Celtic stumbled against Dundee United to drop a couple of points. It was not the end of the world for a team that has been close to perfect in domestic competitions so far this season. Yet, if you kept an eye on some of the reaction to the result, it felt like it was a terrible result for Brendan Rodgers' side. Yes, their performances in recent weeks had been somewhat underwhelming but that is the nature of a long football season. There will always be ups and downs.
This midweek, we saw the real Celtic. They got themselves a 4-0 win over Motherwell with four different goalscorers.
One major boost for the Hoops was the return of Nicolas Kuhn. The German winger, who has been dealing with fitness issues recently, came off the bench to score against Motherwell.
Kuhn has been Celtic's best player this season. So, they will want him to be fully fit when they travel to Ibrox to take on the Rangers at the start of next year. And the German winger's return was not the only positive on the day.
Celtic handed major boost before Ibrox trip
Cameron Carter-Vickers was back in the lineup as well and Celtic immediately looked a lot more assured at the back. That was to be expected considering the American is widely viewed as the club's defensive leader.
Arne Engels, who has faced plenty of criticism since his record move to Celtic in the summer, put in one of his best displays for the Hoops as well. Hopefully, he can build on this and go on a good run in the second half of the season.
It was not all positive against Motherwell though. Yang Hyun-jun failed to make the impact that he would have been hoping for in the absence of Kuhn. It does not feel like he is ready to be a key contributor.