CHRISTIE CLEAR

Ryan Christie on winning a well-earned ninth successive league title, and how quickly he and his team-mates will turn their attention to 10

- JOE DONNELLY

IT may be one of football’s most well-worn clichés, but when Ryan Christie unleashed his Goal of the Season-contending strike against St Johnstone on Flag Day at Paradise last August, you knew it was net-bound from the second it left his boot.

After receiving a pass from James Forrest on the right flank, the attacking midfielder nipped inside, played a fast one-two with Mikey Johnston on the edge of the box, before rifling the ball with a cultured left-foot in off the crossbar.

The deflated mid-air body language of Saints stopper Zander Clark said it all. It suggested he, too, was sure of the shot’s final destination from the outset, or perhaps he’d had enough of Christie for one afternoon – this successful effort being his third inside 67 minutes.

Combine that with Johnston’s opener, and further goals from Olivier Ntcham, Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths, and Celtic’s 7-0 rout was the perfect way to kick-off a campaign that’d ultimately return the club’s ninth successive league title – equalling the historic achievement of Jock Stein’s esteemed Hoops of the 1960s and ‘70s.

In 43 appearances across all competitions for Neil Lennon’s side, Christie played a key role in that success, hitting 19 goals and making 16 assists for his team-mates. Before the unprecedented halt to Scottish football in light of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Celtic had forged a 13-point gap at the top of the Premiership, form which rightly saw them crowned champions on merit in exceptional circumstances.