Jackie McNamara’s face as Kenny Miller tries to rubbish ‘lucky’ Kyogo’s genius

Kyogo’s offside trick proves extremely costly to Dundee United in a 9-0 hammering…

After the 9-0 thrashing that was handed to Dundee United at Tannadice yesterday, looking at the reasons Celtic were able to score so many goals will be a priority for the home side at their own inquest this morning. Oh to be a fly on the wall at that one.

One of the main causes of course was Kyogo’s cheeky offside trick. Often starting in non-threatning positions, United’s back four seemed to have no major concern about the crafty Japanese striker’s positioning. However, before United’s defence understood what was really happening, Kyogo had put the ball in the back of the net, from an onside position. It was a bit too much for former Celtic striker Kenny Miller on BBC Sportscene last night but we all know his own allegiances are clearly directed at two of his other clubs, both played out to Ibrox.

Incidentally check out the look on former Celtic captain Jackie McNamara’s face as Miller tries to rubbish ‘lucky’ Kyogo’s genius.

Kenny Miller on Kyogo

“He’s always one step ahead of the defenders for these kind of cutbacks…whether it’s luck or whether he’s mastered the art of it, I dunno 🤷‍♂️”

😭 Please retweet to raise awareness of this incredible piece of punditry pic.twitter.com/vwBJGuw4dL

— _ (@Indy_Diego) August 28, 2022

Instead of trying to stay level with the back line, as most strikers do, Kyogo calmly waits offside and allows the play to catch up with him, so when it is time to strike, the line has caught up with him. This tactic has been used by players such as Lionel Messi (not a bad player to be compared to). This tactic proved especially effective against Dundee United, as Kyogo put away two of his three goals from starting in an offside position (his other goal coming from a top corner screamer outside of the box).

His third goal showed a clear and perfect example of this trick. Kyogo calmly walks away from the goal in an offside and non-threatining position. As play developed and Matt O’Riley sent the ball over the top towards Abada, Ryan Edwards clearly raises his hand to call for offside. However, before any of United’s could properly react, Abada crossed the ball, to a now onside Kyogo who puts it in the back of the net to raise the score to 3-0.

Kyogo’s genius helped get the wheel rolling in Celtic’s record breaking 9-0 victory in Tayside. Hopefully we will see Kyogo further exploit this tactic and bring simular performances to upcoming fixtures.

🐮🇯🇵 Former @visselkobe striker @Kyogo_Furuhashi scored a hat-trick in Scotland with @CelticFC in their massive 0-9 away win against Dundee United. 🍀🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

⚽️⚽️⚽️ Let’s take a look back at his hat-trick against Yokohama FC last season. pic.twitter.com/H8YyS21pcJ

— J.LEAGUE Official EN (@J_League_En) August 29, 2022