Celtic Player Slammed For Performance Against Aberdeen
Celtic made the task much tougher than it should have been but were ultimately able to find their way through to the final of the Scottish Cup, as Brendan Rodgers' team kept their double dreams alive.
Aberdeen just would not give up, even though they seemed down and out on more than one occasion. Ultimately, it took penalties to separate the two teams at Hampden Park.
Even that had no lack of drama. Joe Hart surprisingly stepped up to the spot, and then missed, only to go from villain to hero by saving one in sudden death to book Celtic's spot in the Scottish Cup final.
That is cause for celebration but at the same time, Celtic cannot ignore the multitude of problems they faced on the day and the clear need for improvement.
Someone who was particularly disappointing on the day was Yang Hyun-jun. The South Korean winger was handed a start by Rodgers but could not justify his selection.
Yang was ultimately brought off in the 62nd minute, with James Forrest replacing him and the Celtic veteran made a much more positive impact, scoring a goal off the bench.
The supporters were not impressed with what they saw from Yang and there were calls on social media for him to be dropped from the starting XI moving forward.
On the other hand, the media reception was not great either. Glasgow World gave Yang a 4/10 rating for his performance against Aberdeen while Football Insider handed him a 2/10.
It had looked like Yang was starting to find his feet at Celtic after his return from the AFC Asian Cup, as he put in a few great performances.
The red card against Hearts and subsequent suspension has hurt Yang's momentum though, as he has struggled to replicate his earlier performances since returning.
It would not be right to solely point out Yang for Celtic's struggles at Hampden Park, though. They have plenty of other problems and perhaps much bigger ones.
This was the second time that Celtic have conceded three goals over their previous three matches.
On both occasions, they had looked in control of the game only for them to crumble in the final minutes.
Celtic will need to deal with these situations much better. There are plenty of high-pressure games coming up in the final stretch of this season with two trophies still to play for.
Celtic will welcome Rangers to Parkhead in May in a game that could end up deciding the Premiership title race. Then they will have to play the Scottish Cup final as well, once again against Philippe Clement's side.
Both are must-win games for both Glasgow giants. The whole 2023-24 season has come down to this.
