Celtic kept their treble dream alive with a 3-0 win over Hearts away at Tynecastle Park. It was a much better performance than the one in midweek. Kyogo was on the scoresheet once again with a brilliant backheel flick while Aaron Mooy and Cameron Carter-Vickers found the back of the net as well. The win means that Ange Postecoglou’s side are in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.
It was a very positive day of football for Celtic without doubt. But one worry was the situation of Carl Starfelt, who was substituted off at half-time.
Yuki Kobayashi replaced the Swedish international in the second half and did a decent job himself. But fans would be hoping that Starfelt has not picked up any serious issue heading into the business end of the season.
Postecoglou confirmed that Starfelt was substituted off due to fitness-related reasons but fortunately, he did not sound too concerned about the matter and it might not be something significant. As reported by Football Scotland, the Celtic manager said regarding the situation:
"“Yeah he felt a niggle in his hip flexor during the warm-up actually.“Kind of felt early on in the game but we got it through to half-time and we could see he wasn’t moving well in the first-half. You could see he wasn’t his normal self so we made the change.“I don’t know, I don’t think it’s anything significant but it was good to get Yuki some game time, you can see his quality for a young man and I thought he did well when he came on.”"
Celtic boss explains why Starfelt was subbed off at half-time
Starfelt has had his fair share of critics throughout the course of his time at Celtic. But there is no denying that he has been a key part of the success that the club have enjoyed during the time of Postecoglou as manager.
Starfelt arrived in the summer of 2021 and has been a nailed on starter since then. He has formed a brilliant partnership in the heart of defence with Cameron Carter-Vickers as well.
Thus, with Celtic heading into a very important part of the campaign, one would hope that Starfelt is fit enough to feature. He has already dealt with a couple of injury problems this season.
Kobayashi did impress with his calm performance against Hearts. He was not really tested though and there might be far tougher tests ahead, if he has to take Starfelt’s place in the starting XI.