Celtic were 4-1 victors yesterday in a dominant and comprehensive victory over Hearts at Tynecastle, with the Hoops maintaining their 7-point advantage at the top of the table.
Brendan Rodgers has successfully traversed through plenty of tricky away days in the early stages of this season, having been victorious at Pittodrie, Ibrox, Fir Park, Tony Macaroni Arena and now Tynecastle.
Celtic will follow this win up with a massive Champions League match on Wednesday night, before they get back to domestic action – again away from home in Edinburgh – on Saturday.
O’Riley continues to perform
Matt O’Riley has had a sensational start to the season, with the Dane showing new elements of his game with every passing fixture. Currently the Hoops’ joint top-scorer this season alongside Kyogo Furuhashi, O’Riley added to his tally by notching up his sixth league goal of the campaign.
It was a brilliant finish, an element of his game that he has clearly been working on this season, as he scored a brilliant controlled volley after an inch-perfect pass from Luis Palma.
O’Riley ghosted beyond the Hearts defenders going completely unmarked, much like his goal against Motherwell where he simply drifted beyond the Steelmen defenders.
He reaffirmed his hopes of being a part of Denmark’s squad for Euro 2024 in Germany and he will be a surefire pick if he continues his current form.
Scales and CCV Partnership
Liam Scales and Cameron Carter-Vickers started as the centre-back pairing for just the second time, and they looked like they had played together for years.
The pair have an interesting dynamic together, with Scales acting as the passing brain of the defence, spraying balls forward as well as out wide to full-back Greg Taylor. He has also shown this season that he can be an incredibly astute one-on-one defender as well as being a towering aerial threat.
Cameron Carter-Vickers acts in the pair as the last line of defence with the American sweeping up any opportunities and he produced a terrific last-ditch sliding tackle to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity for Hearts.
The pair will have plenty of opportunities to play together and further develop their partnership as the season goes on, and both of them are looking undroppable at the moment.
Do we have a good penalty-taker?
Reo Hatate failed to convert from the penalty spot early on in the second-half, and it raises the question as to who should be Celtic’s penalty taker.
The Japanese midfielder has been taking the penalties this season, and whilst scoring against Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena, that spot-kick was far from convincing.
Before Hatate, it seemed like Celtic had finally found a top penalty-taker in Aaron Mooy but the Aussie retired this summer.
Callum McGregor has tried his hand at penalties but hasn’t proven to be reliable from the spot either.
Next time Celtic get the chance from 12-yards, perhaps Kyogo Furuhashi or Luis Palma will take on that responsibility. Kyogo is a top finisher and Luis Palma is looking to be a bit of a dead-ball specialist in the early stages of his Celtic career.
JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE
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