Good teams grind out wins when they are not at their best and that is exactly what Celtic did at Easter Road with a 2-1 win against Hibernian on Wednesday night in the Scottish Premiership.
It took two penalties, one of which came in stoppage time, to secure all three points for the Hoops as they struggled at times against Nick Montgomery's side.
The Hoops ended the match with only three shots on target for their efforts – to Hibernian's four – and two of those came from the penalties that were converted by Adam Idah.
Celtic's deadline day addition on loan from Norwich City will take the headlines with both of the goals on the night but Brendan Rodgers' true hero was Liam Scales at the heart of the defence.
Adam Idah's penalty heroics for Celtic
The Ireland international was handed a full debut by the manager and repaid the faith shown in him by burying both of his penalties with conviction, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way both times.
It took serious bottle for the 22-year-old to step up and convert as the first came after a lengthy stoppage due to a head injury sustained by Alistair Johnston and then with the game on the line in stoppage time.
However, it was not a perfect display from the young dynamo and there will be lessons to learn for him ahead of the rest of the 2023/24 campaign.
Idah missed one 'big chance' and only completed six of his 11 attempted passes throughout the match. He also lost four of his five ground duels and Rodgers may look to work with him to get more involved in matches, in possession and in battles off the ball, over the coming weeks and months.
Liam Scales' dominance at Easter Road
One player who was better than the Irish marksman was his international teammate Scales, who dominated at Easter Road and produced a complete performance.
The former Aberdeen loanee has established himself as a regular starter, with 23 league starts, and showcased his quality once again against Hibs on Wednesday night.
Minutes played
90
Duels contested
Ten
Duels won
Nine
Clearances
Four
Blocks
Two
As you can see in the table above, Scales was a rock at the back for Celtic as he won 90% of his duels, which included all three of his battles on the deck and six of his seven aerial contests.
He dominated the opposition at almost every opportunity to prevent them from causing more issues for Joe Hart between the sticks on the night, and could do little to stop Dylan Levitt's superb strike from the edge of the box to make it 1-1 on the hour.
One crucial intervention came towards the end of the match as Hibs looked set to counter with pace down the right but Scales adjusted brilliantly to intercept and control the ball, which allowed the Hoops to build an attack of their own.
The Irish colossus was also composed in possession of the ball with a whopping 126 passes completed (88% success rate) from 157 touches of the ball.
Scales only gave the ball away 17 times from those 157 touches. Whereas, Idah lost possession nine times from his 21 touches at the top end of the pitch.
Overall, the central defender produced a complete performance with his reliability on the ball and in his exceptional defensive work, whereas his compatriot left a lot to be desired away from his crucial penalties, which is why the former Shamrock Rovers star was the best player on the park for the Hoops.