Why Matt O’Riley justified his Celtic vs Rangers selection

Kyogo struck either side of a James Tavernier free-kick before Jota pounced to give Ange Postecoglou’s side a 3-1 lead.

Although Tavernier headed past Joe Hart to reduce the deficit and set up a tense last ten minutes, the hoops held on secure victory in front of a raucous Celtic Park support. 

With just seven games left, and a far superior goal difference, Postecoglou’s side now require just three more wins to confirm back-to-back title triumphs. 

Celtic had to do without the talents of Reo Hatate in the middle of the park for this one though after the Japanese midfielder failed to overcome injury in time for the third league derby of the season. 

Aaron Mooy did recover to make his return to the starting 11 and with captain Callum McGregor a stick on to start, many expected Tomoki Iwata, who made his first league start last weekend at Ross County, to make up the midfield three. 

However, Matt O’Riley was given the nod as Postecoglou kept faith in the Denmark under-21 international. 

The Celtic manager was rewarded as the former MK Dons man, who has not quite reached the heights of his own lofty standards in recent times, put in one of his most influential displays in many weeks. 

Here, we break down O’Riley’s timely return to form and how it helped Celtic move to within touching distance of the Premiership title…

Tackle (1 min)

With the sound of You’ll Never Walk Alone still echoing around Celtic Park as the visitors kicked off, O’Riley wasted no time in making his mark on the game. 

As Rangers moved the ball back to John Souttar, taking the place of the injured Connor Goldson, O’Riley applied the first pressure of the match to force the former Hearts defender into playing out to Tavernier. 

O’Riley then confirmed just how much he was up for the battle, tearing into a challenge on the right-back to win the ball.

Although the break of the ball went Rangers way, this was an early sign of what would be a big feature of O’Riley’s display, his intensity off-the-ball. 

Assist (25 mins)

Just over five minutes after Rangers thought they had taken they led through Alfredo Morelos, Celtic broke the deadlock and O’Riley was heavily involved. 

Initially, on the other side of the pitch, O’Riley drifted across off the back of Nico Raskin. As Celtic built up on the left, thanks to great movement from Greg Taylor who moved from an inverted position back out wide, creating an option for Carl Starfelt, O’Riley continued his run into the box.  

This overloaded the box on the left, leaving Tavernier with both Maeda and O’Riley to deal with as the ball from Taylor came in. A perfect first touch from O’Rileythen left the Rangers captain for dead. 

From there, O’Riley showed brilliant awareness and composure to cut the ball back for Kyogo who did the rest, in typical Kyogo style. 

Although still not in full control of the game at this point, this was a brilliantly worked trademark Celtic goal under Postecoglou with O’Riley playing a key role. 

Foul (43 mins)

The one blot in O’Riley’s copybook on Saturday afternoon came just before half-time. 

After Cameron Carter-Vickers's scuffed clearance kept the ball alive for Rangers, O’Riley mistimed a slide tackle on Malik Tillman on the edge of the box. 

The midfielder was booked before being punished further as Tavernier converted to draw Rangers level going into the break. 

Role in second goal (62 mins)

O’Riley played his part after half-time in getting Celtic back in front though. 

This followed the introduction of Iwata for a struggling Mooy that also coincided with a change in shape in Celtic’s midfield, the oncoming Japan international dropped a bit deeper to form a double pivot with McGregor. 

That tweak saw O’Riley take up a more central, slightly more advanced number 10 position. This led to O’Riley finding pockets of space between the Rangers' lines, such as in the build-up to the second. 

Here, O’Riley drifted into the right half-space to receive a ball through the lines from Carter-Vickers. 

Receiving on the half-turn, O’Riley’s ball down the line for Jota allowed the Portuguese the opportunity to deliver, his deflected cross eventually leading to Kyogo getting the chance to pounce for his second of the game.

Of course, there was a lot that happened between O’Riley rolling the ball into Jota and the ball ending up in Alan McGregor’s net for a second time but O’Riley’smovement between the lines, exploiting Rangers as they attempted to readjust to Celtic’s change of shape in midfield, was pivotal in progressing the ball into a dangerous area. 

StatsBomb data

StatsBomb’s data highlights just how influential O’Riley was in Celtic’s latest derby day success, both on and off the ball. 

His effectiveness in possession is shown in the data provider’s on-ball value metric, referred to as OBV (a breakdown of the metric can be read here).

O’Riley registered the highest OBV score of any player on the pitch on Saturday (0.68 OBV). A score that is also well above the former Fulham youngster’s season-average overall OBV of 0.19.  

His work off the ball was even more eye-catching. O’Riley exerted an incredible 38 pressures in his 76 minutes on the pitch, well above his season average of 15.86 per 90. 

In what was a scrappy game at times, which saw both sides register more total pressures than in the two other league derbies, higher individual pressures were to be expected.  

Even so, O’Riley’s 38 pressures, the most by any individual Celtic player in a league match this season, 11 more than the second highest which was Dazien Maeda at Ibrox in January, still represents a massive effort out of possession. 

In terms of other defensive numbers, he also contributed seven counterpressures, the second-highest of any Celtic player on Saturday, other than Kyogo, and he was not dribbled past once. 

He also produced more tackles (seven) than any other player in the match and three more than the combative Alistair Johnston who picked up the man of the match award. O’Riley also made one interception.

For all this tireless effort out of possession, O’Riley only committed one foul too. Unfortunately for him, it just happened to be a costly one at the time. 

Conclusion

O’Riley has been a fantastic addition to Celtic since his move from MK Dons in January 2022. 

However, as he has stated himself, he has probably had his most difficult spell since he arrived at Celtic Park in recent months, for several reasons. 

When it mattered most though, O’Riley, one ill-judged slide tackle aside, produced one of his best performances of the season. 

His display on Saturday serves as a timely reminder of his contribution to what is now an almost certain second title of the Postecoglou era. 

From his key role in the 4-0 dismantling of Rangers in the first derby that lay down an early marker last September, to stepping back into a deeper role to cover for McGregor in the weeks before the World Cup break, he has more than played his part in ensuring the Premiership title will remain in paradise.