Nir Bitton was in good form for Celtic at the weekend as the Hoops defeated St Johnstone to reach the next round of the Scottish Cup.
On the chalkboard
Celtic’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Copenhagen last week was a bitter blow as the Hoops crashed out of Europe.
The chief suspect in that loss was defender Jozo Simunovic. The Croatian’s individual error for the opening goal drew widespread criticism from supporters as the 25-year-old struggled all evening in a performance that saw him lose possession 14 times.
The centre-back’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season after initially being signed back in 2015 by Ronny Deila, but Celtic have an option to trigger a one-year extension. Neil Lennon has previously suggested he’d like to take up that clause but his poor performance last week might have been damning on his future.
Simunovic missed the win over St Johnstone on Sunday through injury, but he may now struggle to get back into the side.
Brutal Bitton
The defender’s replacement on the day was Bitton and he slotted in perfectly to the three-man defensive shape that Lennon has preferred in domestic action.
The 28-year-old was keen to carry the ball out of defence and was far more assured in possession of the ball compared to Simunovic last week. That was something that shone through at the start of the second half. He started an attack as he strode out of the backline and then played the ball to Callum McGregor before James Forrest fired just wide.
Considering the appalling weather conditions, it was an impressive performance from Bitton who kept a clean sheet and earned a match rating as high as 8 from the Scottish Sun.
Athletic journalist Kieran Devlin summed up the performance nicely, saying: “Thought the back three were quite good today.”
One of the stand out aspects of the Israel international’s game was his physicality as he was keen to ease the likes of Callum Hendry and Stevie May off the ball when they found themselves in promising situations. He used his 6 foot 4 frame to devastating effect as the Hoops ran out 1-0 victors.
This wasn’t the first time Bitton has impressed this season, however, with a display against Rangers particularly catching the eye. Express journalist Ben Pringle gave him a rating of 7 on that occasion, saying: “Showed great composure on several occasions, using the ball well at the back and making some vital tackles to shackle a frustrated Rangers frontline.”
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That was again the case on Sunday afternoon as Bitton earned plaudits from fans for the way he performed. Consequently, there’s a strong possibility he’ll now be ahead of Simunovic in the pecking order.
With the latter’s contract winding down, this puts his Celtic career in a precarious position. Simunovic’s place should be in danger.
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