Celtic player ratings v Inverness: Speed machine rips it up
By Will Butcher
Football Insider rates the Celtic players after their huge 6-0 win over Inverness in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup on Saturday.
Craig Gordon 7 – Very quiet in between the sticks for the Bhoys, had little to do throughout the match. His 20th clean sheet of the season, and certainly one of his easiest.
Mikael Lustig 8 – Fresh from signing a new contract, the Sweden international starred for the Bhoys. He scored the Hoops opening goal, latching on to a superb pass from Bitton by controlling wonderfully before finishing from close range.
Dedryck Boyata 8 – Looked classy when in possession and was largely untroubled by the Caley Jags. Good array of passing from the heart of defence.
Erik Sviatchenko 7 – Kept things simple at the back and dealt with the odd corner well against Inverness striker Billy McKay.
Kieran Tierney 9 – Tierney looked a class above as he rarely gave the ball away and kept Billy King quiet. Scored his first goal of the season with a late header.
Nir Bitton 8 – One of his best performances of the season. A wonderful weighted ball that he clipped over the defence set up the Bhoys first, which was finished superbly by Lustig.
Scott Brown – 8 Kept things ticking in the middle of the park with an understated performance. Combative when needed to be, but dictated the tempo of the match well. Wonderful strike for Celtic’s sixth goal, and his third of the season.
James Forrest 10 – The speed machine terrorised left-back Carl Tremarco with his absolutely blistering pace that saw him reach the byline on numerous occasions. Provided three assists for two of Dembele’s hat-trick as well as Tierney’s late header.
Liam Henderson 6 – Got in the right positions for the Bhoys, but missed a number of chances and struggled to maintain possession when under pressure.
Scott Sinclair 7 – Sinclair’s eye for goal has never been prominent as he looked desperate throughout the match to his season’s tally of 16 goals. A constant threat.
Moussa Dembele 9 – Goalscoring prowess was on full show once again. Timed his run superbly to latch on to Forrest’s assist for the Hoops’ second, before finishing coolly for the third. 25 goals for the season, now.
Subs
Callum McGregor (On for Henderson, 66 mins) 7
Nadir Ciftci (On for Dembele, 82 mins) 6
In other Celtic news, Chris Sutton has destroyed Mark Warburton on Twitter after his Rangers resignation.
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