I watched Celtic go second with win over Falkirk - 3 conclusions including pressure reducer and key transfer move

Martin O’Neill’s men started the game nine points behind the Tynecastle outfit after Derek McInnes’s side triumphed 3-0 at Dundee United on Saturday evening, but reduced the lead to six points thanks to goals from Tomas Cvancara and Benjamin Nygren either side of half-time.

Despite the win, chants of ‘sack the board’ were heard throughout from the Celtic home support, with frustration continuing to build between the fans and the board over a perceived lack of movement in the transfer window. However, with the 73-year-old manager revealing afterwards that he was close to a double breakthrough, we look at the key talking points from Celtic’s 2-0 win against Falkirk:

Nygren is Celtic’s most valuable

The Swedish international is an intriguing figure. He cost just £1.7million when he arrived in the summer, and has bagged 16 goals for the club since signing from FC Nordsjælland, but there remain some fans who are yet to be fully convinced by the midfielder.

There have been times this season when he’s gone missing in action, and yet just when you begin to doubt his impact, he comes up with the goods when it matters most. His numbers since his arrival in the east end of Glasgow can’t be argued against, and he popped up with a crucial goal at a key time yet again against Falkirk on Sunday, sealing the win on the hour mark to push Celtic up the table.

Those who have doubted him must surely now be realising his immense importance to Celtic in their quest for success. You’d be laughed out of town for saying anyone but Daizen Maeda was the most important player in Celtic’s squad at the start of the campaign, but the 24-year-old has surpassed him.

If the Hoops are to leapfrog Hearts and win a historic 56th league title, then Nygren will be in with a shout of winning player of the season due to his ability to find the target on a consistent basis.

Pressure reliever for Cvancara

The need for an out-and-out goal-scorer at Parkhead has been clear since the day Kyogo Furuhashi walked out the door almost exactly a year ago. Kelechi Iheanacho has done okay in patches when he’s been fit enough to start, but he clearly isn’t the long-term successor to the little Japanese international. Most of the season, the club have been forced to use the inexperienced Johnny Kenny, or the slightly out of sorts Daizen Maeda, as their central striker, and they’ve suffered for it.

Forget Celtic’s worries for a moment, because Cvancara came with a few of his own. The Borussia Monchengladbach loanee had the first half of his season ruined by a dispute over unpaid wages which brought an end to his loan with Turkish Super Lig side Antalyaspor prior to his arrival in Glasgow.

Of course, O’Neill and the fans will want to add some more firepower over the next 24 hours, but the sight of Cvancara bagging his first goal for the club will relieve an awful lot of pressure on the Czech hitman. “What I don't want to do is put an awful lot of pressure on him thinking he is the answer to all our problems,” said the manager upon the 25-year-old’s arrival, but the longer a forward goes without scoring a goal, the more pressure it adds - and Celtic are already at boiling point.

A £9million purchase by Monchengladbach in the summer of 2023, he scored just six goals in the Bundesliga and recorded just two goals and one assist in 13 appearances in the Turkish Super Lig earlier this season. He has arrived in Glasgow with a real point to prove. There’s a long way to go, but a goal and an assist in his first two league games is a very tidy start to the 6ft 3in hitman’s Celtic career, and bagging on his first appearance in front of the home support will be a big boost to his self-confidence.

Key transfer move

O’Neill refused to be drawn on which positions he was hoping to strengthen as he enters the final 24 hours of the transfer window, but it is quite clear that Celtic need additions at centre-back. After admitting the club were close on two attacking options in the shape of Junior Adamu and Joel Mvuka from Freiburg and Lorient, respectively, he conceded that it “would really be nice” if he could add further options in other parts of the field before 11pm tomorrow night.

The Hoops boss appeared to almost feel sorry for the recalled Stephen Welsh, who he admits wants and deserves to play first-team football following his strong performances for Motherwell in the first half of the campaign. That said, he simply can’t let him return to Fir Park unless he strengthens his backline before the transfer window shuts.

His first choice centre-back, Cameron Carter-Vickers, is likely to miss the rest of the season with an Achilles injury, while Auston Trusty was suspended on Sunday, meaning he was left with a centre-half pairing of Liam Scales and Dane Murray. With respect to both, that simply won’t be enough if they want to sustain a challenge in both the Scottish Premiership title race and the Europa League. The 73-year-old needs help to bolster his squad, and a centre-back is a must.

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