Celtic’s Twitter account out put an interesting Tweet on Monday. The Tweet played a clip of Ryan Christie’s goal for the Hoops in the 3-0 Betfred Cup semi-final win over Hearts, and revealed that the goal had been scored one year ago.
The Tweet said that the player ‘scored this belter…and he never looked back.”
Christie’ goal was certainly one of the most memorable he has scored in his time at the club. A superb shot into the corner of the net, which gave the goalkeeper no chance.
Since he scored that goal, he has been a first-team regular for the Hoops, and also become a regular for the Scotland squad.
At one stage he wasn’t a first-team regular
Before he scored that goal though, Christie had found it difficult to break into the Celtic side. Indeed, he had only made eight apperances for the Hoops last season before the scored that goal.
The goal seemed to change everything though. It gave the player plenty of confidence, and it also gave then manager Brendan Rodgers more confidence in Christie’s ability.
That has carried on through to Neil Lennon’s time as Celtic boss. Christie has established himself as an integral part of Lennon’s side.
A perhaps unexpected aspect of Christie’s goal is that it encouraged him to try to find the back of the net on a regular basis.
Number of goals have improved dramatically
That has paid off handsomely, as this season Christie has scored 12 goals for the Hoops. That might not have happened if Christie hadn’t scored that goal against Hearts.
How often has it occurred that one goal has arguably changed a Celtic player’s career? Not that often. However, it can be said that this has been the case with Christie. His Celtic career is currently going from strength to strength.
There might well be a few factors in that, but there is no doubt that goal against Hearts contributed to kickstarting Christie’s career.
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