It was the men from the Far East that sealed a crucial point for Celtic in a thrilling 2-2 draw with Rangers at Ibrox.
It was a dream start to the Old Firm when Daizen Maeda's opener saw the attacker latching on to a reckless pass from Alfredo Morelos before he flew past James Tavernier and Connor Goldson before slotting past Allan McGregor. The first half was a classic derby power struggle as both sides passed up chances before the break.
What came was a collapse from Celtic in the second half when Ryan Kent carved open a path back in to the derby with a great curling effort before Carl Starfelt went to ground and brought Fashion Sakala down to hand James Tavernier the chance to covert from the spot which he did in customary fashion. That was before the champions found a late winner through Kyogo who netted his first derby goal to share the spoils in a thriller in Glasgow. Here are three things we learned from Ibrox.
Deadly Daizen
Daizen Maeda has been gearing up for a big performance in a Celtic shirt and it took just five minutes for the Japanese to make an impact.
Maeda was on fire as the Hoops saw past Hibernian with the attacker taking the plaudits for a long-range goal but it was a typical passage of play that led to his first Old Firm goal. The speedy winger latched on to a poor Alfredo Morelos pass but used his electric pace to take advantage, riding the challenges of Tavernier and Goldson before slipping the ball in to the bottom corner.
The 25-year-old often provides for Celtic in an assisting sense but had the complete first half to enjoy, often beating James Tavernier in the individual battles in the first half to cause Rangers problems.
Midfield duel
The midfield battle was always going to be key in such a high-profile derby and Ange Postecoglou's team have prided themselves on having a good engine room.
Callum McGregor and Matt O'Riley were tasked with quelling any threat from Rangers from the midfield and did so with aplomb in the first half. Both players were stuck in to challenges from the get go and seemed to get the better of John Lundstram and Glen Kamara for the most part.
It was a smart press from O'Riley that forced Celtic's opener, with Rangers loose in possession on many occasions in the first half. But in the second half Celtic seemed to lose that grip completely as the Light Blues grew in confidence.
Jura's out
Josip Juranovic should have come back from the World Cup buoyed by his exploits in Qatar but it was a day to forget for the Croatian.
The full-back wasn't picked by Postecoglou in his starting eleven but was forced to play an early role after Greg Taylor went off injured. And while Juranovic was on his unfavored left side the defender was all at sea from the opening before his lack of awareness proved fatal in both goals Rangers scored.
First he was caught too far up the field when Sakala raced away and eventually found Kent for the equaliser, before he let the Zambian zoom by him in a smart movement that saw Starfelt foul the trickster for a penalty.
Postecoglou admitted the 27-year-old wasn't 100 per cent before the game but if this was to be his final Celtic performance, the Croatian hasn't covered himself in glory.
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