Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers sent a strong message with his Starting XI against Inverness on Saturday. It was all the regulars available and a returning Moussa Dembele for the Bhoys’ fifth round Scottish Cup tie.
The message may have been sent by Rodgers lineup, but said lineup delivered an even stronger one as they demolished Caley Thistle 6-0 in front of the Celtic Park crowd.
No insertion back in to the lineup has helped spark Celtic’s resurgent offense than Dembele’s return. After netting a hattrick in just 20 minutes last weekend, he followed it up with a second-straight hattrick to lead the Hoops to an easy victory.
It wasn’t just Dembele’s fine day that was impressive though, as Celtic got offensive contributions from defense thanks another brilliant move by Mikael Lustig. His impressive run forward and control lead to Celtic breaking the 0-0 deadlock in the 20th minute.
There was also the brilliant performance of the returning James Forrest, who troubled Caley Thistle all game long down the right wing. His play finally was rewarded as Dembele doubled Celtic’s lead after getting on the end of a great Forrest cross.
Rodgers was full of praise for his returning striker after the match according to Celtic’s website.
“Moussa will get goals and I was pleased for him as there are other elements of his game we are working on in training and I see him improving in – how he receives it and his touch to move away into spaces.”
While Dembele and Forrest were easy to see as successful on the day, Rodgers also singled out captain Scott Brown for his ability to direct traffic in the middle of the pitch and keep the tempo high for the Bhoys all match long.
"“Our captain was brilliant today in his pressing. For the goal he scores, he was dumped on the floor earlier in the move but he gets up there and gets his goal with a great finish. It was a great team performance and I feel we will get better as the season goes on. “"
However, it was so hard to ignore the growing legend that is happening with Dembele in just one season on the books at Celtic. After all, he has played just two matches so far in 2017 and has banged in six goals in the process.
Oh and those six goals Dembele has bagged? They are the same as Sevco have mustered as a team all of 2017 so far. Think about that for second and continue to enjoy the brilliance of Dembele and the mess that is Sevco.
Goals like his first and his last will make legends of most strikers in the Hoops, but they’ve become the normal for him. That’s not normal for most strikers, but it just goes to show you the quality of the French U-21 international.
It all added up to one of Celtic’s easiest victories in recent weeks. Oh, and something about a continued unbeaten run through Scottish Football and advancement to the Scottish Cup quarterfinal.
A unbeaten treble run was emphatically put on the table on Saturday and the returning Dembele has to frighten the rest of Scottish football.