There was no Kyogo Furuhashi for Glasgow Celtic on Tuesday, however compatriots Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, and Yosuke Ideguchi made their Bhoys debut as Celtic saw off Hibernian 2-0 at Celtic Park in their latest Scottish Premiership match. The Japanese trio made a strong debut in the match – with Daizen scoring his first Celtic goal, Reo impressing manager Ange Postecoglou to the point that the Australian branded him as “very talented and very determined,” while Yosuke came off the bench to help his teammates secure all three points.
With talismanic striker Kyogo out with an injury, Ange named Daizen as his like-for-like replacement in his starting lineup, while Reo made his debut in the midfield alongside Australia international Tom Rogic and the experienced Callum McGregor. Yosuke, on the other hand, started the match on the substitutes’ bench.
It didn’t take Daizen long to make his mark in Scottish football, with last season’s J.League 1 top scorer smashing in his first Scottish Premiership goal after just four minutes. With Hibernian still reeling from a Kevin Nisbet miss only moments earlier, the Edinburgh-based side’s lax defense allowed Rogic to slide the ball towards Daizen, who punished Hibernian for their earlier miss in emphatic fashion with a low finish.
The win was pretty much sealed in the 25th minute following a handball in the box from Hibernian’s Josh Doig, which prompted the referee to award Celtic a penalty. Josip Juranovic took the spot-kick flawlessly, doubling Celtic’s advantage in the process.
In his first-ever European football match, Reo fared quite well in the Celtic engine room, helping his teammates take control of the game while at the same time carving out a number of opportunities that threatened Matt Macey in the Hibernian goal. Reo’s energy, intelligence, and movement meant that Celtic were always in charge of the match and they never look like relinquishing their lead once both Daizen and Juranovic scored.
The second half was all about control and Celtic were afforded the luxury to rest both Daizen and Reo after an excellent day at the office for the two, allowing Yosuke to join his new comrades in seeing off the win.
Celtic manager Ange was delighted by the result, especially by the way Reo conducted himself throughout the game.
“He’ll make his own mark,” Ange said, as quoted from BBC Sport, “He’s a very talented young player and he’s a very determined young man. He’s got his eyes on reaching the very top of football and we’re glad to have him at our club at the moment.”
Scottish football journalist Keith Jackson was equally delighted by how Reo had seamlessly integrated himself into Scottish football, writing on the Daily Record, “It’s difficult to remember watching such a polished and classy opening night performance from a newcomer to Scottish football in a long, long time. In 45 minutes, Hatate announced himself to the locals like a force of nature from the Far East.”
It’ll be a while for us to see Kyogo, Daizen, Hatate, and Yosuke playing together at the same time for Celtic, but with the current progress that Ange’s men are making, they will gunning for league leaders Glasgow Rangers, with only four points separating the two Old Firm rivals.