CELTIC have responded to the £10million departure of talismanic striker Kyogo Furuhashi by firing in FOURTEEN goals in three domestic outings.
Brendan Rodgers was beaming after the latest romp with the holders thumping in five without reply against Championship outfit Raith Rovers as they booked a place in tomorrow night’s Scottish Cup quarter-final draw.
Dazzling Daizen Maeda led the parade with a superb hat-trick to take his Hoops goal haul to an impressive half-century. Luke McCowan and Yang Hyun-jun contributed the two other strikes to flatten the Fifers.
Last weekend at Fir Park, it was Maeda, Adam Idah and comeback Bhoy Filipe Jota on target as the champions overwhelmed Motherwell 3-1 and there was no stopping the conveyor belt of counters against Dundee where Trevor Carson was invited to pick the ball out of his net six times.
On that occasion, Maeda – again! – struck with a double, an achievement matched by Arne Engels while Idah and Nicolas Kuhn chipped in with singles.
Rodgers made NINE changes from that starting line-up as he prepared for his nineteenth successive triumph in the national competition against Barry Robson’s side.
The Irishman was clearly delighted with what he had just witnessed as he said: “It was a complete performance.
“These games can prove tricky. Teams come with big motivation from either further down the league or from the league below.
“I thought our professionalism, concentration and quality in the game was very, very good.
“I’m very pleased with our performance.”
Images courtesy Celtic TV.
Rodgers singled out three-goal Maeda, soaring ahead as the team’s main striking threat with 21 efforts in a prolific campaign, for special praise after his non-stop display against Rovers.
The Hoops gaffer, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “Anyone who has done any depth of work on Daizen before he came in here, you’ll see he played as a striker at Yokohama and the various range of goals that he scored
“He might not be your traditional No. 9, but he runs in behind, is mobile, has speed and can make those finishes in the box.
“His three goals today were great. He can score different types of goals.”
A purring Rodgers added: “Daizen’s been absolutely sensational this season with his work rate, because it’s not just the 21 goals, it’s everything else he brings to the team.
“I’m so happy for him.”
Unfortunately a late red card in the 1-0 win over Switzerland’s Young Boys will keep the Japanese speedster out of the reckoning for the midweek visit of Bayern Munich in the first leg of the crucial Champions League play-off.
Looks like a job for Filipe Jota!
