Celtic showcased why they are the best team in Scotland after their performance in the League Cup final on Sunday at Hampden.
This was more about mental strength, never giving in and having that know-how to produce in the big moments.
Callum McGregor was honest in saying that Celtic weren’t at their best, but all that matters is that he lifted the trophy at the end of it all.
Daizen Maeda was the hero, for not just scoring the winning penalty, but also finding the back of the net in the second half of normal time.
The Japan star wheeled away in celebration in front of the Rangers supporters, who watched their team play out of their skin, but still leave empty-handed.
This is the norm now for Rangers – whoever is in the dugout – and it seems as though this defeat stung more than most for Andy Halliday.
Andy Halliday says Nicolas Kuhn was ‘by far’ Celtic’s best player against Rangers
As soon as Greg Taylor equalised in the first half, every Celtic player came to life, including Nicolas Kuhn, who had a quiet opening 45 minutes.
The German star proceeded to cause havoc on the wings and even thought he had netted the winner minutes from time.
Halliday claimed that Kuhn was ‘by far’ Celtic’s best player on the day and explained that the defeat was ‘harder to take’ because Brendan Rodgers’ side aren’t going to be so off-colour again, as he told Open Goal.
I thought Kuhn was comfortably Celtic’s best player,” said Halliday. “The variables going into the game was Tav against Maeda. Allowing Callum McGregor the ball. Rangers dealt with two of them very, very well and still don’t win the game. Sometimes, that is harder to take.
“Are you going to get many better opportunities than the one you got? What about Kuhn’s pace by the way?
Kuhn’s stats for Celtic this season
Kuhn has transformed in Celtic colours this season and is a prime example of being patient with a player because he didn’t get off to the best of starts.
The 24-year-old could argue that he has been his side’s best player this term – and if he doesn’t get that label, then he is certainly the most improved.
As posted by Transfermrkt, he is hitting some serious numbers and has 22 goal involvements to his name this season.
