Martin O’Neill believes Camilo Duran has “set the tone” since making the move to Celtic this summer as their perfect start to their Scottish Premiership title defence continued.
Celtic made it four wins from four league games with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Aberdeen on Wednesday, with Duran once again starring with a goal and an assist.
Duran needed just 14 minutes to open the scoring with yet another stunning goal, this time shifting the ball onto his left foot before rifling a venomous shot past Marius Muller.
O’Neill’s side doubled their advantage through Benjamin Nygren’s 34th-minute strike, and the result was put beyond any doubt in first-half stoppage time by Yang Hyun-Jun.
Duran was once again involved, this time playing an inch-perfect pass into the path of Yang, who took a touch before picking out the bottom-left corner with a composed finish.
However, the spotlight was once again on Duran, who made it six goals in eight games in all competitions since completing his reported £6m switch from Qarabag this summer.
The Colombian finished with team-high totals for shots (six) and touches in the opposition box (eight), and O’Neill has been delighted with the impact his new signing has made.
“We played very well. We seemed to control the game for the most part and I thought the first goal was a big moment because the game was still in the balance,” O’Neill said.
“Overall, I’m just delighted with the win, the goals we scored and pretty pleased with the display. He’s [Camilo Duran] a terrific player.
“He has set the tone for us since the beginning of the season. He’s playing in a position which is really strong for him, but he can play in a number of positions, he’s that good.”
FULL-TIME
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Celtic have now won each of their last 28 home league games played on a Wednesday since a 0-0 draw with Kilmarnock in May 2018.
The Hoops have shipped just seven goals in this winning streak while scoring 82, and they were deserving of their victory here too.
Celtic finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.47 from their 27 shots compared to Aberdeen’s tally of 0.66 from their nine attempts, leaving them 10th in the table.
And following the full-time whistle and ahead of Thursday’s transfer deadline, Celtic announced the completion of two deals to further bolster their ranks.
Joel van den Berg has joined on a four-year deal from PSV, while Jordan Lotomba has also signed on a contract until the end of the season from Feyenoord.
Their arrivals come after Chelsea duo Shim Mheuka and Landon Emenalo both completed their season-long loans earlier in the day.
When asked what he wants to achieve at Parkhead, Van den Berg told the club’s media: “I want to be champions.
“I want to win many trophies, play as many minutes as possible. I want to show the best version of myself, develop as a player and a person and also make the fans proud.
“I’m a box-to-box midfielder,” Van den Berg added. “I run back, but I also go forward, I put a lot of intensity into my game. I have the ability to assist, but also score goals.”
