Celtic: Anthony Ralston was unsung hero vs Dundee FC | OneFootball

Celtic moved three points clear at the top of the Premiership table on Sunday as they won 3-2 at home against Dundee FC.

The Hoops went 1-0 down early on in the match but came from behind to lead 2-1 at half-time thanks to a quickfire double from Giorgos Giakoumakis.

Dundee pulled the score back to 2-2 in the 60th minute and looked set to weather the Celtic storm heading towards the end of the match. That was until the Greek striker completed his hat-trick to seal the three points in the 86th minute.

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The likes of Giakoumakis and Jota may get the praise of their flashy attacking play and an unsung hero from the match may come in the form of Anthony Ralston. He was sublime from start to finish and played a key role in the result, although he may not get the plaudits that the exciting forward players get for terrorising the Dundee defence.

Defensively, he was outstanding for Celtic. As per SofaScore, he won 80% (8/10) of his individual duels and made two tackles, truly living up the “warrior” tag given to him by Postecoglou. This shows that he was strong in physical battles and did not allow himself to be bullied by any Dundee players, which the manager will surely be delighted with as he will not want his players to be lightweights on the pitch.

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Ralston, the £7.5k-per-week battler, also offered quality in possession of the ball. Via SofaScore, he had 116 touches of the ball and completed 106 passes, whilst completing 100% of his dribbles (1/1) and creating one chance – resulting in the winner for Giakoumakis in the 86th minute as his cross met the forward on the head from close range.

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The opening he created for the Greek striker to win the game was registered as a ‘big chance’ and this shows that he delivered a superb cross at a crucial point in the game. He was, therefore, key to Celtic picking up all three points instead of dropping two and remaining just one point clear of their arch-rivals Rangers as he provided quality in defence and offence.

Postecoglou will be buzzing with the player’s performance at both ends of the pitch and hoping that he can continue to deliver displays of a similar vein for the rest of the campaign. The Hoops are battling for multiple trophies and having a number of players producing week-in-week-out like Ralston, Jota and Giakoumakis will surely be a huge help to their chances.