Celtic came away from Parkhead 1-0 victors on Saturday afternoon. Alistair Johnston’s strike from outside the box got things going early doors, and it turned out to be the only goal of the game.
It wasn’t the prettiest finish from Johnston, but it proved crucial after Luis Palma’s duo of penalty misses. The Hoops should have had more goals in the game, but it wasn’t to be and the Canadian right-back proved to be the match-winner.
With a clean sheet to add to his second-ever goal in Hoops, the 25-year-old couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon. Despite the relatively poor performance from his teammates, Johnston was pleased post-match with his contributions.
He wasn’t, however, too happy with the Celtic Park pitch. In a similar manner to Matt O’Riley last weekend and Brendan Rodgers on Saturday, Johnston was critical of the surface.
As much it is poor, though, he did admit he and his teammates would have played on much worse growing up: “It’s patchy”, he said (Glasgow Times). “That’s a nice way to describe it.”
“I’m not exactly sure, I’m not an expert on agriculture or landscaping. But I think it’s difficult not getting a ton of sunlight given how big Celtic Park is.
“The away team coming see it’s difficult and it probably doesn’t play to our favour with how we play.
“But both teams play on it and we’ve all grown up playing on much worse. It’s flat, that’s all we can ask for. When you come out of winter it’ll be green again I’m hoping.”
