Celtic produced another magical European performance under the lights at Parkhead with a 3-1 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
The Hoops did not get off to the best of starts, however, as Christoph Baumgartner opened the scoring in the first half before a brilliant goal from Nicolas Kuhn made it 1-1.
Celtic’s German forward then put the hosts in front just before half-time with a simple finish from close range, before Reo Hatate added a third in the second half.
Kuhn was, clearly, the standout performer for the Scottish giants with his terrific, match-winning, display for Brendan Rodgers’ side on the right flank.
Nicolas Kuhn's performance in numbers
The 24-year-old star produced a moment of magic to draw the Hoops level in the match as he cut inside to find the far corner with a curling effort from distance.
He was then in the right place at the right time to find the back of the net for a second time, placing himself perfectly in the box to convert from Greg Taylor’s ball across.
The former Bayern Munich youngster, who had 50 touches of the ball in total, also created two chances for his teammates and completed three of his five attempted dribbles, but was not rewarded with an assist for his creative efforts.
It was a player-of-the-match-worthy display from the German sensation but he was not the only top performer on the night for the Scottish giants, as central midfielder Arne Engels was another player who caught the eye with his display in the middle of the park.
Arne Engels' performance in numbers
The Belgian whiz was the unsung hero of the night for the Hoops as he put in the hard work in and out of possession to help Celtic to win the match and claim all three points.
Engels did not get off to the best of starts to the game, though, as he lost his man for the opening goal, but the way he bounced back from that setback made the rest of his display all the more impressive.
The former Bundesliga starlet played an important role in the equaliser from Kuhn. Neil Lennon, on TNT’s coverage of the game, described his involvement in the goal as “lovely”, as the midfielder brilliantly flicked the ball around the corner to send the winger away.
Minutes played
68
Pass accuracy
89%
Key passes
5
Duels won
3/4
Dribble success rate
100%
Dribbled past
0x
As you can see in the table above, Engels won 75% of his duels in the game and was not dribbled past a single time, which shows that he was strong out of possession in open play.
He also created a whopping five chances, the most of any player on the pitch, and completed 89% of his attempted passes, and had 51 touches of the ball – one more than Kuhn had.
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These statistics show that Engels was influential in possession and crucial to the way Celtic dominated the match on the ball, which is why – despite his early error – he was the unsung hero of the night for Rodgers.