Celtic fullback Alistair Johnston has paid tribute to teammate Liel Abada after he played a crucial role in the second-half turnaround against St Mirren on Sunday.
The 21-year-old replaced Daizen Maeda at halftime when the Hoops were trailing. He then was involved in two of the goals as the Scottish champions scored five times after the interval. Johnston says the Israeli is a “nightmare” for opposing defenses to deal with:
“He’s so dynamic and that goes to show for all our wingers. They all pose a slightly different threat, they’re so talented and they are a nightmare. I know as a full-back when you go up against someone for 60 minutes and they run you ragged and then all of a sudden a new fresh player comes on with a new threat it’s always a nightmare.”
Abada scored his tenth league goal of the season, as well as setting up Matt O’Riley for his first of the campaign, during an action-packed second half, and manager Ange Postecoglou rightly praised his contributions following the match at the SMiSA Stadium.
It’s probably fair to say that there was an element of frustration that contributed to Abada’s performance, having only started nine league games this season, but he will be hoping for more opportunities after his display at the weekend.