How Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi’s movement masterclass caused carnage at Kilmarnock

The debate over whether Kyogo or Giakoumakis should be Celtic’s starting striker has been a theme in the early part of the season, especially given two of the first three league matches have come away from home.

That has led to the argument that the Greek should start as his greater physical presence is potentially better suited to away trips due to the perceived more intense nature of those games.

Once again, though, the Japanese forward underlined why he is more than worthy of his place in the first XI with another brilliantly efficient display in Celtic’s dominant 5-0 win in Ayrshire.  

One aspect of his game which sets him apart, no matter the opponent or venue, was clear to see again on Sunday: his elite-level movement.

There have already been a few examples in the first two games of this season - and more than plenty last season - but Sunday provided more evidence of why the level of his movement he possesses might just be what gives him the edge in the battle to be Celtic’s number one striker. 

Here, we dissect that first-class movement through the prism of three key events at Rugby Park...

Goal (7 mins)

The first, and most obvious, example of this was his goal inside the first 10 minutes which set Celtic on their way against last season’s Scottish Championship winners.

Each player involved in the goal played their part, particularly the in-from Greg Taylor, but Kyogo’s movement in the box ensured the fantastic build-up play was rewarded with the opening goal of the game.

In this first still of the build-up to the goal, we can see Celtic's Taylor, after moving in-field to receive a vertical pass from Moritz Jenz, on the ball in that inverted position.

Kilmarnock's right-back, Ryan Alebiosu, decides to engage Taylor high up with right midfielder Fraser Murray then dropping in to pick up Daizen Maeda.

In between both centre-backs as Celtic build up initially, here we can see Kyogo is closest to Ash Taylor, right on the shoulder of the Kilmarnock right-sided centre-back, but already angling away from the former Aberdeen defender.

In this second still, we can see the ball running through Maeda following Greg Taylor’s inch-perfect pass which splits Ash Taylor and Murray. 

In the middle, Kyogo is now freeing himself from Ash Taylor, who also must come out to close down Maeda. As Maeda gets onto the through ball from Greg Taylor, Kyogo is making a darting run towards the middle of the goal.

The next still shows how Kyogo’s movement, as well as the defence-splitting ball from Greg Taylor of course, has totally stretched the Kilmarnock backline, creating more space between centre-backs. Kyogo is now perfectly positioned in that space, between Ash Taylor and the other centre-back, Lewis Mayo.

With Maeda shaping to cross first time, that burst of pace ensures Kyogo is in front of the recovering Mayo. Once beyond the left centre-back, he then slows his run slightly, timing it perfectly to meet the cross while still in motion.

As the ball arrives, Kyogo then shapes his body to cushion the ball in at the near post with the first of his 29 touches in the game.

One of those goals that look so simple in real-time, it was arguably the most impressive of the five in terms of its construction with Kyogo’s movement, particularly those subtle changes in his speed as he moves into the box, playing a key role.

Through ball (36 mins)

The opening goal highlighted Kyogo’s devastating movement in behind but he caused Kilmarnock problems with his movement going the other way too, dropping deep to great effect on several occasions.

As we can see in the above pass network from the game, Kyogo came quite deep to connect with his Celtic team-mates at Rugby Park; deeper than he did last week at Ross County, for example, shown below.

The perfect example of how this movement dropping into deeper areas can be effective came when he dropped into midfield 10 minutes before half-time.

Here we can see Kyogo has dropped to offer a further option for Jenz as he carries out from the back. This poses the Kilmarnock defence with a major problem: stay in their shape and allow Kyogo to go and receive the ball under no pressure, or follow him in and leave space in behind which could be exploited.

As Jenz plays the ball into Kyogo, Mayo decides to come out, following Kyogo into midfield.

Mayo doesn’t get tight enough quick enough though as Kyogo, on the half-turn as he receives the ball, takes one quick touch and opens his body up to execute a brilliantly weighted ball in behind the Kilmarnock back line for Jota to run on to.

Although Jota decides to shoot on the angle once he receives the through ball a square ball for Maeda, coming in off the left, was also on.

This would have been a clear pass as, by dragging Mayo out with him, Kyogo has eliminated the centre-back from the play, leaving a huge space in the heart of the Kilmarnock defence.

Header (48 mins)

One of the final examples of Kyogo’s top-class movement on Sunday, before he made way for Giakoumakis on 66 minutes, was his other effort on goal in the game.

This time from a dead-ball situation, a direct free kick from the left of the box, Kyogo takes up a position at the back post.

Kilmarnock, who struggled with defensive set-pieces all afternoon (two of Celtic’s goals came from second phases of set-pieces) are set up in a mixture of zonal and man-marking.

Midfielder Liam Donnelly is the one picking up Kyogo at the back-post area. However, as David Turnbull lines up the delivery, we can already see how prepared Kyogo is to make his movement – on his toes, with his eyes on the ball at all times.

As Turnbull delivers, Kyogo darts around the front of Donnelly, who is flat-footed, timing his jump to meet the cross on the edge of the six-yard box.

Despite his height disadvantage, and in a congested area, Kyogo gets a good connection on the ball, flicking his header towards the far corner.

Unfortunately for him, his effort just doesn’t come down in enough time and the top of the bar denies him a second goal of the day.

Conclusion

Kyogo’s brilliant movement on Sunday at Rugby Park was not anything we haven’t seen before from the dynamic striker in a Celtic shirt.

However, it perhaps highlights why he continues to have the edge over Giorgos Giakoumakis as the starting striker - for now anyway.

The Greek, who staked his claim with a brilliant overhead kick for Celtic’s fifth after replacing Kyogo, will certainly get more minutes as the season unfolds anyway, especially as the calendar gets busier with Champions League fixtures from next month.

For now though, as Celtic get into their rhythm for the season, Kyogo’s superb movement is one of the primary reasons he will likely continue to be the main man up front.