Kyogo has been nothing short of fantastic since he joined Celtic in the summer of 2021 from Vissel Kobe. Of course, he arrived amidst a lot of doubts. Many questioned whether he could deal with the physicality of Scottish football. Well, it has been the other clubs who have had a tough time dealing with his movement and finishing.
Kyogo scored 20 goals in his debut campaign, much of which he spent out injured. He then followed that up with 34 goals last season. And he shows no signs of slowing down this time around.
In fact, he has already done something that he had not done in a Celtic shirt before. That is to score a goal in the Champions League.
The Japanese forward opened the scoring for Celtic against Lazio, finishing off a superb team move. Daizen Maeda made a great run from the flank before passing it to Matt O’Riley, who played a superb first-team pass to Kyogo, who found a way past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0 to the Hoops.
Kyogo finally ends Champions League curse at Celtic
Kyogo played in all six of Celtic’s matches in the Champions League last season and he got plenty of chances as well. But on those occasions, his finishing just deserted him, as it looked like the Japanese forward was struggling with the step up to Europe’s elite competition.
That experience certainly would have helped him grow as a player. And he has already managed to score in the Champions League this time around. One would hope that this is the first of many as well.
If Celtic are to have any chance of making it to the knockout phase or even finish third in the group, they will need Kyogo to deliver in front of goal. Fortunately, it seems he is ready this time around.