Soccer
Martin O’Neill hails ‘star player’ Camilo Duran after another stunning strike
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill hailed Camilo Duran’s star quality after the Colombian sent the Hoops on the way to a 3-0 win over Aberdeen.
The centre-forward opened the scoring out of the blue in the 14th minute with the latest in a series of spectacular strikes since joining from Qarabag.
There appeared to be little on when Duran collected Benjamin Nygren’s pass but he thumped a 20-yard strike in off the bar with limited backlift.
Duran also forced four first-half saves from Marius Muller and fired over from a bouncing ball after Yang’s cross had caused chaos in the Dons defence.
“We played very well with some really good goals,” O’Neill said. “Camilo’s a star player.
“Camilo set the tone for us, I think perhaps maybe all season he’s done that. He’s a really class player.
“He scored a great goal and obviously until you get that goal you just have to be on your guard as much as anything else.”
Nygren doubled Celtic’s lead and Duran set up Yang Hyun-jun to make it three in first-half stoppage-time, seconds after Gavin Molloy had headed against the bar at the other end.
“I thought probably the big moment of the game was them hitting the bar with the header from the corner kick,” O’Neill said.
“It seemed pretty comfortable at the end and we played some really good stuff as well too, so I’m delighted with that.”
Aberdeen manager Stephen Robinson made four changes at half-time after being disappointed with the lack of belief his side showed.
“We got beat by a ruthless side,” Robinson said. “We made mistakes and got punished for them.
“We didn’t have the belief that we’ve shown in training, in the second half. We didn’t have that belief in the first half to play. If you don’t get ownership of the game, it’s difficult to get out.
“So, at 2–0, we hit the crossbar, and the fine lines in football, they go up the other end, we make a mistake, effectively the game’s over.
“To an extent, I get a response and they show that they can pass the ball under pressure and they can play, and they are good players. And that’s a positive I have to take from it.
“Our season won’t be defined by getting beat by Celtic. Am I disappointed? Of course I am. I know the team are better than what they’ve showed.
“But it’s up to me, it’s my fault that they haven’t got the belief to do what they did in the second half and be brave. It’s too late at 3–0 down, and I take full responsibility.”
