Celtic boss explains why he subbed off Kyogo at half-time

Celtic looked like they were in trouble once again, going into the break at Fir Park. Brendan Rodgers' side were trailing Motherwell by a goal at half-time and with little room for error left, the manager made a bold decision. He decided to substitute off Kyogo and bring on Adam Idah in his place for the second half.

The change did pay off for Celtic. Idah equalised for the Hoops in the 51st minute and just when it looked like the game was destined for a draw, he put them ahead in the 94th minute. Luis Palma found another two minutes later to put the match beyond Motherwell and seal three very important points for Rodgers' side, who cannot afford to drop any more.

Idah now has four goals since joining Celtic. And these were his first two from open play. Hopefully, there are many more to come.

The decision to sub off Kyogo at half-time might not have gone down well with a lot of fans but it ultimately proved to be the right one. As reported by the club's official website, Rodgers told Celtic TV:

"Adam coming on was huge for us.

“I felt at half-time that we needed both movement and someone who could look after the ball for us, and the big guy comes in and scores two fantastic goals.

"He’s got a lot of qualities and hopefully here, over these remaining months he can show those.

“We needed that because we didn’t really have anything in the first period. Kyogo’s a guy that likes to run in behind, but in a game like today we needed someone who could take the ball into feet as well and, like I said, he scored two very good goals."

Celtic boss explains why he subbed off Kyogo at half-time

No player likes to get subbed off at half-time. So, it will be interesting to see how Kyogo reacts to it moving forward.

One cannot ignore that the Japanese international has been nowhere near his best this season. But in recent weeks, he had scored a few goals and it had looked like he was rediscovering some of his old form. Hopefully, this substitution will not have a negative effect on his confidence.

As for Idah, it is clear that he is not the complete striker by any means but he does bring something different to the table for Celtic. If he can find some consistency in front of goal, he might actually prove to be a difference maker for the club in the long run.