Chris Sutton was heavily impressed with the performance of Celtic forward Moussa Dembele.
Celtic produced arguably one of their finest performances this season as they won 1-0 against Zenit Saint-Petersburg in the first leg of their last 32 Europa League tie.
The home side dominated possession and created some good scoring chances, but it took a fantastic finish from Callum McGregor in the 78th minute to break the deadlock.
Charly Musonda made a strong impact after coming on as a substitute and set up the chance from which McGregor found the net.
Former Celtic player turned football pundit Chris Sutton has praised Brendan Rodgers’s tactical masterclass in his latest column for the Daily Record.
He has showered praise on Musonda and McGregor, but one player who has heavily impressed him is Moussa Dembele.
The French forward hasn’t been at his best this season, and was heavily linked with a move away from Celtic Park in the January transfer window.
Sutton says that Dembele did an excellent job of bringing his teammates into play, adding that even Leigh Griffiths couldn’t have done the job so effectively.
“It must be said, none of the lads in the middle could have had the influence they did were it not for Moussa Dembele finding his old form,” wrote Sutton in his column for the Daily Record.
“The French kid needed to hold it up and bring team-mates into play for the set-up to work and he did. I’m a huge Leigh Griffiths fan but he couldn’t have done that job as effectively. The ball would have kept coming back.
“With Dembele winning his duels he kept Celtic’s midfield men on the front foot Defensively, the questions were also answered.”
Dembele’s return to form is certainly a huge boost for Celtic, as the Bhoys will be looking to progress further in the European competition.
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