Camilo Duran vs Kasper Hogh: Who Should Be Celtic's Starting Striker?
- By LIAM McBRIDE
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
After a horror show exit to the Champions League last midweek, Celtic welcomed Falkirk to Paradise. Nothing less than three points would suffice. And thanks to a double by Camilo Duran, the Bhoys made it three wins from three in the league with a 2-1 victory.
I did, in fact, predict a scrappy 2-1 victory. My feeling was that after the physical exertions of midweek, Celtic would suffer a European hangover and limp across the finish line.
Despite getting the correct result, my prediction was far off. While Saturday’s display won’t be regarded as a performance for the ages in years to come, the fact that the Hoops only managed to score two was quite incredible.
Camilo Duran The Man as Celtic Grind Out Win
Outside Duran’s double, Nygren had three great chances to get on the scoresheet, while Baur also came close in the first half. Nevertheless, Martin O’Neill’s men got the victory and will now turn their attention to Wednesday night’s clash with Aberdeen.
There were a few changes from midweek. Kasper Høgh and Callum McGregor missed out for fitness reasons, with Haissem Haasan and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain stepping in. Auston Trusty was also dropped in place of Liam Scales. The American would feature later on though as Kieran Tierney was forced off with a worrying knock.
Ultimately, both Scales and Trusty had shaky moments. The former in the first half when his failed clearance bounced off Ben Kraunhaus, giving Ethan Ross an excellent chance. Vilijami Sinisalo would bravely save.
Whereas Trusty was at sea positionally for Falkirk’s first goal, as we will look at later.
Haasan and Oxlade-Chamberlain impressed, especially the latter. The former Champions League winner showed great composure throughout and took the ball under pressure in tight spaces with ease. While you generally feel he will never replace McGregor, it’s certainly not due to ability as his display was as good as anything we’ve seen in midfield this season.
Anyhow, all eyes were on Camilo Duran. The Colombian has had to play out wide to allow Høgh to play through the middle, but on Saturday afternoon he showed just how effective he is through the middle.
Early on, Celtic had possession in their own half.
With Carter-Vickers on the ball, he had plenty of options. He could play out wide to Donovan, inside to Nygren, forward to Hassan or over the top to Duran. He would pick the latter option, highlighting a common pattern already in this MON team.
With pace up front, Celtic aren’t scared to play straight over the top. Duran’s explosive pace would allow him to get away from Liam Henderson, while Scott Bain’s typically unreliable goalkeeping gifted him an open net to score into.
Celtic would continue to create chances. Falkirk were compact but defended with a higher line than most would in the East End of Glasgow. This time Tierney found himself on the flank.
Yang would drop deep and play a one-two with Tierney. It was similar to what we saw in the home tie against Lask. While the South Korean’s strengths are his technical dribbling, he also has great vision and links up really well with the Scottish fullback. From that point it’s a straight race for speed on the left-hand side and there is only going to be one winner.
Tierney gets in behind and plays a pass across goal.
Duran is there to finish.
Ultimately, you were seeing the strengths of playing a striker with Duran’s movement and pace. In games like this, he should be starting in front of his Danish counterpart. It’s not to say that Høgh doesn’t have his strengths, but against the likes of Hibernian, Falkirk and Motherwell, teams who will come to Celtic Park and defend bravely and try to play, the Champions should look to exploit that space with the quickest player in the league.
It’s not just speed and movement though. We see soon after a great piece of link-up play from Duran. The 24-year-old drops deep and receives a pass from Tierney. Straight away, he flicks it in behind to Mika Baur, who has an excellent chance to make it three.
If you aren’t aware by now, I really am a massive fan of Duran; he is superstar material.
Nevertheless, one thing I’m not a fan of is the Celtic defensive setup. Even in a game against Falkirk, the fragilities of counter-attack defending were exposed.
Ben Krauhaus picks up the ball in the halfway line. He is pressed by Trusty.
However, McLeod then runs forward, untracked by Yang or Oxlade-Chamberlain. To compound matters, Trusty dives into Krauhaus, who quickly releases the ball to McLeod. With just one pass, the whole Celtic defence is left open and before you know it, Scales is having to cover.
It’s a race that the Irishman would always struggle to win and McLeod then plays a pass through to Murrel. Donovan is the quickest to react but finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time as the ball bundles off him into goal.
It’s not to say Celtic should never concede a chance however the reckless nature of Trusty’s defending is exactly the type of thing that cost Celtic midweek and will do so in the Europa League.
Looking ahead, it’s transfer deadline day this Thursday. However, with the Europa League squad deadline this Wednesday at 11 pm, the Hoops need to finish their business before then.
According to Nicolo Schira, Celtic are set to sign PSV’s Joel Van DerBerg for around £3 million. Anthony Joseph of Sky Sports also revealed that Celtic are in talks with Torino to bring Gvidas Gineitis to the club on a permanent deal.
Their strengths don’t seem to lie in attack but both would be players who should solve a lot of the defensive issues. Both standing at 6’2 and owning good running power in the midfield, their physical presence would make Celtic more solid while defending counter-attacks.
Nevertheless, a left-back remains a major priority specifically with rumours of a long-term Tierney injury. So, before Aberdeen arrive on Wednesday night, it’s imperative that Celtic have at least three more bodies in the door.
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