Celtic's Oh Hyeon-gyu analysed following Dingwall showing

David Turnbull’s strike gave the Hoops a half-time lead before substitutes Luis Palma and James Forrest took the game away from a spirited home side in the second period.

With the make-or-break trip to face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League looming, manager Brendan Rodgers made six changes to the team that beat St Mirren 2-1 at Celtic Park last Wednesday night. One of those changes saw South Korean striker Oh Hyeon-gyu rewarded for coming off the bench to net the decisive goal against St Mirren with his first start of the season as Rodgers opted to rest talisman Kyogo.

READ MORE: The Celtic Numbers: Stellar Liam Scales shines in Dingwall

Although not able to get on the scoresheet again himself, the 22-year-old put in an impressive shift in the Highlands. Here we break down some of the key moments of the former Suwon Bluewings centre forward’s first full 90 minutes of the season…

Pass to Maeda (3 mins)

Oh didn't take long to get involved in the play at the Global Energy Stadium, with some nice touches just a few minutes in. This included when he dropped off the last line to offer a passing option for left centre-back Liam Scales.

Here, Oh first showed good strength to get in front of County captain Jack Baldwin to receive the pass from Scales, before then taking a clean first touch and swinging a pinpoint ball out to Daizen Maeda on the opposite side, swiftly allowing Celtic to change the angle of the attack

First disallowed goal (4 mins)

Oh continued to get himself involved in the early stages of the match, holding off Baldwin again to lay the ball into the path of his countryman Yang on the edge of the box, which led to a corner.

His next involvement was in the first major incident of the match. Again, Oh showed good physicality, this time outjumping striker Jordan White as they contested a header back across goal from Yang Hyun-jun.

Scales subsequently swept home the loose ball, only for referee David Munro to harshly rule out the strike for Oh’s ‘challenge’ on the home side’s forward.

Header (21 mins)

With the home side reduced to 10 men a few minutes later, following James Brown’s dangerous tackle on Yang, Celtic were able to take total control of the match. This resulted in a raft of corners, one of which gave Oh his first sight of goal.

Doing well to get in front of his man yet again, Oh could only direct his glancing header from Turnbull’s inswinging corner over the bar. Replays showed he may well have been stopped from getting better contact by Staggies defender Will Nightingale, who appeared to have a handful of the South Korean international’s shirt as he connected with the ball.

Second disallowed goal (31 mins)

Oh’s luck wasn’t in ten minutes later, either, when he thought he had broken the deadlock.

Bursting into the box, he slid in to finish off Maeda’s cross well, only to then be denied by a VAR intervention that deemed the Japanese attacker to be offside from the pass from Paulo Bernardo in the build-up.

Recovery (36 mins)

Undeterred after being denied a second goal in two goals, Oh continued to work the County back-line well. A good example of this came just minutes after his disallowed goal. With Scott Allardice cutting out a cross from the left, Oh was quick to apply pressure on the County midfielder, forcing him to play the ball to his right-back Connor Randall in a congested area of the pitch.

He then continued to chase the ball down and was able to nip in front of Randall to steal the ball back and get Celtic quickly back on the attack.

Shot (56 mins)

Oh came back for more after half-time, going close to doubling Celtic’s lead just over ten minutes into the second 45.

On this occasion, Oh showed excellent movement to get across the front of Ross County's backline and then in behind to stretch the play.  Exploiting space down the side of the Baldwin, he latched onto Anthony Ralston’s pass before firing off an effort from a tight angle that was kept out by the impressive Laidlaw in the home goal.

Final shot (90+ mins)

Rodgers made a triple change on the hour mark, with Kyogo introduced alongside Odin Holm and Luis Palma, giving Oh an opportunity to play alongside Kyogo as he did for the final 15 minutes against St Mirren.

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With Kyogo playing in behind Oh, the two linked up well on several occasions in the final half-an-hour of the match, including a late move that led to the latter’s final attempt on goal of the match.

Coming off the forward line to good effect again, Oh quickly swivelled to face up his man before playing a nicely weighted ball in behind for Kyogo, giving the former Vissel Kobe man a clear sight of goal.

Laidlaw stood big again to block Kyogo’s angled effort at his feet with the ball then ricocheting up in the box.

Falling for Oh, he looked destined to finally grab the goal his play had deserved. However, the inspired Laidlaw managed to get himself in the way once again, much to the frustration of the big striker.

StatsBomb Data

Data provider StatsBomb gives further insight into Oh’s performance on Saturday in Dingwall.

Firstly, on his shot map, we can see Oh’s six efforts on goal coming from generally high-quality positions in and around the six-yard box – he registered the highest xG per shot of all Celtic players who took more than one shot (0.13 xG per shot).

As unlucky as he was on several occasions though, he probably didn’t make the most of these chances. This is highlighted by his post-shot xG of 0.32 from his six shots, which was less than his actual xG (0.79).  As well as his six attempts at goal, Oh also contributed two key passes which were worth an xG Assisted value of 0.21.

StatsBomb’s data also highlights Oh’s impressive work rate off-the-ball. No other Celtic player applied more pressures (16) than Oh while, impressively, he also lost just one of his five aerial duels.

Conclusion

Kyogo is undoubtedly Celtic’s number one striker, but Oh’s performance in Dingwall, off the back of his match-winning contribution in the previous game against St Mirren, shows the South Korean certainly has something to offer, too. He worked tirelessly, occupying the County backline throughout and linking play effectively. If not for some back luck, and the heroics of Laidlaw in the home goal, he could well have added to his first strike of the season.

READ MORE: Celtic's David Turnbull addresses St Mirren goal celebration

Given how sparingly he had been used in the opening months, there may have been a concern that Rodgers did not see Oh as a viable alternative to Kyogo. He has shown more than enough in the last few games to prove that he has what it takes to be a dependable deputy to Kyogo though or potentially lead the line with the Japanese international in behind him, as we have seen for spells in the last two games.

Either way, the more regular opportunities the better for Oh as he looks to continue his development to a level that could well one day see him capable of taking over Kyogo’s mantle as Celtic’s first-choice centre-forward.