Benjamin Siegrist certainly was an enigmatic Celtic player during his time at the club.
Signed by Celtic hero Ange Postecoglou to compete with Joe Hart in the first-team, Siegrist made just two appearances in two years at the club.
Siegrist left Celtic in January in a surprise move to the Serie A as Patrick Vieira’s Genoa took a chance on the Hoops flop.
And now, four months later, the former Swiss U21 international has finally made his debut in the Serie A and he has just blown the title race wide open.
Patrick Vieira clearly saw something in Siegrist before he took him from Celtic to Genoa and in one 90 minute game, the former Hoops goalkeeper has repaid the Arsenal legend’s faith and then some.
The Italian media were blown away as Genoa fought back twice from being one goal down to win a point against title-chasing Napoli in the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Genoa News: “Big surprise Siegrist who showed interesting means and skills. A goalkeeper of sure reliability who showed some important interventions.”
Buon Calcio a Tutti: “The best, on the contrary, are the debutant Siegrist and the two scorers, Vasquez and Ahanor. Bani, Venturino and the assist-man Martin entered well. Kassa scored six in the report card only for two newspapers out of four. Vieira in the wake of six and a half. But, in general, it is his entire Genoa [squad] that has convinced.”
Eurosport: “Surprise debutant. He can’t do anything about Lukaku, then he’s reactive on Raspadori. At the start of the second half, a nice save on Lukaku. Pierced by Raspadori, then very good on McTominay and also on Politano.”
Genova Today: “A surprise move by Vieira and an excellent debut between the posts for the Swiss goalkeeper. He makes several important saves in both the first and second half, and shows no uncertainty. He is not to blame for the goals.”
The result means Genoa have guaranteed at least a 13th-place finish in the league whereas denying Napoli the chance to open up a four-point gap to Inter Milan with just two games left to play.
Just one point separates the top two.
The stats behind Benjamin Siegrist’s Genoa debut will surprise Celtic fans
Siegrist had to come up against the likes of Scott McTominay who is on fire for Napoli as well as the likes of Giacomo Raspadori and Romelu Lukaku.
However, Fotmob rated Siegrist as one of the best players on the park and here is the pick of the stats for the former Celtic goalkeeper:
- Minutes played: 90
- Saves: 8
- Diving saves: 2
- Saves inside the box: 6
- Ball recoveries: 10
You can watch his performance below:
At 33, Siegrist is coming to the end of his career but he surely must look at his time at Celtic with a hint of regret.
