It’s fair to say Giorgos Giakoumakis is the hero of the Celtic support today after his thrilling hat-trick at home to Dundee in the Scottish Premiership yesterday.
The Greek striker’s three goals in a 3-2 win have sent the Bhoys three points clear at the top of the table heading into the final 11 games of the season.
It’s a fine reward for Giakoumakis, who has worked tirelessly over the last few months to shake off injury and fitness issues to be a reliable goalscorer for the Bhoys.
He was delighted after the game, taking to Instagram to say: “I love this feeling!”
Giakoumakis’ teammates were obviously similarly delighted with Joe Hart, Josip Juranovic, Anthony Ralston and Adam Montgomery amongst the hundreds of people commenting on his post – which has gained more than 20,000 likes.
With Kyogo Furuhashi still out injured, Giakoumakis now has a good shot at retaining his place in the team for coming matches against Bodo/Glimt and Hibernian.
Daizen Maeda is also available with the Japanese attacker’s strongest position undoubtedly looking to be through the middle than on the wing.
Giakoumakis is a battler though and has the winning mentality to play a big part for the Bhoys in the remaining Scottish Premiership matches.
As Ange Postecoglou noted yesterday, when teams sit deep with almost eleven men in their own box, having a physical presence in there who can disrupt the opposition can be priceless.
That’s what Giakoumakis offers us, as well as a shrewd finishing mentality of one touch, one goal.
Having now struck seven since arriving at the club, he could well reach double figures before the end of the campaign.
In other news, The unlikely Celtic cameo that worked perfectly yesterday; Ange Postecoglou masterstroke.
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