Kyogo Furuhashi. Write him off at your peril!
What a player. What a man. And what a goalscorer he is proving to be for Celtic.
For the seventh time, Kyogo Furuhashi stepped up and dispatched Rangers, as Brendan Rodgers’ side recorded a 2-1 win in the Glasgow derby on Saturday.
Pat Nevin was at Parkhead watching the action unfold and he admitted that it was ‘worth’ going along just to watch the ‘genius’ of Kyogo Furuhashi alone, as he told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
The Japan star has had some memorable moments in Celtic colours, including scoring crucial final-winning goals.
But his strike yesterday might just prove to be one of his best because it was out of this world and Pat Nevin touched upon it by labelling it ‘unstoppable’.
Even though goalkeeper Jack Butland has been lauded for his performances in Rangers colours this season, he could just get a hand to it as he watched it ping into the top corner.
This was Kyogo Furuhashi at his best and a key reason why he is ‘so loved’ by the Celtic supporters.
“To be honest, Kyogo didn’t do much on the ball today,” said Nevin. “He usually makes all the runs. But he just wasn’t getting involved.
“But when the ball fell to him. That was the crucial moment. About 20 yards out. Just drops his shoulder, and goes to his left, most expect him to go to his right, but he doesn’t. And he has curled that ball, with power, right into the top corner. It is unstoppable. It’s a beautiful goal.
“He is so loved around here. Deserves to win any game and eventually it does win the game. I suppose that is the thing, quality strikers make the difference.
“Furuhashi last season, a lot of the times, he was the difference between Celtic and everyone else. Great help behind. But, once again, he has done it against Rangers. He loves doing it in these situations. Even if he had a quiet game, that one moment of genius was worth coming along for.”
Kyogo Furuhashi steps up again
Bad form, what bad form?! A lot has been made of what the 28-year-old has been producing under Brendan Rodgers this season.
Yes, he has been off-colour on occasions, but many inside the four walls of Celtic knew that it was a moment of when Kyogo would get back to his best and not if.
This shouldn’t be a surprise because many saw this coming. Kyogo has been looking for that spark again and he has now found it.
And whilst he only has eight goals from 21 Scottish Premiership matches, expect him now to motor forward and start climbing that top scorer charts.
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