The Celtic numbers: Maeda excels in both attack and defence

The visitors looked up for this clash and were awarded a penalty early on in proceedings thanks to a darting run into the box from Reo Hatate. The same man stepped up and just about converted a tame penalty through the body of Shamal George, who would have been disappointed to let the effort go past him in the Livingston goal.

However, it was not all plain sailing for Brendan Rodgers and his side, as goalkeeper Joe Hart was sent off due to a collision outside of the box with Mo Sangare and himself. In what was their third red card in four days, Celtic had to play over 60 minutes with 10 men on the park, as James Forrest was sacrificed to make way for Scott Bain in goals.

READ MORE: Celtic instant analysis as ten-man Celtic win at Livingston

This did not stop Celtic playing their expansive football, though, and they would double their lead just a couple of minutes after the restart, with Matt O’Riley continuing his fine goalscoring form with a tap-in, following a fluffed attempt by Daizen Maeda. The Japan forward certainly didn’t fluff his opportunity in added time, as he curled a shot from outside the box into the left-hand corner of George’s net to finish off the scoring at 3-0.Celtic made just one change from the side that were defeated 2-0 by Feyenoord in midweek. Veteran winger Forrest replaced new signing Luis Palma, whilst it was the second start in as many games for the returning Hatate, who was injured last month. Liam Scales and Gustaf Lagerbielke continued in the heart of the defence, whilst Kyogo Furuhashi led the line for the champions.

Here, The Celtic Way rounds up the best StatsBomb data to give you a match report like no other…

xG trendline

As mentioned previously, Celtic started this game well, but both sides contributed to making this an end-to-end affair throughout the game. Hatate was the first player to contribute to Celtic’s xG accumulation, with both of his shots scoring the lowest possible amount at 0.01. Sangare, Bruce Anderson and an Ayo Obileye header all threatened, as did the ever-dangerous Kyogo for the visitors.

The deadlock was broken in the 14th minute by another Japanese player in Hatate, however, from the penalty spot. Following a cutting pass from Greg Taylor, the midfielder got ahead of his man and was taken down, his sharpness proving too much for Luiyi de Lucas in the Livingston defence. Hatate’s conversion was not aesthetically pleasing, as it fell under the body of George and crept in, though it was the highest scorer in terms of xG for the match with 0.78, rising up to 0.88 in PSxG.

Celtic were ahead and were looking to extend their lead through Maeda. He had a good opportunity that was saved by the goalkeeper (0.11 xG), though the game would turn in the 28th minute. Celtic’s defence were caught out by a long ball forward, which found it's way to Livingston’s Sangare in the home side’s attack. Hart – off his line – collides with the attacker, prompting the referee John Beaton to send the experienced goalkeeper off for the first time in his career. This came at a time where Livingston were threatening, and they continued to push in the form of opportunities from Jamie Brandon, James Penrice, Joel Nouble and Obileye (0.27 xG accumulated). O’Riley had the final chance of the half, with his shot blocked by Andrew Shinnie (0.04 xG).Following the restart, Celtic were far more attacking, and eventually got their rewards. In a goal that totalled 0.95 xG for the one movement, Kyogo crossed the ball into the box, which made its way to Maeda. The forward takes a poor touch – which is then saved by George – before the ball falls kindly to O’Riley, who slots it home. O’Riley’s shot had an xG score originally of 0.40, which rose to 0.92, considering the accuracy and power of the strike once it left the boot of the midfielder. Despite being down to 10 men, Celtic were cruising now.

Penrice had a small chance for the hosts before a bigger one came along for their striker Nouble. Substitute goalkeeper Scott Bain gifts the ball to the imposing forward, who manages to lift his shot over the bar. A let-off for Celtic, with Nouble achieving 0.33 in xG, a high for the home side.

READ MORE: Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers praises 'unbelievable' Maeda

In what was an end-to-end game despite Celtic’s high-performance levels, O’Riley, Callum McGregor and Maeda had chances for the visitors, whilst Anderson and Steven Bradley provided the home side with decent chances. Maeda, in particular, had a shot that was well-saved by the goalkeeper, though the winger should have done better with the chance at an xG of 0.43. Substitutes Oh Hyeon-gyu and Tomoki Iwata both threatened, as did O’Riley and Maeda again, before Nouble and Kurtis Guthrie contributed late chances in stoppage time for the hosts to potentially get back into the game.These hopes were extinguished right at the end of stoppage time by the ever-busy Maeda. After picking up the ball just outside the box, he chops inside, planting his defender to the ground, before side-footing an unstoppable strike past a statuesque George in the Livingston goal, who stayed rooted to the spot. The quality of this strike is displayed in both the xG and the PSxG of this strike, as the original shot only scored 0.07, highlighting the difficulty of beating the goalkeeper at this range. Once Maeda hits the shot, it skyrockets to 0.66 - which is still not a guaranteed goal – but it shows just how well he caught the ball with his opportunity. A well-deserved goal for arguably the hardest worker in the Celtic team.Celtic had a total of 16 shots in this game, with nine of them being on target at a cumulative xG of 2.47. The shot map makes for far better viewing than the one that was available after the Feyenoord game, with Celtic far more busy in and around the box, and taking fewer shots from outside in the process. Despite this, Maeda’s goal was situated there, so it is heartening to see that Celtic have the power to convert from long-range situations, too.

