Martin O’Neill has praised Daizen Maeda after Celtic’s win over Rangers.
In perhaps his finest hour in a Celtic jersey, Maeda lit up Celtic Park with a stunning quickfire brace, including a contender for the greatest Glasgow Derby goal ever.
His outrageous overhead kick will go down in history, and established a two-goal cushion which O’Neill’s men held onto for the rest of the game.
Reflecting on his display, the interim Hoops boss was full of praise.
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Celtic boss Martin O’Neill: Daizen Maeda is sensational
O’Neill said of Maeda’s performance after the game: “Sensational, really sensational.
“His second goal was out of this world. But his whole performance, he starts off with closing down and the negative part of the game, which he galvanises the side because he’s so good at it.
READ MORE: Daizen Maeda jokes Celtic bicycle kick was ‘lucky’ in Glasgow Derby reflection
“And then his own performance, scoring the goals with the ball was magnificent.”
Asked if the goal was better than Henrik Larsson’s iconic chip against them in 2000, he said: “Yes, it is. Very much so. Henrik will disagree, of course.
“Great goal. He was super today. Super. I’m going to take him out tonight. He was terrific.
“Really terrific. I don’t know where he gets the energy from.”
Finally, on the moment he attempted the overhead, the interim Parkhead boss said: “Do you know what? Honestly, when he did it, I knew it was going in.
“Because there was enough pace to carry it across. And I think, ‘This is going in.’ And then it went in!
“Not because I said it was going to go in, because it was great.”
It truly is one of the great Glasgow Derby goals, and it will be spoken about long into the future, regardless of how the Scottish Premiership title race turns out.
The first goal wasn’t bad either, mind you. The sharp movement and first-time finish was reminiscent of his countryman, Kyogo Furuhashi.
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