Celtic thumping of Kilmarnock sees Hoops legend Henrik Larsson’s scoring streak equalled

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Celtic returned to winning ways on Saturday afternoon as they dispatched of Kilmarnock in emphatic fashion.

The Hoops stumbled last weekend against St Johnstone on their way to a fourth consecutive Premiership title as they lost 1-0 in Perth.

Brendan Rodgers doesn’t usually get angry with his players, but the performance at McDiarmid Park saw the Northern Irishman’s emotions and fiery post-match comments justified.

But he got a massive reaction against Kilmarnock as Celtic blew their Ayrshire opponents away in the first-half to secure a 5-1 victory in Glasgow.

• READ MORE: Celtic set an astonishing new club milestone vs Kilmarnock, this has never been done since records began

Daizen Maeda equals Henrik Larsson feat

Daizen Maeda has more than 30 goals across all competitions so far this season and added yet another to his incredible 2024/25 tally versus Killie.

And the goal – a simple tap in at the back post after Lewis Mayo’s mistake on the line – meant a certain Henrik Larsson scoring streak was equalled.

Maeda scored for the eighth consecutive game at Celtic Park, with Larsson being the last Hoops man to achieve such a feat.

The 27-year-old is now flourishing as a central striker and has been the ideal replacement for Kyogo, who left Glasgow for France in January for £10m.

Maeda is arguably worth more than that at the moment, but Larsson’s ex-teammate Chris Sutton has warned Celtic cannot sell the Japanese speedster in the summer.

Could Maeda hit 40 goals this season?

With his goal against Kilmarnock, Maeda moved onto 31 goals for the season. He’s only the seventh Celtic player in the 21st century to hit more than 30 in a single campaign.

And with potentially seven more games of the season to go – that’s five league games and two Scottish Cup ties – could Maeda reach the 40-mark?

He only needs three more to equal Kyogo’s tally of 34 set in the 2022/23 season. But he’ll perhaps find it tough to match Leigh Griffiths’ haul of 40 in the 2015/16 campaign.

Larsson breached 40 goals across all competitions in three separate seasons, his highest output of 53 coming in the 2000/01 term.