Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers revealed Sebastian Tounekti excites him “every time he gets the ball” after the Tunisia winger netted his first goal for the club in a 4-0 win over Partick Thistle
Tounekti followed his man-of-the-match debut at Kilmarnock with another lively display capped by Celtic’s third goal when he slotted home following a slick one-two with fellow newcomer Kelechi Iheanacho.
The Norwegian-born 24-year-old has hit the ground running since his deadline-day move from Hammarby and helped set up a Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Rangers.
“I’m glad for Seba because that’s one area, when I spoke to him before he came in, I felt we can improve his game, because for him to keep progressing, he’s got big talent, but he needs to add numbers to his game,” Rodgers said.
“He excites me, every time he gets the ball, and that’s what we were desperate for in the team.
“He’s come in really aggressive. He’s a really talented boy because he can go either way and also, not only that, he can run in behind. You see the numbers of times he makes runs. Sometimes he doesn’t get it, sometimes he does, but he’s running off the ball as well.
“I’m really excited for where he is and where we can bring him to. But, importantly, supporters will love watching him because he’s so exciting.
“If you look through the history of this club, it’s littered with amazing wingers and that’s the football we play.
“The DNA of this club is based on attacking football and that is with wingers on the side of the pitch that can take people on, beat people.
“Every time he gets the ball, you just sense the excitement and that’s what we need on both sides.”
Headed goals from Yang Hyun-jun and Liam Scales had Celtic two up at the break and Tounekti netted inside 60 seconds of the restart, before substitute Luke McCowan added a late fourth.
Rodgers said: “I thought we played very well. Partick have been in really, really good form, really consistent over this last number of weeks. These can be really tricky games, but I thought we handled it really well.
“The football was really good and intense. We scored goals, we were aggressive when we didn’t have the ball and it was a really professional performance.”
Thistle head coach Mark Wilson encouraged his players to learn from the experience.
The former Celtic full-back said: “I thought first half we just played with a wee tinge of fear, we couldn’t really get up, and a couple of mistakes from us, quickfire, and it’s 2-0.
“The third goal, I wanted to press more aggressively, so I’ll take that on the chin. We did press more aggressively and they picked a couple of passes and the ball was in the net quickly, and that’s the levels. But a great learning curve for the players.
“This is just a different level of opposition, so we had to take it in isolation.
“I mean, if we came off with some sort of miracle and went through, I wasn’t going to think I’m Guardiola, and equally when we get beat 4-0, I’m not going to think I’m for the chop, and everything goes out the window.”
