Celtic avoided a significant upset in the League Cup on Sunday by coming from behind twice to beat Championship side Falkirk 5-2 at Parkhead.
The second division outfit went 1-0 and 2-1 ahead in the first half and led at the break, before the Hoops rallied and eventually secured a comfortable win in the second half.
Brendan Rodgers’ side went out in that competition at the first available opportunity last season, losing 1-0 to Kilmarnock, and they are now in the semi-finals of it this time around.
The Northern Irish head coach won the Scottish Premiership title and the SFA Cup in his first season back at Paraside last term, and will now be hoping to secure a League Cup for the first time since his return.
After Paulo Bernardo’s goal in the first-half, a quickfire double from summer signing Adam Idah turned the game around in the second half – taking Celtic from 2-1 down to 3-2 up inside three minutes.
The two former Hoops loanees were not the real stars of the show, however, as substitute Nicolas Kuhn produced an unbelievable performance off the bench.
Nicolas Kuhn's performance against Falkirk
The German winger came off the bench in the 61st minute, alongside Greg Taylor, Arne Engels, and Hyun-jun Yang, whilst his side were 2-1 down to Falkirk.
11 minutes after his introduction, the Scottish giants were 3-2 up and the forward had two assists to his name. He assisted Idah’s first goal by racing down the left of the box and slotting a ball across for the striker to tap into an empty net, before feeding the Irish marksman with a pass into his feet on the edge of the box to set him up for his second.
The former Bayern Munich youngster then got his name on the scoresheet in the 81st minute. Engels played a defence-splitting pass through the middle for the winger to race through on goal and delightfully dink the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to make it 4-2.
Just a few minutes later, Kuhn scored his second and Celtic’s fifth by reacting to a loose ball on the edge of the box and lashing in and a bouncing volley into the bottom corner.
This meant that the substitute winger plundered an incredible two goals and two assists in around 29 minutes on the pitch, helping to turn the game around from 2-1 down to 5-2 up – having been involved in all four of the goals to complete the turnaround.
Kuhn has established himself as a key player for Celtic but there were some doubts over his potential when he first arrived at Paradise at the start of 2024.
Nicolas Kuhn was criticised by expert
In the January transfer window at the start of 2024, the Scottish giants reportedly splashed out a fee of £3m to sign the attacker from Rapid Vienna on a permanent deal.
Expert Dorian Schuster, who had been tracking Kuhn’s statistics and performances in Austria for Transfermarkt, spoke on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, as transcribed by The Scottish Sun, and criticised the forward and Celtic’s deal to sign him.
Schuster claimed that the winger’s shooting was “terrible” and that it could be a “major issue” for the club in European competitions, whilst also adding that he is “injury-prone”.
The 24-year-old gem did miss 14 games through injury in the 2022/23 campaign and missed eight ‘big chances’, scoring twice, in the Bundesliga in the first half of last season, which may have been why those comments were made.
He then stated that Transfermarkt valued the Rapid Vienna star at just €1.5m (£1.2m) and that was less than half as much as Celtic reportedly paid for his services.
The expert also questioned whether or not Kuhn would be able to “have fun” with Premiership defenders, due to his injuries and lack of physicality.
After a slow start to life in Glasgow, providing two goals and two assists in 14 league appearances last term, the German wizard has now made himself undroppable for Rodgers in the current campaign.
Nicolas Kuhn is now undroppable
The left-footed magician has produced a staggering five goals and six assists in eight appearances in all competitions for Celtic so far this season, starting six of those matches.
Kuhn was left out from the start against St Mirren, due to a slight injury issue, and was rested on the bench for the clash with Falkirk, but racked up two goals and three assists as a substitute in those games.
Despite Schuster’s claim that the winger is injury-prone, he has not missed a single matchday squad through injury for the Hoops since his move to the club in January.
Kuhn has also, certainly, had fun with Premiership defenders, despite the doubts of the ‘expert’, as he has completed 2.2 dribbles per match, with a success rate of 61%.
The former Ajax youngster has toyed with full-backs and been a constant threat down the right flank for Rodgers in the Scottish top-flight so far this season, with his ability to score and create goals.
Appearances
5
Starts
4
Goals
2
Assists
2
Big chances created
3
Key passes per game
2.2
As you can see in the table above, Kuhn has been directly involved in four goals in four starts in the Premiership, whilst creating more than two chances per match on average.
The 24-year-old star has also fired in three goals and provided three assists in two League Cup outings for Celtic, to help his side through to the semi-finals.
He was unlucky to only register one assist in the 5-1 win over Slovan in the Champions League last week, as the forward created four chances and two ‘big chances’ for his teammates – only to be rewarded with a solitary assist.
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These statistics show that Kuhn has performed brilliantly across all competitions so far for Celtic this season, which is why he has emerged as an undroppable player for Rodgers in key games and has proven his doubters from the start of the year wrong.