INSTANT hit Kyogo Furuhashi already feels quite at home after his 67-minute three-goal performance in the 6-0 rout of Dundee at the weekend.
The Japanese new Bhoy, a £4.6million arrival from the J-League, admitted his debut in the east end of Glasgow “will live with me forever”.
Kyogo, 26, fired in a scintillating hat-trick and could have doubled his tally with a little bit more luck and precision.
No-one in the 24,500 crowd was complaining, though, as the livewire frontman tormented and terrorised the visiting defenders until he was replaced by Odsonne Edouard.
HIGHS AND LOWS…Kyogo Furuhashi had a highly-charged afternoon at Parkhead at the weekend. ABOVE: The new Bhoy leaves the field after completing his hat-trick. BELOW: The Japanese striker is flat on his back after skying a chance high and wide.
It’s been a perfect launch pad for the player’s Hoops career after he netted on his first start for the club in the 4-2 triumph over Jablonec in the Europa League first leg qualifier in the Czech Republic last week.
Kyogo, speaking to the club website, said: “I had a really brilliant day and was a real joy to play my first match at Celtic Park in front of our fans. It was my first real experience of our great stadium and it will live with me forever.
“Football is about supporters and about us as players trying to make our fans happy. It is why we play the game and we all enjoyed doing that.
“I would like to thank the fans for supporting me and the rest of the boys so well. Even though the stadium was not quite full yet, there was a phenomenal atmosphere and we could tell that our fans were happy to be back supporting the club.
“I can see why people say it is one of the best stadiums in the world and one of the best atmospheres in football and I can’t wait to feel it again when all our fans are back and the stadium is full.”
JOY BHOYS…Liel Abada congratulates Kyogo Furuhashi after his third goal against Dundee.
Kyogo added: “It was really for nice for me to score three goals, but, more importantly, it was great for the whole team to get such a great result and have such a good performance in our first home match in front of the fans.
“We scored some really good team goals, too, and we worked well together and played the kind of football I love.
“It seems as if everything has happened so quickly in the past few weeks, but it was just such a good feeling to be out there at Celtic Park. It is an amazing arena to play football in and it was great fun for me.
”We have had two good results in the last two matches and now we are going to work hard every day to get better and better.
“It is really early in the season and we have a lot to work on, but we will do all we can to build on these performances.
“We’re really looking forward to Thursday’s match and hope we can get another positive result.”
