Make Mine A Treble!

Ryan Christie has got off to a flyer this season, with six goals already to his name, including a Flag Day hat-trick

- Paul Cuddihy

TWELVE months ago, Ryan Christie was an unused substitute on Flag Day, watching from the sidelines as his team-mates beat Livingston 3-1 and take their first step on the road to an eighth successive league title.

The pre-match ceremony of unfurling the league flag in recognition of the previous season’s success was one that Christie enjoyed, even if he did not feel fully involved in it. He had, after all, spent the entire 2017/18 campaign on loan at Aberdeen.

Fast forward a year, and he was in the starting XI for the season’s opener against St Johnstone, and he was able to savour the flag ceremony in full, having played 38 games and scored 11 goals in the club’s Treble Treble success.

And he took the subsequent match to reinforce his importance to the Celtic squad, creating the team’s opener before scoring a treble himself to ensure he walked away with the match ball and the Man of the Match Award.

The standing ovation he received when he was replaced by Olivier Ntcham on 71 minutes was no more than the player deserved.

Speaking exclusively to the Celtic View, Christie said: “We wanted to make a statement to everybody else and to do that in the way we did is fantastic.

“The fans were exceptional as well, the atmosphere was incredible and that’s a joy to play in front of. It was up to us to live up to that and to put on a show like we did.

“The gaffer has told me to shoot on sight if I get the chance, which I’m delighted to hear. I was upset to blaze one over the bar early on against St Johnstone, but I’m delighted to have scored a hat-trick after that.”

Christie’s hat-trick helped the Hoops to an emphatic 7-0 victory over St Johnstone, and took his goals tally for the season already to six, with the 24-year-old having also scored three European goals this season.