Michael Stewart shares the big problem for Wilfried Nancy that ‘happens in every Celtic game’
Wilfried Nancy would have breathed a sigh of relief when his Celtic side finally put an end to their losing streak.
On Saturday, Football Insider reported that Nancy would be sacked if Celtic do not win their next two games.
Luckily, Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Aberdeen looks to be a turning point, with Benjamin Nygren, Kieran Tierney and James Forrest scoring to hand the home side the three points.
Celtic fans called for Nancy to be sacked following four consecutive defeats to kick off his tenure, but the impressive performance has put some of those frustrations on the back burner for now.
Despite the torrid start, Celtic had no intention of sacking Nancy, and will be pleased to see the head coach finally get off the mark.
Michael Stewart reveals Celtic’s persistent issue
It would ultimately take until the 88th minute for Nancy‘s team to secure the victory over Aberdeen, despite the visitors’ first-half red card.
With Celtic leading through Nygren, Daizen Maeda capitalised on a loose pass from Dimitar Mitov and looked to burst through on goal before he was brought down by Dylan Lobban.
The referee produced a red card, but it would actually be Aberdeen who found the next goal when Kenan Bilalovic scored in a moment that looked to pile the misery on Nancy.
But an onslaught of Celtic chances eventually paid off when Tierney headed in at the back post, with Forrest putting the seal on a positive day for the Bhoys thereafter.
Speaking to BBC Sportscene on Sunday, Michael Stewart said: “To get it to 1-1, you did start to think, ‘this could be curtains if they’re not able to turn it round’, but they did.
“Longer term, there’s still so many things for the manager to sort out because, as you’ll see with the Aberdeen goal, Celtic are far too easy to play against in the transition.
“One pass through the team, and that’s got nothing to do with missing chances at that end, that’s gifting opportunities to the opposition, and that happens in every game.”
The absurd stats behind Celtic’s win vs Aberdeen
Nancy’s frustration following his side’s defeat to Dundee United on Wednesday was understandable, given the number of chances they had spurned.
Maeda and Shin Yamada had enjoyed the pick of several massive opportunities, but constantly fluffed their lines.
It felt like something similar could be happening on Sunday, too, with Celtic racking up a huge 4.53 expected goals.
| Celtic | Match stats | Aberdeen |
| 73% | Possession | 27% |
| 31 | Shots | 10 |
| 10 | On target | 2 |
| 4.53 | Expected goals (xG) | 0.73 |
| 7 | Big chances | 1 |
The Bhoys had seven big chances and took 31 shots on goal in what can only be described as an absolute battering.
Through a combination of poor passing and Mitov’s heroics, they would have to bide their time before finally seeing the floodgates open.
But there is a suspicion that, should Nancy’s team strike a rich vein of finishing, opponents could be on the wrong end of some eye-catching score-lines.