WITH supreme irony, Kyogo Furuhashi celebrated his 150th game for Celtic at the ground where he made his first appearance on July 31 2021.
Tynecastle was the venue when the £4.6million recruit from J-League outfit Vissel Kobe took his bow just hours after arriving in Scotland.
There were only 11 minutes to play when new boss Ange Postecoglou introduced the Japanese international striker to the Hoops fans in the capital as he put him on for another new Bhoy, Liel Abada. Alas, though, there was to be no happy conclusion to that first outing.
John Souttar scored a last-gasp winner as the visitors tumbled to a 2-1 loss with the Greek-Australian gaffer also suffering defeat on his Premiership debut.
RISE AND SHINE…Kyogo Furuhashi takes to the air to celebrate his 80th Celtic goal on his 150th appearance in the 4-1 win over Hearts at Tynecastle.
However, it was an entirely different story for both individuals yesterday. Postecoglou, who took over Spurs in late May last year, celebrated a remarkable 4-0 victory over English champions Manchester City at The Etihad.
And, only a couple of hours later, Kyogo was firing in his EIGHTIETH Celtic goal as Scotland’s title kings overwhelmed the Edinburgh club 4-1 to seal a three-point advantage over Aberdeen at the pinnacle of the league in their quest for a fourth successive title.
Scotland’s capital city was smiles better on this occasion for the 29-year-old hitman as he thumped in the breakthrough goal five minutes after the interval and opened the way for Nicolas Kuhn and substitute Adam Idah (2) to make certain the visitors took full advantage of results elsewhere earlier in the day.
Kyogo was clearly delighted with the 150-game landmark and the 80th goal as he told Celtic TV: “I’m delighted to reach that milestone at such a big club.
NUMBER 80…Kyogo Furuhashi wallops a right-foot drive past helpless Hearts keeper Craig Gordon on his landmark occasion in Edinburgh.
“However, I’ve still some work to do which I want to make the most of.
“The first-half was very difficult, but in the second-half I could get the ball and we had a good performance.”
Kyogo will not be resting on his laurels and he immediately turned his attention to Wednesday night’s Champions League encounter with Clug Brugge at Parkhead and added: “First of all, we need to have a good rest, then we will prepare ourselves for the game.
“Like the fans, we are looking forward to the game and we want to get a good result for them.”
FOURMIDABLE CHAMPS GET ALL-CLEAR
