Surprise as just Daizen Maeda included in SPFL Team of the Week

Daizen Maeda has been included in the SPFL Team of the Week. The Japanese forward scored once and was heavily involved in the others as Celtic blew St Johnstone away with a 7-0 win. However, the SPFL have only selected one Celtic player in this team with Matt O’Riley a surprising omission.

Reo Hatate opened the scoring as the relentless press from Celtic forced a mistake at the back with the Japanese Internationalist firing beyond Clark. It was 2-0 when a back pass allowed for Giorgos Giakoumakis to take the ball beyond Clark and slot cooly into the net at an acute angle. It was the only worry coming from the afternoon as the big Greek left the field complaining of a hamstring problem.

Daizen Maeda scored the third before the break. The Japanese attacker took up a central role after Giakoumakis left the field. A Jota cross was directed goal bound with Clark unable to prevent it becoming 3-0. The break offered a rest for the Perth club but they faced a relentless Celtic. Matt O’Riley replaced Tom Rogic but the onslaught continued. Hatate was fouled in the box, Josip Juranovic converted the penalty.

O’Riley made it 5-0 after finding himself on the end of a Turnbull cross. The Danish U21, an arrival from MK Dons in the January window, made it 6-0 with an excellent curling effort. It was maybe pick of the day. 7-0 came thanks to a Liel Abada. Kyogo Furuhashi, came short, turned and clipped an excellent pass into the path of Maeda, he left it for Abada and he finished it off brilliantly.

It could’ve been more. Rogic’s first half chance, Abada had two and Maeda had another chance he could’ve converted. Postecoglou’s team were excellent. The win sets them up for a weekend trip to Hampden to face Rangers.

About Author

Born just as Celtic were stopping the Ten, Lubo98 follows Celtic home and away and helps run his local Celtic Supporters Club. He goes to all the games and is a Law Graduate. Has a particular fondness for Tom Rogic among the current Celts and both Lubo and Henrik form his earliest Celtic memories.

9 Comments

  1. I noticed a David Walton article that touched on the Celtic versatility to score goals. Walton has some good article but I’d like to disagree with him on a statement he made. I believe it’s the inflated rubbish to make a Celtic player or the team look better than they are. Peacock style. In this case he actually tries to make the 40 pass goal better by saying the following…

    Everyone is totally switched on even if the ball is down the other side of the pitch. It’s that constant movement and energy that tires the opposition out, and it’s why O’Riley had all the time in the world to find the top corner with his second goal on Saturday.

    It’s disrespectful to O’Riley because if you watch the goal he doesn’t have all day. He receives the ball with a defender right in front of him. Clever touches back n forth keep the defender at bay. Then touch left and strike. All this happens within seconds. If he actually watched the goal and wanted to stoke him and Celtic he would have described the goal properly rather than trying to glorify a moment that he ended up losing the great moment that actually happened.

    • I messaged young Lubo98 last night pointing out that this SPFL team of the week only allows one player per club to be selected.

  2. In a nutshell: Kieran Devlin has probably stated the following in his own words …

    Everyone is totally switched on even if the ball is down the other side of the pitch. It’s that constant movement and energy that tires the opposition out,

    Now the end of this paragraph I’m quite sure Kieran Devlin wouldn’t state.

    and it’s why O’Riley had all the time in the world to find the top corner with his second goal on Saturday.

    Follow the man. Love the man. Elaborate on his football but please… don’t attempt to be him. I’m not even that foolish.

  3. This is why actual journalists still dominate over todays social media crap. There is nothing like sitting down on a Sunday morning and reading the paper with a cup of tea. In todays world we have the masses with their opinions without an educated result. Literature has lost its respect. We need to gain it back.

  4. And before you tell me the media is full of rubbish. I agree. That isn’t my point. I’d rather read rubbish in a proper format than read social media rubbish that’s set for the bin. I believe that the human race is predominantly stupid. 80% of us are thick. I’m approximately at 81%. Stupid but save able. The Big Yin reference. Lol.

  5. RaisedOnCeltic on

    They’re only allowed to pick one player per team. This is embarrassing. Not everything is a conspiracy.