CELTIC'S trio of new signings from Japan all featured in Monday night's 2-0 win over Hibernian as Ange Postecoglou's side marked their return to the Premiership in style.
Golas from Daizen Maeda and Josip Juranovic in the first half gave the title hopefuls a comfortable first-half lead to cut the gap with Rangers at the top of the Premiership to three points.
It was the Parkhead crowd's first chance to lay eyes on Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi and the trio have wasted no time in showing the fans what they're all about.
Daizen Maeda
The Japanese forward didn’t take long to make a first impression at Parkhead. The striker found himself in acres of space and demonstrated his composure as he coolly swept the ball home with less than four minutes played, and the 24-year-old’s electric pace caused the Hibs defence problems all night.
Maeda was inches away from a first-half brace when he robbed Hibs goalkeeper Matt Macey from behind and the forward’s ability to relentlessly press the opposition backline caused all sorts of disruption.
Maeda’s pace, pressing and positioning caught the eye on his Celtic bow and supporters will be salivating at the prospect of seeing the attacker line up alongside Kyogo Furuhashi.
Reo Hatate
The versatile midfielder had promised the fans to be more forward-thinking and on this evidence, Celtic have unearthed a bargain. Hatate was superb in midfield, particularly in the first half as he showed off his vision and passing range with a series of cute, clever balls to his team-mates.
The 24-year-old tested Macey with a dipping volley in the first half and showed great movement shortly after the restart as he spun in on goal, only to shank his first-time shot wide.
Hatate was constantly looking forward, teasing through balls beyond the Hibs defence and seemingly covered every blade of grass before coming off in the 74th minute looking as though he’d run out of steam.
Yosuke Ideguchi
The central midfielder had to settle for a place on the bench but received a warm welcome from the stands at Celtic Park when he was brought on for the last 15 or so minutes.
Ideguchi wasn’t given long to stake his claim for a starting spot but did well during his brief cameo. The 25-year-old won a couple of slack passes in midfield and didn’t give the ball away when shifting it to his team-mates. Played it safe on his debut but hardly put a foot wrong.
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