Celtic booked their place in the semi-final of the League Cup with a dramatic 5-2 win over Championship side Falkirk at Parkhead on Sunday.
The Hoops will now take on Aberdeen in the last four at Hampden Park for a place in the final, despite an upset being on the cards for large spells of the game.
Falkirk went 1-0 and 2-1 up during the match but Brendan Rodgers‘ side bounced back with goals from Paulo Bernardo, Adam Idah (x2), and Nicolas Kuhn (x2).
The manager made a few changes to his starting XI to hand chances to some of the fringe players in the squad and two players, in particular, caught the eye.
Paulo Bernardo and Adam Idah grasped their chance
Bernardo was handed an opportunity to showcase his quality after being dropped to the bench in favour of Arne Engels in the last two matches.
The Portugal U21 international made his mark on the game with a thumping volleyed finish from Alex Valle’s knockdown to draw Celtic level at 1-1 in the first-half, to remind Rodgers of his ability in the final third.
Kyogo Furuhashi has scored two goals and missed nine ‘big chances’ in all competitions this season, which suggests that the door should be open for Idah to push for a starting spot.
The Ireland international struck twice, inside two minutes, to take Celtic from 2-1 down to 3-2 up, in the second half, and the second goal was a sublime take and finish from the former Norwich man.
Unlike Idah and Bernardo, one player who did not grasp his chance to stake a claim for a place in the starting XI in the Scottish Premiership moving forward was right-back Anthony Ralston.
Anthony Ralston’s struggles against Falkirk
The Scotland international has only been utilised off the bench in the Premiership so far this season and was handed an opportunity to shine against the second tier outfit.
Unfortunately, though, he did not do enough to suggest to Rodgers that Alistair Johnston’s place as the regular starting right-back for Celtic is in danger.
BBC Scotland’s Kheredine Idessane said that the Hoops defence “struggled” to deal with the Falkirk attackers and Ralston was part of that struggling backline.
The 25-year-old dud, who was handed a player rating of 6/10 by FootballScotland, let himself down with his defending for the second goal for the visitors, as he got caught ball-watching and left Finn Yeats in acres of space at the back post to head past Kasper Schmeichel.
He did provide a nice pass to Kuhn for Idah’s first goal after popping up in a left-back position momentarily, but his overall display was not good enough to earn himself a place in the starting XI moving forward.
Therefore, Rodgers must brutally ditch Ralston from the starting line-up for the clash with St Johnstone in the Premiership next weekend, with Johnston slotting straight back into the team.
Whereas, Bernardo and Idah’s goals may have given the Northern Irish head coach a decision to make when he comes to select his next XI.
