Another easy afternoon’s work for Celtic in the Premiership.
Celtic put five goals past Ross County on Saturday to go five points clear in the Premiership table and continue their charge under Brendan Rodgers.
Many expected changes to the XI, with four of the players who came into the side – Liam Scales, Luke McCowan, Paulo Bernardo and Adam Idah all getting on the scoresheet.
There has been a lot of talk around Celtic’s squad and the so-called bench players who probably deserve to start.
The only way you can continue to ignite that talk is by putting in high-quality performances and it’s fair to say that the players are doing just that.
The Bhoys were five up by the half-time break and only didn’t score more because they took their foot off the gas in the second half.
And one man stood above them all with his masterful performance.
Neil McCann lauds Luke McCowan after Celtic thrash Ross County
There has been a lot of noise around McCowan following his summer transfer from Dundee and he is living up to that noise.
Remember, he’s not playing as regularly as he would want, so from that sense, it doesn’t help with the rhythm and speed of his game.
But you can’t deny that everything was on point against Ross County, with Neil McCann amazed by his performance, as he told Sportscene.
“I have to say, what a footballer this boy is,” said McCann. “He just fits the mould in what Celtic try to do. Idah is going to pull out and make the space, McCowan has one look and then a second, and he is in (to score).
“He does get a bit of a deflection, but the run is brilliant. All day, he looked to try and find either the wee passes into that area or run himself.
“The makeup of Luke McCowan totally fits the Celtic model. He can up the tempo, he can slow it down. They had six changes to the starting XI, and four of them scored, which is quite incredible. Sometimes you might have a wee come down from a Champions League game, but when you refresh it up with the quality of Luke McCowan, he will take an assist there (for McGregor’s goal), but that’s the brilliance from the captain. But you are taking it – what a game he had.
McCowan’s stats for Celtic against Ross County
What can you fault here? Nothing. It’s just another signal to Rodgers that, if Arne Engels needs a rest, then McCowan is your man to start.
WhoScored rated McCowan’s performance at a perfect ten, for his goal and three assists. You can’t do anything more than that. Just pure genius from the summer signing.
On the one hand, Rodgers needs to rotate his squad anyway because of the high volume of games he has to deal with.
But, on the other, for his absolute best and most important games, you can argue that McCowan should now be the man to start, alongside Reo Hatate and the skipper.
