Celtic’s title tightrope - Falkirk 0 v Celtic 1 – 14/01/26

There’s little room for error is there?

With Heart’s winning 2-0 at Tynecastle - despite being down to 10 men - the last few minutes at the Falkirk Stadium was a fraught, nail baiting affair. Two corners faced in injury time were serious moments of jeopardy which, in the end, Celtic defended well.

The game finished 1-0. Three points, a clean sheet and a tricky fixture navigated. Although it’s a major one, this is the only positive we can take from what was a very questionable performance.

Nygren came in for Hatate. It was the only change, and it proved to be a good one. The Swede – whom many seem loathe to compliment – came away with the games’ only goal. His 10th league goal, making him the only Celtic player to hit double figures, despite us being more than halfway through the season.

It came from a set-piece for only the 3^rd time this season; in comparison both Rangers and Hearts have 13 and 12 apiece. Both, also have set-piece coaches. Another thing to add to the ever-growing list titled, mismanagement.

The timing of the goal was perfect, giving Celtic a lead right before half-time. They managed to hang on to it, just.

Games such as these, tend to see the exploits of the underdogs become elaborated after the fact. John McGlynn’s plucky underdogs have taken on an ethereal image in the aftermath. Celtic were seasoned but not peppered throughout the game, and although they came under pressure at points, never looked completely cooked.

It’s simple, also reductive to deduce that Celtic would not have won this game, under Wilfried Nancy. That’s a fair conclusion in all honesty.

Celtic never managed to get control of this game. They fuelled Falkirk’s fire with sloppy mistakes throughout and laid bare, most of the deficiencies we’ve been aware of all season. We had little of the intricacies needed to play through Falkirk. The wingers never found themselves in good enough positions to do real damage, and the ball would not stick up front at all.

This was hugely frustrating and although exacerbated by playing on a very expensive carpet, Maeda’s touch – with his back to goal – was awful on occasion. At one point his poor hold up, resulted in a direct opportunity for Falkirk.

Trusty got the ball stuck under his feet, in the latter stages and this led to Falkirk’s most guilt edge chance. Schmeichel, came to the rescue with a trademark stop. It was a big moment for the Dane and ultimately saved the day.

The Trusty mistake wasn’t helped by the pitch either but this team, is desperate for quality in both boxes.

Writing about Celtic just now, is a stand-up gig. It’s basically, a daily struggle to come up with new ways of calling the board daft. And trying to conjure up the energy to repeat, the desperate need for a striker.

Facts.

When all is said and done, this was a win and 3 points.

Two consecutive wins in the league, is a welcome departure from the previous form of December. O’Neill’s body of work over his two interim spells now reads as 9 wins from 10. 8 in 8 wins domestically and incredibly in that period, we have only conceded two goals – both of which, came from the penalty spot.

How sustainable that form is we don’t know but it is encouraging when trying to project, how we fare over the next 16 league fixtures.

The Right.

Julian Araujo is well short of being swashbuckling at the minute but his inclusion in the last two games has been a positive. Coupled with the form of Yang over the last few weeks, we do seem more balanced. Defensively, the Mexican was tested last night and displayed good positioning, to add to his extremely beneficial recovery pace.

If he can settle in quickly and Yang can maintain his confidence, then this is vital upgrade on a right-hand side, that has seemed non-existent so far this season. Aroujo is a pronounced improvement on Anthony Ralston, on and off the ball.

Next up.

This Sunday, we play Auckinleck Talbot in the Scottish Cup. A welcomed reprieve from the knife edge of the league campaign. It affords us the opportunity to rest and rotate before two pivotal fixtures – Bologna(A) on Thursday and then, the dreaded trip to Hearts that comes hot on its heels.

More on that later.