The Treble is on for Celtic and Brendan Rodgers.
On Saturday, Celtic eased past Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup with a much-changed XI, but with the familiar faces still doing the damage.
Daizen Maeda netted a hat-trick, Luke McCowan continued to impress and even Yang is now getting in on the act for Celtic.
That’s 11 goals in Celtic’s last two home matches and the perfect way to prepare for what is going to be an enthralling and very difficult Champions League clash against Bayern Munich.
The one big blip, disappointment and annoyance about that first-leg tie is the fact that Maeda is going to be suspended after getting sent off against Young Boys during the league phase.
It’s a painful pill everyone has to swallow and it’s a lesson the Japan star has to learn from because it’s not the first time he has been sent off in Europe.
But there is a reason why Maeda holds such importance in Celtic colours!
Daizen Maeda reacts to scoring Celtic hat-trick against Raith Rovers
Nothing is stopping Maeda right now and it could be argued that he is heading towards winning the Player of the Year.
It wasn’t so long ago that many would have tipped Nicolas Kuhn to get that individual prize, but the man from Japan just can’t be stopped and is pushing ahead of him.
That hat-trick for the 27-year-old was also his 48th, 49th and 50th strikes in Celtic colours and he had a simple message for the fans.
’50th goal for Celtic,’ wrote Maeda on Instagram. ‘Thank you for your support!’
Tomoki Iwata and Josip Juranovic applaud Maeda
Celtic are blessed to have Maeda because he isn’t just a fan favourite and a dream for the manager, but also a popular player with his own peers.
After he netted his hat-trick, in the comments section of his IG post, the likes of Tomoki Iwata and Josip Juranovic sent him messages.
FA Cup hero Iwata wrote, ‘nice hat-trick’, added with a thumbs up and applause emojis, whilst McCowan sent heart emojis to his teammate.
The new man in Celtic’s building Jeffrey Schlupp posted fire and applause emojis to Maeda, as Greg Taylor did the same.
Ex-Celtic man Juranovic called Maeda a ‘machine’, as Adam Idah and Reo Hatate sent fire emojis to the all-action forward.
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