Celtic moved back to the top of the Scottish Premiership table on Sunday afternoon with a hard-fought 2-1 win away from Parkhead against Kilmarnock.

The Hoops needed a header from Japan international Daizen Maeda and a last-gasp penalty from Kelechi Iheanacho to claim all three points in the match.

As shown in the clip in the post above, summer signing Marcelo Saracchi was key to the first goal with his sublime cross from the left flank to tee up the Celtic centre-forward to score.

Marcelo Saracchi's performance in numbers

The Uruguay international was selected to play from the start for the Scottish giants to provide first-choice left-back Kieran Tierney with a rest, after he had to pull out of the Scotland squad through injury.

Saracchi played the first 58 minutes of the game, before being replaced by Tierney, and his assist for Maeda was the only chance that he created in that time on the pitch.

The left-footed battler had a few nervous touches early on in the match, and gave possession away 12 times in total, but he steadied himself to put in a solid performance, winning three of his four duels, per Sofascore.

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Whilst Saracchi’s assist for Maeda’s goal could be described as Tierney-esque, there was another player on the pitch who could be the club’s next Tierney in the making, Colby Donovan.

Why Colby Donovan may be the next Kieran Tierney

The Celtic number 67 returned to Glasgow for a second spell at the club after he initially broke through the academy to become a first-team star before his £25m move to Arsenal in 2019.

Tierney, as shown in the graphic above, made 170 appearances and won five titles in the Premiership after emerging from the youth ranks to lock down the left-back spot.

Brendan Rodgers may have unearthed the club’s next cab off the ranks in the form of Donovan, whose performance showed that he is more than capable of starting games at right-back for the Hoops.

Minutes

90

Clearances

7

Blocks

1

Tackles

2

Ground duels won

3/6

Aerial duels won

4/4

As you can see in the table above, the Scotland U21 international was incredibly solid defensively throughout the match, winning seven of his ten duels in total.

Rodgers trusted the youngster, who made two prior appearances off the bench this season, to step in as a starter in place of the injured Alistair Johnston and Anthony Ralston, and the teenage starlet did not let him down.

To go along with his defensive excellence, Donovan also had 101 touches of the ball and completed 82% of his attempted passes, which shows that he was comfortable and reliable on the ball for the most part.

After a couple of nervy touches early on, which were to be expected on his full debut, the 19-year-old talent settled down and showcased his class on and off the ball at right-back to prove that he is a genuine first-team calibre option for the manager to call upon.

With Johnston out for several more weeks with a hamstring injury, Donovan has a real chance to nail down a starting spot in the side for the foreseeable future, which would then put him in position to be the back-up to the Canada international instead of Ralston.

It is now down to the academy graduate to deliver quality performances, like his display against Kilmarnock, whenever he is called upon to make sure that Rodgers has no excuse to drop him.

If he can do that, Donovan may well go on to be the next Tierney as another academy graduate full-back who could be a real success at Parkhead. One thing is for sure: his performance on Sunday was a terrific first step towards achieving that.