PACY hitman Kyogo Furuhashi is making up for lost time against Ibrox opposition after volleying in a spectacular winner in Govan in the champions’ 1-0 triumph to romp four points clear of their Glasgow rivals after the same amount of Premiership outings.
Amazingly, the prolific Japanese striker had never scored against the city neighbours until he lashed in a late equaliser in the 2-2 stalemate at their ground on January 2 this year.
That kicked-started Kyogo on a glorious sequence that saw him claim a double in the Viaplay League Cup Final victory the following month and he followed that up with another two in the 3-2 league success at Parkhead in April.
WINNERS AND LOSERS…Kyogo Furuhashi is congratulated by Liel Abada as beaten Ibrox keeper Jack Butland wonders what hit him.
He missed out when Filipe Jota claimed the only goal in the Scottish Cup semi-final later in the month and the £4.6million recruit from Vissel Kobe in July 2021 didn’t get much of a chance to make an impression as a late substitute in the team’s 3-0 loss at Ibrox in the meaningless fixture in May.
However, Kyogo was the man who made the difference in yesterday’s confrontation as he sewpt in a pulverising points-clncher in first-half stoppage-time to make it six out of six against Michael Beale’s outfit.
The stunning first-time drive from just outside the box hurtled low past the sprawling Jack Butland and instantly silenced 50,000 home fans.
The speedster explained his muted goal celebrations when he admitted: “Matt headed it forward and at first I thought I was offside, so I had to hit it right away and because I thought it was offside I didn’t celebrate at first.
“But, thankfully, it was a goal.
SOUND OF SILENCE…goal hero Kyogo Furuhashi and his delighted Celtic team-mates celebrate the winner at a dumbstruck Ibrox.
“Every goal is like the best goal for me and to get the win was good for us, so I just work hard and contribute to the team.”
Kyogo, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “Everyone saw us working hard and it was good to win in this style.
“We can say that this is our football and we will continue doing our style and, hopefully, we will keep winning.
“I can imagine all the supporters being very happy from the bottom of their hearts and I can feel that, so I’m very happy to contribute to the fans’ happiness.”
