Celtic brought the magic to Fir Park as Liel Abacadabra Abada announced open sesame to another Hampden date.
Ange Postecoglou’s side breezed into the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals with a 4-0 win over Motherwell that could have so easily been an even bigger victory. Abada grabbed the first two goals before Reo Hatate’s nifty footwork put the result beyond all doubt. Kyogo Furuhashi wiped away his recent frustrations with the fourth goal on a night of tricks that dazzled the home side – and made their hopes of a shock disappear.
Celtic came flying out the blocks – they usually do – and passed up a couple of early chances. None more so than Kyogo, who somehow managed to hit the ball wide past the post after a pass from Hatate. It was on a plate with the Japanese striker just six yards out but he spurned the opportunity; no doubt hitting his confidence that wee bit more.
Sorry, did we infer Kyogo’s self-belief was low? Cancel that comment. A few minutes later the forward spanked one from 25 yards out, his left foot slamming a strike that saw the ball cannon off Liam Kelly’s bar. Then it was Aaron Mooy’s turn to have a pop. The Australian took Sead Haksabanovic’s centre into his path before firing an attempt towards goal. Kelly saved but the pressure was being piled on.
That was until Moritz Jenz played himself and his team into trouble. The centre back was too casual in attempting to let the ball run for a goal kick and that let in Connor Shields who squared for Stuart McKinstry. The Leeds United star had all the time in the world to find the net. But he blazed over for sitter No.2 of the night.
It was end-to-end stuff now; Kyogo being played through on goal but met the none-shall-pass presence of Kelly and the chance was gone. Sean Goss then tried his luck after Matt O’Riley misplaced a pass but his shot from distance was tame and Benji Siegrist got down to save easily.
Seconds later and it was 1-0 Celtic. An intricate passage of play featuring one-twos between Greg Taylor and Haksabanovic saw the former hit the ball across the face of the goal and Abada was there to pounce, slamming the ball into the back of the net.
And so into the second half we went. Kyogo had a half chance to make it 2-0 but he couldn’t apply the finishing touch from a ball whipped into his feet. There was a pattern emerging here.
There was another trend developing, though. Abada was again at his clinical best when Josip Juranovic tried one for distance that Kelly palmed out. The 21-year-old was primed for it, banging the ball into the net from around the edge of the box for his second.
But Celtic weren’t done there. Hatate showed the kind of quick feet more suited to Strictly as he danced his way into a scoring position when at a tight angle, shuffling the ball from his right foot to his left before slipping it into the net. Stunning stuff. Abada almost grabbed his hat-trick with 15 minutes left but his strike struck the post before Kyogo finally got his goal with a well-taken rebound for 4-0. Confidence crisis? What confidence crisis?
Here are three talking points from Fir Park...
Abada bing, Abada boom
James Forrest might have grabbed his 100th goal at the weekend and had the title of "Celtic great" bestowed upon him by Postecoglou but there’s an heir to his throne strutting his stuff right now. Abada doesn’t hang about on the pitch. Look at the way he burst forward to hit the opener. Why take three touches when one will do? Why try to beat your man twice when one will suffice? He’s quick, direct and absolutely will punish teams if given half a chance. He has proven himself as Postecoglou’s No.1 right winger and for all of Forrest’s fine service and brilliant performances over the years, it will be difficult to displace the Israeli.
We need to talk about Kyogo
No one can deny Kyogo isn’t right at it at the moment. Not even Postecoglou would disagree if you asked him privately. Sure, the 27-year-old is trying. And of course he’s still getting in the right areas. But the brutally efficient finishing so evident last season simply isn’t there right now. He missed a few chances, failed to take a couple of passes to feet and also misplaced a few balls of his own. This is no crisis for the Japanese – his class remains clear. But the thing about Kyogo is he kept going. His manager obviously believes in him and was desperate for him to score. We could tell that by the fact he kept him on the pitch. And score he did, something that might just open the floodgates. Scottish Premiership, you have been warned.
Well then
The narrative coming from the Well camp in the run-up to this quarter-final clash was to not just compete with Scotland’s big two but beat them. In truth, they only really started playing against Rangers when they were 2-0 down and although they were slightly better against Celtic, it’s yet another defeat. All right, who knows what the score might have been had McKinstry converted that chance? But fortress Fir Park has turned into a bouncy castle for the Glasgow giants and deflation is only an emotion being felt by the home side at the moment.
