SOUTH KOREAN striker Oh Hyeon-gyu scored his first Premiership goal for Celtic with a full-length diving header in the 3-1 win over Hibs at Parkhead at the weekend.
His shirtless celebration merited a yellow card from an almost apologetic referee Steven McLean as the new Bhoy’s strike was acclaimed by thousands of celebrating home fans.
The tense encounter had been deadlocked at 1-1 at the 81st minute before Oh took off Superman-style to get his head to a right-wing corner-kick from David Turnbull to flash an unstoppable effort away from the sprawling David Marshall.
HEAD BHOY… Oh Hyeon-gyu races off to celebrate his crucial goal against Hibs with Filipe Jota about to join in while beaten keeper David Marshall sits it out.
Oh, who netted in the 5-1 Scottish Cup victory over St Mirren in the east end of Glasgow last month and followed up with a penalty-kick in the 4-1 league triumph over the same opponents in Paisley on March 5, is already making a massive impact at the champions.
The powerhouse 21-year-old attacker, a £2.5million recruit from K-League outfit Suwon Bluewings in January, has been called into his nation’s squad for the games against Colombia on Friday and Uruguay four days later.
However, he will return to Glasgow to play his part in the team’s bid for a silverware clean sweep. The League Cup has already been claimed – with Oh making a 76th-minute substitute’s appearance as a replacement for two-goal Kyogo Furuhashi – with the 2-1 success over Michael Beale’s Ibrox side at Hampden last month.
TRIUMPHANT AND TOPLESS…Oh Hyeon-gyu sheds his shirt to celebrate his first leg goal at Parkhead.
Ange Postecoglou’s men are nine points clear at the league summit with nine games to go, restarting the glory quest with a trip to Dingwall to face Ross County a week on Sunday while there is a Scottish Cup semi-final meeting with the Govan club due at the national stadium on April 30.
Oh could have a monumental influence between now and the end of the crusade and Sead Haksabanovic, scorer of the killer third goal against the stubborn Easter Road team on Saturday, is already a fan of his towering, well-built team-mate.
The Montenegro winger, who is also on international duty over the next week or so, told the Daily Record: “Oh’s scored some goals and he’s a very good player, but he’s an even better guy.
“He likes talking to everyone, he has good English, he’s trying to come into the team and I think he’s very happy here.
SPOILSPORT…referee Steven McLean flashes the yellow card at Oh Hyeon-gyu after his imprompty strip celebrations.
“At Celtic, we, as strikers, get more opportunities than my last clubs. We play in a way our strikers can get more chances to go one against one and do the stuff we like.
“I’m enjoying the time here, I love the way we play, so I’d say here for a striker like me is very good to be here.”
Oh and Haksabanovic may be viewed as the shadow squad behind Kyogo, Daizen Maeda and Liel Abada, but there is little doubt they have a crucial role to play as Postecoglou continues to insist that the team that completes the game is just as important as the one who starts it.
