MATT O’Riley singled out captain Callum McGregor and “robot” Daizen Maeda for special praise after Celtic’s win over Rangers at Parkhead today – but stressed the Scottish champions elect have areas of their play they can still improve and will not switch off.
O’Riley put Brendan Rodgers’ team in front in the first-half of the cinch Premiership game after being supplied by McGregor inside the opposition area and the hosts forged two ahead when John Lundstram turned a Maeda delivery into his own net.
However, the playmaker had a second-half penalty saved by Ibrox goalkeeper Jack Butland after he had been brought down in the opposition area by rival midfielder Mohammed Diomande.
The Danish internationalist was delighted with a hard-fought triumph which effectively guarantees a third successive top flight victory for the Glasgow giants, who are six points clear with two games remaining and have a superior goal difference, and the first leg of a potential double.
However, he believes that he personally and Celtic, who play Rangers again in the Scottish Cup final later this month, collectively can perform even better and stated they will look to do so in their final Premiership matches against Kilmarnock away on Wednesday night and St Mirren at home on Saturday.
READ MORE: Celtic 2 Rangers 1: Instant reaction to the burning issues
“We made it a little bit difficult for ourselves, probably with a little bit of help from me,” he said. “I think if we’d taken our chances, including the penalty, it would have been a little bit easier for ourselves. In saying that, I still think we created a lot of good chances. We just need to be a little bit more ruthless.
“My goal was one of those moments when you aren’t really thinking much. My touch was good. It put me in the right place and I knew there was a bit of space to his left. I struck it well. I’d struck a few before that as well that I thought I was hitting quite well. The pitch is lovely so it rolls really nice. I was pretty confident.
“We were just really intense from the start, I think. The press was really good and we took our chances in the first half well. But we still need to get better at managing a game and that also comes from taking our chances in the second half. But these are games where you need to win. And we did. That was the main thing.
O’Riley added: “I think I’ve learned a lot over the course of the season. I’ve been able to come back and reset after most games which has probably been my strongest asset this season.
“I’ve just been open to learn whether it’s good or bad. I’ll study the penalty today, for example, and see what I can do better. It wasn’t the run up that I practised yesterday. For whatever reason, I got stuck in two minds. That’s something I can obviously learn from as well. Hopefully next time I can put that right.”
READ MORE: Celtic back up McGregor's talk as champions surge for line
Asked if the long delay before his penalty had been a problem, he said: “I was really confused to be honest because I thought it was really obvious the pen. I got clipped and I thought it was really obvious.
“I don’t know if VAR tried to overturn it, but I thought it was quite strange. There are no excuses when you miss a penalty. But of course it a quite a long wait.”
Asked about the displays of McGregor and Maeda, he said: “I thought Cal was our Man of the Match, to be fair. He is just great. He always turns up for these games especially. That’s when you need your captain at his best. We can always rely on him. It’s great to have him around.
“I thought Daizen was great as well with his work rate considering he’s been injured for a little while. He’s come back quicker than most other people ever should because he’s a robot.”
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