Not even the bitterly cold conditions away at Dingwall can stop this red-hot Celtic side right now, with the Scottish champions powering to a 4-1 win over Ross County to extend their mammoth lead at the Premiership summit.
January is still in its infancy, yet Brendan Rodgers’ men already look to have two hands on the title, with Saturday’s triumph ensuring the Hoops now rest 18 points above bitter rivals Rangers, following the Ibrox side’s draw away to Dundee in midweek.
It must be said, however, that it wasn’t quite plain-sailing for the Parkhead outfit against Don Cowie’s side, with Jordan White having cancelled out Kyogo Furuhashi’s opener from the spot, following a clumsy challenge from Alistair Johnston.
To their credit, as they always do, the league leaders rallied to put the game to bed late on, with Kyogo grabbing his second of the game on the 81st-minute mark, prior to Arne Engels and Luke McCowan rubbing further salt into home wounds in stoppage time.
Evidently far from a perfect performance, yet Rodgers – who was without the likes of Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda – will no doubt have been impressed by at least a handful of his star men, including Kyogo.
Kyogo's game in numbers vs Ross County
It would be foolish not to focus in on Celtic’s two-goal hero, with the Japanese marksman looking razor-sharp in something of a new role, having operated off the focal point of Adam Idah in attack.
Seemingly given the licence to drift and drop deep to get involved in the play, the 29-year-old – who has only averaged 13.7 touches per game in the league this season – chalked up 53 touches this time around, as per Sofascore, with Rodgers finding a novel solution to fill the void of Kuhn and Maeda.
Having gone close to getting off the mark initially, only to see his close-range effort denied by the impressive Jordan Amissah, the former Vissel Kobe man then took his chance just before the break, after pouncing on Johnston’s whipped cross in expert fashion.
Celtic’s number eight was again the beneficiary of a perfect delivery late on after meeting Engels’ cross to header home, with that taking his total tally to 85 goals in 162 games for the club to date.
While the transfer rumour mill continues to swirl – amid that bizarre talk of a move to Atlanta United – hopefully, Kyogo will be staying put beyond the February deadline.
90 minutes
2 goals
53 touches
1 key pass
63% pass accuracy
4 shots on target
2 ‘big chances’ missed
3/4 dribbles completed
5/8 ground duels won
1/3 aerial duels won
18x possession lost
Meanwhile, the in-demand striker wasn’t alone in catching the eye on Saturday afternoon, with club-record signing, Engels, also pulling the strings in the centre of the park.
Engels showed why his value has soared
Tasked with replacing Matt O’Riley upon his £11m arrival from Club Brugge, the Belgian playmaker has certainly risen to the challenge in recent months, with his performance away at Dingwall having been particularly influential.
Market Movers
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Indeed, as stated above, the 21-year-old produced a delightful, reverse pass to pick out Kyogo to make it 2-1, while then showing real character to convert from the penalty spot at the second attempt, after initially being denied by the charging Amissah.
Engels – who now has six goals to his name in a Celtic shirt – was also a real creative outlet throughout the 90 minutes after registering five key passes in total from his 104 touches, having also enjoyed a solid 86% pass accuracy rate.
With Kyogo vacating the space out wide, the youngster also regularly drifted into that right channel in order to make his mark, having attempted 11 crosses in total. It was, in truth, an all-action display from the man in the middle.
It is for no reason then that Engels seemingly boasts a soaring market value, with CIES Football Observatory deeming him to be worth as much as €26m (£22m), thus marking a rise of 100% in relation to his initial £11m fee.
Not that Rodgers and co will be looking to cash in so soon into his stay in Glasgow, yet that remarkable rise indicates that perhaps Celtic have actually struck a bargain, even after forking out so heavily.
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