Hatate, O’Riley and Giakoumakis: 3 things learned from Celtic vs Hearts

Matt O’Riley shines on his Celtic debut

Under normal circumstances, O’Riley would probably be given more time to adjust to his new surroundings and team, having arrived at Celtic just a few days back from MK Dons.

But with David Turnbull, Callum McGregor and Yosuke Ideguchi out with injury, and Tom Rogic away on international duty, the Hoops found themselves short of options in the middle of the park.

And as a result, O’Riley ended up making his debut for the club in a difficult away game against Hearts, who are enjoying a great season this time around.

Considering all this, O’Riley was simply superb, especially in the first half, and showed why the club had moved so swiftly to sign him from MK Dons this month.

He even ended up providing an assist on his debut and although he did appear to slow down a bit in the second half, and had to be brought off, it was a very promising performance from the midfielder overall.

Giorgos Giakoumakis finally showing what he can do

Giakoumakis has gone through a poor start to his Celtic career till now. He has struggled to remain fit for any considerable length of time and has not been particularly impressive when he has been on the pitch.

This one was a very promising performance from the Greek striker though. Not only did he score but he also put in a brilliant shift for the team.

It also saw him scoring in back-to-back games, having already found the back of the net against Alloa Athletic in the previous game.

The club find themselves depending on Giakoumakis at the moment. Kyogo and Albian Ajeti are both on the sidelines due to injuries while Daizen Maeda is away on international duty. Thus, if Giakoumakis can remain fit, he would be the one expected to lead the line for the Hoops in the upcoming games.