Celtic legend Pat Bonner was full of praise for Callum McGregor, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Kyogo Furuhashi but, speaking to the BBC, believes Jota and Daizen Maeda ‘struggled’ in the Scottish League Cup final victory over Rangers.
It was a goal made in Japan, but scored at Hampden; Reo Hatate dovetailing with compatriot Kyogo as Celtic doubled their lead and ensured that yet another piece of domestic silverware would be taking up residency in the green half of Glasgow for the next 12 months.
Celtic – and two-goal hero Kyogo in particular – were a cut above. Rangers, ragged in defeat, never looked like turning a 2-0 deficit into a historic comeback, even if Alfredo Morelos did half the deficit just after the hour.
Much of the credit, of course, will go to matchwinner Kyogo. But there is a reason why Joe Hart was a relative spectator throughout 90-plus minutes. In McGregor, Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt, the Bhoys ‘keeper was protected by a shield of stainless silver.
Kyogo Furuhashi scores twice as Celtic beat Rangers in League Cup final
“Celtic today didn’t play as well as we’ve come to expect from them. But that man Kyogo, right in there where good strikers are to put the ball in the back of the net,” beams Bonner, who won the League Cup twice in his own career, 15 years apart.
“Celtic had to dig in there and almost scrape a result. But that’s what matters, getting over the line and winning that trophy.
“I thought Callum McGregor, again, was exceptional. He held the team together for a while. Callum just came to the fore again as a captain. He got tackles in, he read the game, he controlled it at times where Celtic needed his experience. I just like the way he leads the team now.
“Carl Starfelt had a very good game apart from a few aberrations at the end. Cameron Carter-Vickers had some telling interceptions at the back. And Grego Taylor had an outstanding game.”
Such was the ruthlessness of Kyogo’s finishing, and the efficiency of their backline, Celtic could afford off days from Jota and Maeda; neither player really siezing the opportunity to bend an Old Firm final to their whim.
“Jota struggled, Maeda struggled in the game a little bit,” Bonner adds. “He kept falling over the ball didn’t he!”
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