ALISTAIR JOHNSTON waited 12 games and over two months before he claimed his first Celtic goal after arriving in a £3.5million move from MLS outfit CF Montreal in January 2023.
The Canadian right-back made his debut in the 2-2 derby draw at Ibrox on January 2 and netted the breakthrough strike in a 5-1 win over St Mirren in Paisley on March 5.
However, Johnston has turned into a goal machine in recent weeks and fired in his third in four league games with the opener in the 2-0 victory over Dundee at Parkhead last night.
The encounter was stalemated until the defender, who had just replaced Anthony Ralston in the 57th minute, swooped to grab the barrier-breaking effort on the hour mark.
THE OLD ONE-TWO…Alistair Johnston dives to head in Celtic’s second goal in the 3-0 win over Motherwell at Firk and (below) turns in a low cross for the opener in the 2-0 success over Dundee.
Arne Engels slotted away his third penalty-kick of the campaign to secure the points that keep the champions at the league summit.
Johnston, who netted in the recent wins over Ross County and Motherwell after hitting his first of the campaign against St Mirren in Paisley in August, played the joker as he described his crucial strike against a determined Dens Park outfit.
He smiled: “I’m getting really lucky! I just seem to go in to the six-yard box once or twice a game and it keeps falling to me.
“I didn’t know much about this one. I was just there and got a toe on it and I put their keeper off a bit.
“I think he was expecting it to get through, so finally the size 11 feet come to help me!”
Johnston, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “I’m just happy that I could break the deadlock, get us going in the right direction and get a reward for all the hard work that the guys had put in throughout the match.
“It was a difficult match, we knew it was going to be that.
THAT’S OUR BHOY…Luke McCowan and Daizen Maeda congratulate Alistair Johnston.
“Dundee are well organised, they have a lot of talent and physicality, but I think throughout the first-half we saw that we were breaking them down.
“In the second-half, you could tell that all the hard work in the first-half had paid off.”
The 27-year-old international back-four performer added: “It ended up being a good performance and one of those that we needed to get three points, especially with other big matches coming up.
“It was just important for us to focus on our work, get the three points, take care of our business and whatever happens, happens.”
JOY BHOY JOHNSTON LEADS THE WAY
