Albion Rovers 0 Celtic 3, by numbers

A terribly exciting match for Celtic By Numbers (CBN) as several “records” were shattered. CBN has been recording match, player, opposition data since the start of the Deila era, and so “records” in CBN terms is a similar concept  to Sky claiming English league football started in 1992. For my purposes “records” started at the beginning of the 2014/15 season.

Possession/Passing

Celtic	KPI	Albion Rovers
895	Completed Passes	87
81	Incomplete Passes	74
92%	Pass Completion %	54%
86%	Possession	14%
86%	Possession Effectiveness (PEI%)	47%

Attacking

Celtic	KPI	Albion Rovers
3	Goals	0
3.14	xG (Expected Goals)	0.11
8	Shots On Target	1
15	Shots Off Target	0
35%	Shot Accuracy %	100%
38%	On Target Conversion %	0%
13%	All Shot Conversion %	0%
10	Chances Created	0
48%	Chance Creation %	0%
18	Successful Dribbles	3
67%	Dribble Success %	75%
6	Corners	0

30m Sinclair scores. In the vernacular of modern youth, TOP BINS!

Defending

Celtic	KPI	Albion Rovers
26	Tackles Won	35
35	Tackles Lost	26
49%	Tackles Kept Possession %	51%
11	Clearances	43
24	Interceptions	43
50%	Interceptions Kept Possession %	53%
0	Defensive Saves	3
0	Defensive Errors	1
0	Defensive Critical Errors	0

For all their possession Celtic played a conservative game. Bitton and Brown did similar jobs in front of the back four in a deep MC position. Brown did complete 1 assist and Bitton attempted 2 shots both off target. But surely a McGregor would have offered more attacking threat in the MC position alongside one of Brown / Bitton. The pair completed 281 passes creating only 1 chance. As a result Celtic utterly dominated possession.

Armstrong was nominally AMC but tended to come deep to get possession and rarely linked with, or got beyond, Dembele. The main difference between team shape from Deila to Rodgers is that we (correctly) don’t play 2 deep lying MCs in domestic games. Under Deila this led to much possession between the 2 MCs and the 2 DCs but not enough quick forward momentum or support to the 1 striker. Under Rodgers we pass it more quickly and more accurately and with only 1 sitting midfielder, have an extra body breaking into the box.

Celtic were happy to keep possession for long stretches as Albion ensured the width of their penalty box was protected. Celtic went 13 minutes without having a shot after the 1^st goal (30 mins) and 12 minutes without having a shot after the 2^nd (77m). There was then a late flurry of chances as Albion inevitably tired leading to a late 3^rd (90m).

Celtic conservatism was perhaps due to many factors:

• Not having played since 31^st Dec 16;
• Rodgers’ distrust of the artificial pitch;
• A safety-first focus on winning this Cup match with the treble in mind; and
• Injury to Sviatchenko and not wanting to expose Simunovic to 90 mins on plastic leading to more protection for the back four with the returning Boyata.

It wasn’t our most unproductive game of the season despite taking 112 passes to create a shot on average – apart from games where we have not scored. The Hamilton Academicals home game on 13^th Dec 16 was particular barren with 337 passes needed between shots on average and 1 goal to show from 673 completed passes.

Albion kept shape and discipline well, with only 1 defensive error whereby the ball was given away just outside their own box. Their fitness held up well with no discernible drop off in defensive shape and application. 895 passes to 87 is frankly playing 2 different sports. At no time did they complete more than 4 passes. 87 completed passes is the lowest I have recorded by 20 (Alloa Athletic completing 107 in a League Cup tie). Their only shot at goal was after 40 seconds and was on target albeit from an improbable distance and angle and Gordon fielded easily. Given the returning Boyata, perhaps Albion regret not taking more chances in the 2^nd half? Between the 51^st and 67^th minutes Celtic had 1 shot and was this a time to push more players forward?

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CBN Man of the Match

Special mention to Boyata for his 2^nd start and he had to deal with 2 awkward moments facing his own goal with a bouncing ball. An almost flawless performance. In general, it was a very simple game for the Celtic defenders.

Man of the Match goes to a player I called out for disappearing from games (completes 25 passes a game). He completed 61 passes and unlocked the 10 man defence and was a threat over the whole game – Sinclair.