Half-Century Hero

Sunday’s derby win marked Callum McGregor’s 50th appearance for Celtic this season, and he’s delighted to move within touching distance of an eighth-consecutive league title

DESPITE missing four games through injury, Sunday’s Glasgow derby marked Callum McGregor’s 50th appearance for Celtic this season. With seven games of the domestic calendar still to go, that’s a remarkable statistic – made even more impressive when taking his eight international caps, six goals and 10 assists for the Scottish champions into account.

Better still, the 25-year-old had a huge hand in Sunday’s winner, when his vision, tenacity and impeccable decision-making helped the Hoops secure maximum points against their city rivals and climb 13 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

With just four minutes of normal time remaining, McGregor pounced on a loose pass on the inside-left channel, played a wonderfully-weighted first-time through-ball to Odsonne Edouard, who in turn squared to James Forrest inside the box to make it 2-1.

“The goal was brilliant,” said McGregor in an exclusive interview with the Celtic View. “It’s a sign of what we’re all about, in terms of trying to press on the front foot. Scotty Sinclair covered the inside one, so I knew the next pass from them was going to Tavernier. From there, it was about putting them under pressure and try to force them to lose the ball.

“That’s exactly what happened, and Odsonne was in a great position for me to fire it through. I did that, he turned, and made the pass. James stuck it away and we were delighted with that. I thought Odsonne’s link-up play was outstanding throughout the entire game on Sunday. He got the goal, he also got an assist, and that’s why he’s the main man.”

McGregor’s high-press in the build-up to that goal typifies his forward-thinking mindset, something underscored by the fact he finished the game at left-back.