A week ago it would have been difficult to find a Celtic fan capable of making a decent case for playing Paolo Bernardo.
Signed on loan from Benfica in the final week of the summer transfer window the Portuguese midfielder seemed to be on a rota as the third option to play alongside Callum McGregor and Matt O’Riley in the centre of the park.
David Turnbull, Odin Thiago Holm and Tomoki Iwata were all tried but like Bernardo hadn’t shown enough to claim the position vacated by the the injury to Reo Hatate.
Bernardo started and played for 80 minutes against Livingston then retained his place away to Dundee, during the first half he seemed more forceful as he pushed forward, kept the ball moving and added some strength to the Celtic midfield.
Early in the second half he broke the deadlock, scoring the vital goal as he raced onto a Luis Palma pass then showed great composure to squeeze his shot past Trevor Carson while under pressure from Joe Shaugnessy.
Yesterday Bernardo’s Celtic career really kicked off with a moment that won’t be forgotten by anyone in the stadium or the millions watching on television.
Early on, in Celtic’s first real attack he sent a header flashing across goal that should have been on target, soon after he shot into the side netting but the magic moment arrived with 25 minutes on the clock.
Luis Palma’s corner from the right was headed out across goal by Abdallah Sima at the front post, Bernardo steadied himself then placed a powerful shot back on target beyond Jack Butland into the net.
After that there was only one place to go- Bernardo chased by team-mates- headed towards the Green Brigade in the North Curve where a fairly steady hand captured the moments and post goal celebrations.
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