Forget Jota: The "best player in Scotland" who had 58 touches ran the show for Celtic - opinion

Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side went into Wednesday’s night’s Premiership clash in a quite astonishing run of form, with the Bhoys remaining undefeated in their last 19 league outings.

And, although second-half strikes from Christian Ramirez and Lewis Ferguson pulled Aberdeen level, Matt O’Riley’s deflected first-half strike and a goal in each half from Jota were ultimately enough to get Celtic over the line at Pittodrie – with the Bhoys running out 3-2 winners.

However, while it will undoubtedly be Jota who steals this morning’s headlines, the performance of Celtic’s other goalscorer, O’Riley, was arguably more impressive than that of the Portuguese magician, as the 21-year-old midfielder well and truly ran the show for Postecoglou’s side on Wednesday evening.

Over the course of his 89 minutes on the pitch, the £1.5m January signing once again made his minimal transfer fee look like one of the bargains of the century, as the 21-year-old was imperious in the middle of the park for the Hoops.

Indeed, the £405k-rated midfielder enjoyed 58 touches of the ball, completed 34 passes – two of which were key – attempted six crosses and two long balls, as well as successfully completed his one attempted dribble and scored Celtic’s second of the game with his only shot at goal on the night.

The former England U18 international also dug in when his side required, making two interceptions, one tackle, one clearance, winning three ground duels, committing two fouls and winning one free-kick of his own.

These returns saw the former MK Dons starlet average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.9, ranking him as the second-best player to feature in the fixture, behind only – you guessed it – Jota.

Indeed, should O’Riley be able