Scottish champions Celtic marched on in the rampant defence of their Premiership title after securing a 2-0 victory away to Dundee United on Sunday, with goals from Jota and Aaron Mooy proving the difference amid a commanding performance from the Old Firm giants.
After failing to break the deadlock despite an impressive first-half performance – having also seen VAR overturn an initial penalty decision for a potential foul on Kyogo Furuhashi – the Hoops finally struck a killer blow just after the break as Jota cleverly nodded home at the back post.
That lead was extended just minutes later as the Hoops were awarded a spot-kick following a handball from Kieran Freeman, with the resurgent Mooy – who has been “outstanding” of late according to his manager Ange Postecoglou – subsequently converting to net his fifth goal of the season.
There was to be no real fightback from the home side as Postecoglou swept to his 50th Premiership win in just 61 games in charge, with only former treble winner Martin O’Neill having reached that milestone at a faster rate (59) for Celtic.
On an evening of standout showings for the Parkhead outfit – including January arrival Alistair Johnston – one man who perhaps underwhelmed somewhat was Kyogo Furuhashi, with the Japan international failing to add to his tally of 17 top-flight goals this season.
That record has illustrated the remarkable hot streak that the 28-year-old has enjoyed of late, but the diminutive speedster was unable to maintain that form against the Tangerines, despite previously netting four times already this season against Liam Fox’s men.
Having netted a hat-trick when the two sides met at Tannadice in August, it proved a far more frustrating day for the former Vissel Kobe man this time around, despite posing a ‘constant threat’ in attack, in the words of Glasgow Live’s Alan Galindo.
The £19k-per-week hotshot notably missed a gilt-edged chance just 30 seconds into the match after firing high and wide following a neat, threaded pass from the aforementioned Jota, before again proving rather profligate after firing straight at the onrushing Mark Birighitti just prior to the half-hour mark.
The forward’s all-round game was also rather disappointing as he recorded a mere 14 touches in total during his 82-minute outing, just over half as many as Joe Hart took between the sticks (26).
The 5 foot 7 sensation completed only two passes and lost possession five times to further illustrate his struggles on the ball, having also failed to offer much in a defensive sense as he did not win any of his four duels.
That rather muted display unsurprisingly saw the 16-cap maestro record a match rating of 6.4 from Sofascore, the worst of any Celtic starter on the day.
Although that performance may have been a mere blip amid a scintillating run of form for the dynamic ace of late, the Japanese forward did somewhat let his manager down with his limp outing.
With new signing Oh Hyeon-gyu likely chomping at the bit to secure a regular role in the team, Kyogo cannot afford too many more quiet days at the office.
