THERE wasn’t much fuss when Daizen Maeda tucked away Celtic’s second goal in the 5-1 mauling of Kilmarnock a week ago.
At the end of a lopsided contest, most of the talk had been about Reo Hatate’s scorching 25-yard strike to get the ball rolling as the champions powered closer to a fourth successive title.
And Cameron Carter-Vickers conjured up a cracker for No.3 that immediately became a contender for Goal of the Season and surprised even his team-mates with his pal Alistair Johnston looking stunned during the celebrations.
Unnoticed was Maeda’s 31st counter of the campaign when he knocked the ball over the line from almost under the crossbar when a right-wing cross landed at his feet.
THE EIGHTH WONDER…Daizen Maeda celebrates his goal in the 5-1 win over Kilmarnock at Parkhead.
However, it was a special goal for the jet-heeled Japanese ace – a strike in eight successive starts at Parkhead.
It was also an achievement that equalled the feat of Hoops legend Henrik Larsson who walloped in 53 goals in Martin O’Neill’s debut 2000/01 when the team steamrollered the opposition on their way to the third domestic clean sweep in the club’s glorious history.
Brendan Rodgers’ side are on the brink of collecting the ninth treble and will take another step towards that phenomenal record-breaking accomplishment when they face St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden tomorrow afternoon.
Maeda obviously feels at home in Paradise, but he has flourished at the national stadium, too, during a prolific personal crusade.
The speedster thundered in a hat-trick as Celtic ran amok in a 6-0 triumph over pulverised Aberdeen in the Premier Sports League Cup semi-final in November and followed up with an outstanding effort in the 3-3 draw against Philippe Clement’s Ibrox side in the silverware showpiece a month later.
SPOT ON…Daizen Maeda nets the clinching penalty-kick in the Premier Sports League Cup Final.
Not content with that, Maeda swept in the decisive penalty-kick to give Rodgers’ men a 5-4 spot-kick shoot-out to lift the first trophy of the season.
The lightning-swift forward kicked off his eight-in-a-row scoring sequence at Parkhead when he claimed a double in the 6-0 win over Dundee on February 5.
Three days later, Maeda fired in his second trio of the term in the 5-0 Scottish Cup romp against Raith Rovers.
He continued with his close-range header in the 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on February 12 and Rodgers didn’t start his consistent hitman in the 3-0 victory over Dundee United three days later.
However, Maeda was reinstated for the February 25 clash with the Dons and he picked up where he had left off with a double in the 5-1 success over Jimmy Thelin’s visitors.
THREE CHEERS…Daizen Maeda with the matchball after his hat-trick against Raith Rovers.
The 27-year-old forward greeted March with a strike in the 2-0 Scottish Cup win over Hibs and headed in the hosts’ first in the shock 3-2 loss to Ibrox opposition on the 16th of the month.
Maeda netted another double in the 3-0 victory over Hearts almost a fortnight later and was on target again for the eighth home game in succession against Kilmarnock last weekend.
The champions’ next match in Paradise will be against the Easter Road club on May 10.
Keep your eye on Daizen Maeda!
