Kyogo underlines Celtic class to thrill Japan diehards but it’s ‘positional wizard’ Hatate who truly steals the show

Kyogo’s goal for Japan got his home country beaming after a 2-0 win – but it was a ‘wizardly’ performance from Reo Hatate that stole the show for many.

The Celtic duo started together in a friendly against Japan for only the second time and combined to fire them to a comfortable win. They opened the scoring in the first half when Hatate’s pass deflected into his path, Kyogo doing what he so often does for Celtic and pouncing to take the ball through on goal and slot past the keeper.

It was a new shape for Japan as Kyogo led the line but Hatate took on an interesting role as part of a fluid three in behind him. Playing predominantly off the left, he masterminded much of their attacking play and had much of Japanese football twitter waxing lyrical about his display. He’s played all over the pitch for his country now and one prominent account labelled him a ‘positional…