Dundee manager James McPake hailed an ‘outstanding’ Kyogo Furuhashi performance after the Celtic newbie scored a Scottish Premiership hat-trick in Sunday’s thumping 6-0 win, speaking to the Scotsman.
Oh what a difference a week makes.
Seven days ago, Celtic were licking their wounds following a disastrous Champions League exit and an opening day defeat to newly-promoted Hearts, the pressure rising on Ange Posecoglou even before July rolled into August.
Celtic 6-0 Dundee | LIVE Reaction
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Since then, the green-clad Glasgow giants have won two from two, scoring ten goals along the way.
And Dundee were like poor lambs to the slaughter at Parkhead, ripped limb from limb as a star was born in front of nearly 25,000 supporters at Parkhead.
Have Celtic found a new superstar in Kyogo Furuhashi?
Despite arriving with a big reputation and the admiration of Andres Iniesta ringing in his ears, Furuhashi still had a lot to prove in the eyes of a fanbase who had only really witnessed his talents via the medium of grainy YouTube compilations.
A lethal hat-trick on his home league debut goes some way to silencing the doubters, however, with Furuhashi looking about as sharp as a tungsten-tipped razor blade, ghosting into the box to quite devastating effect before finishing off his chances with real precision and composure.
“To be fair to Celtic I thought they were excellent,” says McPake, who described his Dundee side as ‘really poor’ after a humiliating defeat.
“We had warned them all week about what they can do in and around the box with the combination play and one-twos.
“People can say what they want about Celtic, but in my opinion at the very top end of the pitch they have still got some really, really good players, and Kyogo was outstanding.”
The exit-linked Ryan Christie shone too, setting up two of Furuhashi’s three goals with a pair of assists Luka Modric himself would have been proud off.
Tom Rogic also scored, Odsonne Edouard powered home a confidence-boosting penalty while Tony Ralston found the net for the second week in a row with another brilliant individual effort.
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