Celtic continued their perfect start to the Scottish Premiership season with an emphatic and comfortable 3-0 win in the Old Firm clash at Parkhead on Sunday.
The Hoops secured all three points in impressive style and have now won all four of their opening fixtures in the division, scoring 12 goals and conceding zero.
Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi, and Callum McGregor got their names on the scoresheet, whilst summer signings Arne Engels and Luke McCowan were handed their debuts off the bench.
Brendan Rodgers lost star central midfielder Matt O'Riley to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion for a reported fee of more than £25m – a Scottish record fee – during the summer window and that could have been a big blow.
Matt O'Riley's contributions for Celtic
The Denmark international was an influential figure in the middle of the park for the Premiership champions in the 2023/24 campaign, with his attacking contributions.
O'Riley caught the eye with his match-winning performances as both a scorer and a creator of goals from a central midfield position, which earned him a big-money move to Brighton.
Sofascore rating
7.91
1st
Goals
18
1st
Assists
13
1st
Big chances created
14
1st
Key passes per game
2.5
1st
As you can see in the table above, the left-footed magician was the club's main source of both goals and assists in the Premiership last season.
These statistics illustrate why O'Riley moving on from Celtic could have been a major blow to their performance on the pitch, but Paulo Bernardo's showing against Rangers showed why Rodgers can now forget all about the Dane.
Paulo Bernardo's Old Firm brilliance
The Portuguese talent spent the 2023/24 campaign on loan from Benfica and was largely in O'Riley's shadow, as he only started 11 league matches.
Bernardo signed permanently from the Liga Portugal outfit this summer and the Danish whiz's exit has opened the door for him to prove his worth, which is exactly what he did on Sunday.
The right-footed maestro, who was handed a 9/10 player rating by GlasgowWorld's Ben Banks, was a quality operator with his work in and out of possession.
On the ball, Bernardo completed an eye-catching 100% (4/4) of his attempted dribbles and also made three key passes and created one 'big chance'. This shows that Rangers could not get anywhere near him when the ball was at his feet and he was creative in the final third.
Out of possession, the 22-year-old talent was outstanding with 11 duels won, including nine of his 15 on the floor and both of his aerial contests.
The former Benfica man made four tackles and two interceptions to cut out Rangers attacks and win the ball back for his side in the middle of the park, which showed that he can excel at both ends of the pitch.
These kind of performances from Bernardo, and results for Celtic, show that O'Riley will not be missed as much as his performances last season suggested that he would, as Rodgers could forget all about him with the Portuguese star's brilliance.
