Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic rebounded from its last UEFA Champions League match on Wednesday with American defender Auston Trusty shining in Bergamo.
Trusty logged 90 minutes as Brendan Rodgers’ squad earned one point in a 0-0 draw with Serie A hosts Atalanta. It marked a bounce-back result for Celtic, who suffered a 7-1 hammering at the hands of Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 2.
“Dortmund was just one of those games,” Trusty said postmatch in an interview. “The beauty of football is that there’s always another game, you can react and show the world what team you really are.
“Sometimes you just have those nights, and obviously that’s a night we’d never want to see again or feel again,” he added. “That put a pit in our stomachs, so we wanted to come out here and show the world what we can do and what kind of team we really are.”
Celtic held firm despite Atalanta’s constant pressure throughout the match. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel made six saves to earn a road clean sheet while Trusty continued his partnership with Liam Scales.
Trusty made 14 clearances, six recoveries, and won three duels in his fourth start for the club.
Despite Cameron Carter-Vickers’ continued absence from the squad, Trusty has filled in nicely for his U.S. men’s national team teammate. He will aim to continue holding down the spot, even after Carter-Vickers returns.
Celtic will resume Premiership play on Sunday at Motherwell before closing its October schedule on Oct. 30 vs. Ross County.
When I watched the game, I was looking for times he turned off or was not in a good position to defend. I did not see those, or a mistake that Atalanta should have taken advantage of but didn’t.
Of course that might simply mean that Trusty has a better attention span than I do.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see CCV and Trusty paired for Celtic in the Champions League?
He was good. I think he is progressing with Celtic. I think he is Reams heir. He was playing RCB tody.
2tone,
Trusty is a good player but is he really progressing? Or is it a mirage?
He just had a season playing for the worst defense in the EPL , getting beat up in every single game.
Suddenly, he’s starting for the best defense in a league with a significantly lower level of competition. Even though Atalanta is no doubt a rougher ride than a Motherwell or a Dundee at least he has time to recover from getting his head kicked in every single game before the euro games.
The question is does he play with CCV or does he replace him?
The benefit to the USMNT is lessened if he takes CCV’s job.