Stiliyan Petrov has praised Kyogo Furuhashi for his ‘outstanding’ performance against Ross County and shared how Brendan Rodgers has changed the striker’s role at Celtic.
The 28-year-old helped the Hoops kick off their 2023/24 Premiership season with a 4-2 win this Saturday. Kyogo provided Celtic’s second goal of the afternoon in the 26th minute after David Turnbull broke the deadlock. He would also assist Matt O’Riley late in the second half.
Kyogo produced a tidy first-time finish to strike his first goal of the new campaign. Liel Ababa played a perfectly-weighted ball into the Japanese after Turnbull had released him down the right flank. Ross Laidlaw would only divert Kyogo’s strike into the bottom corner of the goal.
Kyogo had a great start to the new season as Celtic beat Ross County
O’Riley would later connect with Kyogo to restore Celtic’s four-goal lead in the 73rd minute. The 18-cap international smartly flicked the ball past Jack Baldwin to leave O’Riley through on Laidlaw. Kyogo punished Baldwin after rushing out and leaving a gaping zone to exploit.
One goal and an assist to help Celtic beat Ross County on the first day of term gave Kyogo a great start to the new season. The forward is now in his third campaign in Glasgow and will strive to repeat last term’s efforts. He scored 34 and created five goals in 50 games in total.
Petrov notes how Rodgers has already changed Kyogo’s role in Glasgow
This season is Kyogo’s first campaign at Celtic under Rodgers, though, having joined under Ange Postecoglou. The new Tottenham Hotspur manager paid Vissel Kobe £4.5m for their star forward in July 2021. While Celtic extended Kyogo’s contract until May 2027 this July.
Celtic reaped the rewards of Postecoglou signing Kyogo but Petrov noted Rodgers already changed his role against Ross County. The Hoops hero believes the new Bhoys boss’ tactics forced the forward to drop deeper to make an impact. But Petrov felt Kyogo liked the role.
“Kyogo had an outstanding game but in a different way,” Petrov said on Sky Sports. “He was dropping deeper [and] playing in different positions. It seems like he wants to go and enjoy the game more.
“The ball was not getting much to him, so he has to go and drag himself to the ball… Having Kyogo up there, we saw in one brilliant pass what he can create because that is what he is good at in the box and outside the box.”
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