Chris Sutton named three Celtic players in his post-match summation of the win over Sturm Graz – but only one received praise.
The Hoops put in a much better performance to come from behind against the Austrians and secure a 2-1 victory in Glasgow.
It’s the club’s first Europa League win of the campaign and earned Celtic a nice €450k payday from UEFA, taking total prize money banked to €14.4m so far.
Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren grabbed headlines with their goals, as did Alistair Johnston and Kelechi Iheanacho for pulling up injured.
But it was Arne Engels who impressed Sutton the most.
- READ MORE: Brendan Rodgers hails Celtic man’s ‘world-class’ trait after Sturm Graz win and explains selection
Sutton singles out ‘top class’ Arne Engels
Engels has his critics and in open play, fans feel the Belgian still needs to deliver more. But when it comes to dead ball situations, he’s up there with the best.
Brendan Rodgers hailed Engels’ crossing as ‘world class’ after the 22-year-old’s corner was met by the head of Nygren to put Celtic 2-1 up.
Sutton described his deliveries as ‘top class’ and said Celtic have taken a very small step in a forward direction as a team.
He tweeted: “Good performance tonight. Still lack a cutting edge. Losing Johnston and Iheanacho early on another blow but credit where credit is due and it should have been far more comfortable. A tiny step in the right direction Engels delivery top class tonight. Sunday will be a real test🍀”.
Engels stats for Celtic against Sturm Graz
Engels created the most chances in the match with five, while also doing his bit going back the way with four defensive contributions.
He delivered six corners in total, all of which caused Sturm Graz problems.
FotMob rated Engels as Celtic’s second-best player on Thursday evening with an 8.2 match rating. Only Scales bettered him with an 8.3 score.
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