Mohamed Elyounoussi: I didn’t know Celtic were ahead of Rangers

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Celtic winger Mohamed Elyounoussi has admitted that he didn’t know his side had leapfrogged Rangers to the top of the Scottish Premiership table.

The Hoops ripped apart Ross County in a 6-0 destruction at Celtic Park on Saturday. Less than 24 hours later, Hearts and Rangers played out a 1-1 draw. It meant that Neil Lennon’s men topped the table by scoring one more goal than their Ibrox rivals.

But this was apparently all going on without Elyounoussi’s notice. He may have been the hero against the Staggies with a brace on Saturday, but the full-time whistle last weekend signalled the end of his interest with regards to the Scottish fixtures.

Speaking in the Celtic View (Volume 55, Issue 16, Page 21), the Norwegian has admitted that he was oblivious to the Ibrox side slipping up in Edinburgh.

“I only heard that we were back on top when I came into training on Monday. I knew Rangers were playing after us but I didn’t know the outcome until it was mentioned in training.

“There’s a very long way to go in the season. But having Rangers behind us in important, regardless of what point of the season we are at. It left us all feeling very positive. The team spirit is good, confidence is really high and now we’re looking forward to the two big games we have this week.

“The lads who didn’t play had a really good training session on Monday, so the whole squad is in great shape coming into these next couple of games.”

It’s that kind of attitude that wins league titles

It’s definitely peculiar. You may hear on occasion certain players saying that they don’t watch their rivals. But to not actually know their score nearly 24 hours later when you’re in a title-race with them is rare to hear.

However, it’s exactly the kind of attitude that will win us the league title. It’s difficult not to watch your rivals when there’s so much at stake. Even more so when you’re at such a unique point in history with 10-in-a-row closing in.

But by focusing on our own results and putting all of our energy into what we do, it’ll help reap better results and higher levels of consistency.

Elyounoussi will now look to continue his fine form firstly against Lazio, but then at Pittodrie on Sunday. Another powerful performance there would send out a fine message to the rest of the league.

Like it or not, we have some question marks to answer regarding our domestic away form. Against Hibernian and Livingston away from Parkhead, we haven’t done enough to merit three points in either game.

A convincing result at Pittodrie so close to a big European game would be the perfect tonic for those slip-ups. And if more players have the mentality of Elyounoussi, we’ll be in a good place.