How Alex Valle and Auston Trusty helped inspire Celtic’s win over Rangers without even kicking a ball

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Brendan Rodgers capped off the summer transfer window by strengthening Celtic before the big Glasgow Derby match against Rangers last week.

The Celtic boss’ transfer deadline day captures of Auston Trusty, Arne Engels and Luke McCowan helped bolster the earlier signing of Alex Valle that week and the four additions of Viljami Sinisalo, Kasper Schmeichel, Paulo Bernardo and Adam Idah.

However, it’s the captures of Valle and Trusty that have already benefitted Rodgers as both new additions helped to inspire Celtic’s win over Rangers on Sunday.

Liam Scales’ class reaction to Celtic signing Trusty

The centre of defence has been the focus of attention for the Celtic fans as many believe that Cameron Carter-Vickers needs a strong partner in beside him.

Liam Scales has been tremendous for Celtic over the last twelve months and it seems that the signing of Trusty has helped push him on to another level after his performance against Rangers.

Rated at 7.6 by Fotmob, Scales had one of his best games of the season already for Celtic. The Irishman was imperious at the heart of the defence making two blocks, six clearances, two interceptions, 11 defensive actions and winning six out of his seven duels.

Scales even contributed to Celtic’s attack with a passing accuracy of 86% with six of those inside Rangers’ final third of the pitch.

It was a superb performance by Scales as he sent a message to new Bhoy, Auston Trusty, that he won’t be giving up his jersey anytime soon despite Celtic spending £6m on the former Sheffield United defender.

Greg Taylor’s solid Celtic performance gives Valle a challenge

Out of all of Rodgers’ players, Greg Taylor has to be one of the most underappreciated in the Celtic team. Signed as a replacement for Kieran Tierney, Taylor has, in my view, been constantly and unfairly compared to the Arsenal defender.

However, what cannot be denied is that Taylor has lacked competition and cover over the last two seasons and it seems that the capture of Valle has done wonders for him after what he produced against Rangers.

Rated at 8.2 by the football site, Taylor was one of Celtic’s best players on the day. Making 10 defensive actions, five ball recoveries, winning six of nine duels and making two interceptions and two clearances, the fullback was superb in helping keep a clean sheet against Rangers.

Taylor was also a stalwart in helping Celtic’s attack as he created one assist, fashioned out one chance and made ten passes into the final third of the pitch.

The Scotland defender also had 74 touches and made 55 passes with 89% of those finding a Celtic jersey.

So it is clear that despite not even making a single first-team appearance, both Valle and Trusty have helped raised Celtic’s standards and have brought out the best in two players who always seem to be under the spotlight.