In the league this season, Celtic take an average of 15.50 shots per game, with their total of 16 meaning they performed just slightly above their average on this occasion.Much like Celtic, Livingston managed 15 shots in the game, with an accumulated xG of 1.06. Again, many of their shots were in the box, so they will feel a little disappointed that they were not able to find the net at least once in this game.

The home side averages 9.83 shots per game, so they overachieved in this metric in terms of their usual, perhaps due to the man advantage they possessed thanks to Hart’s sending-off.

In terms of shooting for Celtic, Maeda was top, with five shots accumulating 1.18 in xG and one goal. O’Riley had four shots, whilst Hatate had three, both scoring 0.30 And 0.80 respectively, as these were the two other scorers on the day.Livingston’s top contributor for shooting was tied, with Nouble and Anderson both managing three shots, whilst Penrice, Sangare and Obileye all had two. Nouble had the highest xG, with 0.56.

Possession, passing and positions

Celtic returned to having the majority of possession against Livingston, following Feyenoord’s relative domination in possession in the Champions League. Celtic – despite being a man down – had 53 per cent of possession, completing 469 of their 573 passes, an 82 per cent success rate. The home side had 47 per cent, completing 391 passes of their 500 attempted, a lower rate of 78 per cent.The passing network gives a rough idea of where the majority of the game was played and who was the most involved. Remember that the warmer the colour, the more influential the player was in the game, and the thicker the passing lines, the more passes between the players.

StatsBomb measures pass contributions in on-ball value (often referred to as OBV, a term breakdown of which can be read here).

The passing networks for both teams in both the first and second half indicate how the game changed in terms of what transpired. In the first half, it was clear that Celtic were playing through Taylor, who truly returned to form in this game. This is highlighted by the warm red colour in the network with many of Celtic’s players distributing the ball to him, showing his teammates understood that he was locked in from the get-go. In the second half, Taylor was still a contributor, but his fellow full-back Alistair Johnston helped too, allowing Celtic two outlets down each side in terms of passing. Kyogo also had a very high OBV – especially in the second half – as his passing game made up for his quiet day in front of goal.

READ MORE: Celtic boss Rodgers says he can develop Matt O'Riley further

For Livingston, the OBV networks show that there were not a lot of sound contributors in the first 45 minutes in terms of passing. That changed following the restart, as the warmer colours from Obileye, Penrice and especially Brandon show that they were better with their passing after half-time, though this did not translate into goals.

In terms of statistical values in this metric, Celtic’s best contributor was Kyogo, with 0.74 OBV in just 11 passes, by far the highest in the game. Taylor and Johnston had 0.35 and 0.20 respectively, whilst Maeda and O’Riley were poorer with -0.16 and -0.08 in OBV.

Brandon was Livingston’s highest OBV scorer, with his 29 passes scoring 0.26, whilst Obileye and Penrice both scored 0.12. Sangare and Anderson both shared a score of -0.07, in what was a poor day for both in this metric.

A player known for his scoring, it was Kyogo’s providing that will get him the most plaudits judging by the numbers. Like O’Riley, he made three key passes, though his xG was far greater on 1.02 than his teammate’s 0.17. Despite being taken off due to Hart’s red card, Forrest still managed two key passes in his short time on the park, showing he can still make an impact out wide at the age of 32.Sangare and Shinnie both had two key passes each for Livingston, whilst Stephen Kelly, Penrice and Bradley all have one. The home side will be disappointed with how they failed to properly test both Hart and Bain concerning shots off the back of these opportunities created.

Pressing and defending

Celtic initialised 138 pressures to Livingston’s 172, with the home side regaining the ball 36 times to the visitor’s 24.

As expected, Maeda leads the way for pressures with 33, 13 more than Johnston, who had 20. Maeda’s unmatched work rate will be pleasing Rodgers greatly, as he can rely on the player to put in a shift every game without fail. Brandon capped off a good individual game for himself with 23 pressures, whilst Scott Pittman and Jason Hold both contributed 20.

Maeda also led both sides in terms of counterpressures with 12, an incredible statistic for a single game. For Livingston in this metric, Anderson led with six, only half of what the breathtaking Maeda achieved in this metric.

READ MORE: Celtic's Alistair Johnston praises 'dangerous' teammates

On the defensive end, again Maeda led both sides in tackles and interceptions combined with a massive eight all-in. These are numbers that a central defender should be getting, not a left winger. As for the defenders, Scales and Lagerbielke had a combined total of 22 clearances, as the pair have still not conceded a goal between them in the league so far. The latter also won 11 aerial duels, as the Sweden international is starting to impose himself on proceedings now. Scales managed seven in this metric.

For Livingston defensively, Jamie Brandon had the highest total for his team in tackles and interceptions with six. Obileye led his team for clearances with five, whilst Sangare and Anderson both won four aerial duels.