Tomoki Iwata’s first-ever start for Celtic assessed

A first-half penalty from Jota gave the Hoops a deserved lead at the break and although Ross County posed more of a threat in the second period, substitute Alexandro Bernabei sealed the win late on with a fine strike, his first goal in green and white.

A 15th consecutive league victory since the derby draw against second-placed Rangers in January, Celtic now head into this weekend’s third league derby match of the season knowing five wins from their remaining eight Premiership games will secure back-to-back titles.

With both Reo Hatate and Aaron Mooy side-lined, Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou was forced into shuffling his midfield pack for the early kick-off in the Highlands.

Postecoglou opted to push captain Callum McGregor higher alongside Matt O’Riley and hand January signing Tomoki Iwata his first league start at the base of midfield.

The decision to give Iwata his first start, with David Turnbull named on the bench, was a big show of faith in the former Yokohama F Marinos midfielder ahead of the derby.  

Here, we assess the Japanese international’s first Celtic start through some key moments in the match…

Early touches

Iwata set the tone for a busy display by jumping to apply immediate pressure on Ross County midfielder Noah Kenneh as the hosts looked to get up the pitch after Kyogo had almost latched onto an O’Riley cross in the opening seconds.

Iwata’s pressure led to a throw-in for County, but one midway inside their own half, pinning the home side in early on in the match.

He started to make his presence on the ball soon after too. One of his first involvements in possession was to receive the ball deep in the Celtic half from Cameron Carter-Vickers, under some pressure from County striker Brophy. Here, Iwata coolly played a crisp first-time pass off his weaker left foot back to Joe Hart.

As the Hoops’ backline worked the ball across to Greg Taylor at left-back, Iwata showed great movement and speed to dart across the pitch to provide a passing option wide on the opposite touchline.

After receiving the ball from Taylor out wide, Iwata then progressed play by passing forward over the halfway line into McGregor. This was the first of many examples of effective ball progression by the Japanese midfielder, particularly in the first half.  

He constantly showed for the ball throughout the game and although he had a slack spell early in the second half, which he was not alone in, his use of the ball was very good – according to Wyscout, across the full 102 minutes in Dingwall he completed 72 of his 81 passes (89 per cent).

Key pass to Kyogo

Encouragingly, this extended further up the pitch too. Of those 81 total passes, Iwata attempted 17 of them to the final third, impressively completing each of them – shown below.

Although most of these were out into wider areas, there were a few occasions where he played more vertically into the forward line.

He also had two passes into the box, including a key pass to Kyogo midway through the first half.

Again, Iwata showed good movement, this time to find space between the Ross County midfield and defensive lines.

He made the initial offer to receive when Carter-Vickers carried the ball into the final third but the USA international defender opted to roll the ball across to Alistair Johnston instead.

The right-back did then play through the lines into Iwata. Shaping his body on the half-turn, Iwata then took a couple of neat, quick touches to evade two Ross County players before sliding a ball in behind off his left for Kyogo to run onto.

His international compatriot could have run onto the ball to strike with his right but instead swivelled to hit with his left, narrowly missing the far post.

Despite that, this was a nice example of what Iwata is capable of producing in more attacking areas of the pitch.

Defensive work

Although Celtic dominated the ball in Dingwall, as they so often do domestically, Iwata diligently went about his defensive work when called into action on that front too.  

That included breaking up play, such as when he showed good anticipation to cut out an attempted forward pass by Country’s Josh Sims during a good spell for the home side.

In total, according to StatsBomb, Iwata completed three tackles and interceptions. He also made four clearances and exerted 18 pressures, more than every other Celtic player, except O’Riley (20). 

Conclusion

Iwata has been eased into the Celtic team following his January move, certainly in comparison to his international compatriots Hatate and Maeda last season.

After some impressive cameos over the last few months though, this was a solid first start in green and white for the 2022 J1 League player of the season, one that shows Postecoglou finally has a trusted natural alternative at the base of his midfield.

At what has been a tricky ground for Celtic to navigate in the past, Iwata looked accomplished in possession, broke up play well and progressed the ball effectively.

Whether the balance of him as the deepest midfielder behind McGregor, in a less accustomed advanced position, and an out-of-sorts O’Riley is a desired midfield combination going forward is certainly up for debate admittedly.

There is no doubt overall that, despite the win, Celtic were not at their slick best in this latest league outing. 

However, that combination was mostly forced on this occasion with injuries to key personnel. As good as Iwata was, that lack of zip in Celtic’s play potentially says a lot about how important the Celtic captain remains to Postecoglou’s side as a deep playmaker.

With both Hatate and Mooy expected to return for this weekend's derby at Celtic Park, it is more than likely McGregor will retake that deeper position for the big one.

Still, Sunday was very much an encouraging sign of things to come from Iwata though. As first starts go, you can’t ask for more than that.

Beyond the derby next week, it will be fascinating to see how the former Yokohama F Marinos star shows up as part of different midfield combinations between now and the end of the season.