Petrov explains major advantage Durán and Osmand partnership gives Celtic

Former Celtic star Stilyan Petrov has highlighted the advantage of having striking duo Camilo Durán and Callum Osmand on the pitch at the same time.

The Bhoys have clearly struck gold with Durán, who now has 13 goals for the season and seemingly can't be stopped. At just £5.5million, the Colombian looks to be an absolute steal, and he has quickly become a fan favourite.

Thursday night's performance off the bench will only have helped. It was a major surprise to see Durán left on the bench by Martin O'Neill, who explained that his side needed freshening up following an extremely busy schedule, but with his side 1-0 down in a must-win clash with Besiktas, Durán was thrown on after an hour.

The Colombian frontman went on to score twice, including the winner, once again dazzling at Parkhead, but he wasn't the only one.

Striker Osmand, who has found joy playing on the left in recent weeks, came on at the same time and scored with his first touch before going on to provide an assist for Durán's first goal.

That assist saw Osmand bring down the ball and play a perfectly weighted through ball for Durán to run onto. He then took it around the keeper and slotted home.

Analysing the goal on TNT Sports after the game, former Hoops star Petrov pointed out the advantage of having two strikers playing together, even though one of them is operating as a winger.

"A simple ball forward. The two strikers combined," he said. "This is a perfect striker move. He knows what Durán will do and it's a great pass, then it's great to go around the goalkeeper. 

"It's all about instinct. A striker's goal. He got a bit lucky but he reacts quicker and it was fully deserved."

It's an interesting take because it was only recently that Celtic skipper Callum McGregor suggested there were problems with playing either Osmand or Durán as wingers. He suggested the strikers weren't picking up their defensive duties due to not being well-versed in the wing position, leading to issues at the back.

But as Petrov has highlighted, there is another side to that, a trade-off if you will, and that is the attacking production the Hoops are getting from both Durán and Osmand, who are both in excellent form and striking up an interesting partnership that O'Neill is likely to continue to lean on.