Kyogo Furuhashi was the man of the hour for Glasgow Celtic over the weekend as the Bhoys saw off Old Firm rivals Glasgow Rangers 2-1 in last Sunday’s Scottish League Cup final at Hampden Park.
Former Vissel Kobe striker Kyogo brought his goal tally this season to 24 after bagging himself a brace, helping Celtic to their 21st Scottish League Cup title.
During a heated encounter between the two arch-rivals, Kyogo opened the scoring for Celtic just before half-time. Having threatened Allan McGregor in the Rangers goal throughout the first half, Kyogo latched onto a Daizen Maeda ball before firing home a simple finish past McGregor, eliciting delight from the Celtic supporters.
Kyogo, who was shockingly left out by Hajime Moriyasu in his Japan squad for last year’s FIFA World Cup, extended Celtic’s lead in the 56th minute. This time it was Reo Hatate who was the creator, the former Kawasaki Frontale man crossing the ball towards a sliding Kyogo for him to stab home into McGregor’s goal.
Rangers’ volatile Colombian striker Alfredo Morelos reduced the deficit in the 64th minute, slotting home a James Tavernier free-kick past Joe Hart in the Celtic goal, which increased the heat in an already tense match.
However, Celtic saw out the game and defended their lead all the way into full-time, thus earning Ange Postecoglou his third title in Scotland.
With Celtic sitting pretty in the Scottish Premiership table summit and the Bhoys still in this year’s Scottish Cup, Ange and his charges can be confident that they could secure a domestic treble this year.