1-0 | 2-0 |
| Adamu | Dundee | Scottish Cup | 0-1 (losing) | 2-1 (ET) |
| Tounekti | Dundee | Scottish Cup | 1-1 (ET) | 2-1 (ET) |
| Oxlade-Chamberlain | Livingston | Premiership | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Tounekti | Kilmarnock | Premiership | 0-2 (losing) | 3-2 |
| Reo Hatate | Rangers | Premiership | 1-2 (losing) | 2-2 |
| Nygren | Aberdeen | Premiership | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Cvancara | Motherwell | Premiership | 1-1 | 3-1 |
| Kelechi Iheanacho | Dundee | Premiership | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Kelechi Iheanacho (2) | St Mirren | Scottish Cup | 2-2 & 4-2 (ET) | 6-2 (ET) |
| Luke McCowan | St Mirren | Scottish Cup | 3-2 (ET) | 6-2 (ET) |
Kelechi Iheanacho has scored the most goals from Celtic’s substitute bench
To be fair, the names on this list aren’t surprising.
On the one hand, you have Celtic’s top scorer, Nygren, who has hit 20 in all competitions, so he was always going to feature.
Everyone has seen that Iheanacho has been more useful from the bench, including winger Sebastian Tounekti, who has been constantly told he isn’t good enough to start. His goals as a sub prove it.
- 5 goals: Iheanacho
- 4 goals: Nygren
- 3 goals: Tounekti
- 3 goals: McCowan
- Everyone else one goal: Kenny, Osmand, Tierney, Engels, Forrest, Adamu, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hatate and Cvancara
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
