Celtic deserve a ton of credit for their win over Aberdeen. Even though they were not at their best on the night, they still found a way to score five goals against the Dons as they bounced back from the disappointment of the loss to Hibernian at the weekend. Daizen Maeda scored a brace while Jota, Callum McGregor and Yang Hyun-jun also found the back of the net. The result took the Hoops 16 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
While he might not have been on the scoresheet for Celtic on the night, Arne Engels earned a lot of praise for his performance against Aberdeen. The Belgian international provided a couple of assists and finally seems to be coming into his own in the green-and-white jersey.
Celtic had paid a club-record fee in order to sign Engels from FC Augsburg in the summer. The Belgian did not exactly impress early on and as a result, on the receiving end of fan criticism.
It is safe to say that he is now winning people over. One of them is Neil Lennon. As reported by the Daily Record, the Celtic legend said to Sky Sports about the club's record signing:
"We are seeing all the attributes he's got now. I felt early on in the season he was struggling with the tightness. Taking the ball in tight areas. Now we are really seeing him flourish.
"I thought he was terrific tonight and great against Bayern Munich in both games. He had a little bit of a slow-burner obviously but now he's really showing his quality. Not only running with the ball but his play in general. I thought he was terrific for the second goal. His all round game is coming on. He's a big player now for Celtic which you wouldn't have said maybe two or three months ago."
Neil Lennon makes bold claim about £11 million Celtic player
That just goes on to show that it is important to give youngsters time to find their feet at Celtic. We saw that with Nicolas Kuhn and are now seeing it with Engels.
Of course, sometimes it is natural to expect immediate results when the club pays out a record transfer fee to sign someone. But it is important to remember that this is real life and not a video game.
It is great to see Engels doing well and one can only hope that he continues to improve over time. He already has 9 goals and 12 assists to his name this season but there is room for improvement in front of goal.