Celtic's Maeda assessed after a monstrous European showing

Liam Scales opened the scoring following a delightful delivery from Arne Engels, as the home side missed a multitude of chances in the first 45 minutes from close range. They would not waste their opportunities after the restart, as goals from Kyogo Furuhashi, Engels, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah allowed Celtic to pull away from their Slovakian opponents. Five goals from five different goalscorers – Celtic started this campaign’s European adventure in the best possible way. 

Using StatsBomb data and metrics, The Celtic Way’s Ryan McGinlay brings you a match report unlike any other…

Match stats + race chart

Akin to a Scottish Premiership match, Celtic dominated this game like a domestic encounter – proof of their development under Rodgers.

Indeed, with five goals, 60 per cent possession, 86 per cent pass completion and over 600 passes, Celtic stamped their authority all over this match. With 16 shots – 11 on target – the home side should have scored more than the five they managed on the night – a frightening prospect.

Looking at the race chart – which takes xG into account – there was a clear gap between the Scottish champions and their Slovakian opponents. After scoring the first goal through Scales, Celtic pulled away from Vladimir Weiss’ side in the eyes of expected goals, with Rodgers’ side ending the game with 3.73 in total.

Because of these xG totals, Celtic were given a 96 per cent chance of winning this contest, with the next most likely outcome a draw at just three per cent. Slovan Bratislava were given a one per cent chance of walking away the victors – a tall order on the night.

Formation + passing

Interestingly again, StatsBomb notes a change of formation for Celtic – from 4-3-3 to an unusual 4-1-4-1 – an unfamiliar set-up for Rodgers to deploy. Slovan Bratislava adopted the 4-2-3-1 formation for this one.

It was the same team that faced Hearts, as Kasper Schmeichel remained in goals. Alistair Johnston and Greg Taylor occupied the full-back slots, as Scales and Cameron Carter-Vickers were deployed in the middle of the defence. Captain Callum McGregor played at the base of midfield, supported by Engels and Reo Hatate further forward. Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn played on their respective wings, whilst Kyogo led the line up top.

The pass network considers OBV (on-ball values) to judge who had an effective game – or not – in match proceedings. From the graphic above, you can see that several players achieved positive performances versus Slovan Bratislava in the eyes of this metric.

Indeed, the graphic highlights two standouts in right-winger Kuhn and the skipper McGregor. Both were key in everything positive concerning possession for Rodgers’ side, as this metric gave them both encouraging OBV totals – as shown by their warm-coloured circle. Taylor also had a solid showing concerning this statistic.

In terms of numbers, Kuhn had a massive 0.51 for his 21 passes – a great showing from the German winger. McGregor – though not as high as his teammate – achieved 0.26 for his 60 passes.

Looking at key passes for the game as a whole, Kuhn’s four was a game-high, accumulating 1.31 in total xG off the back of these distributions. Hatate had three to his name, whilst Engels and Johnston had two. Substitute James Forrest achieved one – his assist for Idah’s strike.

Shooting

As mentioned previously, Celtic could – and should, in all honesty – have got more goals on the night. 11 shots on target from 16 in total would indicate that a pasting could have been administered if the club was more clinical in forward areas. 

With only three shots occurring outside the box – as shown in the shot map graphic - Celtic did extremely well to work the ball deep into Slovan Bratislava’s half, with all five of their goals taking place inside the 12-yard area. Despite this, Celtic will need to be more ruthless against better opposition as the ‘League Phase’ rolls on – particularly away from home.

Scales’ header was a well-taken opportunity, but most of the praise will fall to the feet of Engels’ magic feet, as the Belgium international expertly delivered the ball into the defender’s vicinity. 0.09 in xG to begin with, it rose to 0.43 in PSxG following contact from Scales’ “big head” (his words, not ours). Despite the opposition goalkeeper getting a touch, the header was too strong to keep out.

From the first goal to the fourth, Maeda was fed the ball through from Hatate, who stabbed the ball into his fellow countryman’s direction late on. Maeda’s contact with the ball was both quick and early, leaving Dominik Takac in the Slovan Bratislava goal with little chance of dealing with the shot. Rising from 0.38 to 0.73, Maeda became Celtic’s new leading goalscorer this season with four goals in six games – some start to the campaign from the man affectionately named ‘Duracell Daizen’.

Finally, Idah is off the mark as a permanent Celtic player. After good work from fellow substitute Forrest to thread the ball through to his striker, the Irishman was there to calmly slot the ball past the unfortunate opposition keeper. Not an easy chance to dispatch of, Idah’s xG rose from 0.29 to 0.43 – an indication of the confidence the £8.5 million signing has in front of goal.

Kyogo, Engels and Maeda all had four shots each – all getting on the scoresheet for their efforts. Celtic have a lot of potent weapons at their disposal this season – Rodgers is spoilt for choice concerning goal threats in his forward line.

Defending

Despite dominating the ball, Celtic outpressured their opponents at a rate of 143-111, regaining the ball from pressures almost twice as much at 32-17 in favour of Rodgers’ team.

The human pressing machine was at it again, as Maeda managed 20 pressures, closely followed by new signing Engels with 19 of his own. The two would have seven counterpressures to their name alongside McGregor, too, as Celtic’s willingness to win the ball back was appreciated greatly by a capacity crowd at Celtic Park.

With seven tackles, Scales dominated in defence, in a standout performance from arguably Celtic’s standout defensive player this campaign thus far. McGregor had seven combined tackles and interceptions, whilst Kuhn had six to his name. Maeda got stuck in with five tackles, too.

The North American duo of Carter-Vickers and Johnston had a combined total of 10 clearances, with the former and Scales accumulating 10 total aerial wins between them. Because of this, Johnston won 100 per cent of his battles in the air – a phenomenal performance from Scotland’s premier right-back.