Happy New Year- Daizen Maeda first foots for the third year running
Soccer Football - Scottish Premiership - Rangers vs Celtic - Ibrox, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - January 2, 2023 Celtic's Daizen Maeda celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
As soon as the bells toll for New Year you can set your watch on Daizen Maeda scoring for Celtic.
For the third year running the former Yokohama F Marinos man has scored Celtic’s first goal of the year wasting little time to find the net
Back in 2022 after a brief lockdown the fans piled in to Celtic Park to see their new striker in action against Hibs- after just four minutes the net was bulging as 60,000 welcomed another scorer from the J-League.
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2022 V Hibs
2023 V Rangers
2024 V St MirrenFor the THIRD year running Daizen Maeda nets the Celts first goal of the calendar year ? pic.twitter.com/pOwOxFyBV0
— 4 Tims and a Podcast (@PodTims) January 2, 2024
Last year Celtic went first footing at Ibrox, this time it took Maeda a full five minutes to open the scoring, accepting a pass from Alfredo Morelos then slicing through the defence to pop the ball past Allan McGregor.
Yesterday, after a few sub-standard performances yer man from Yokohama took 54 seconds to get in behind the St Mirren defence before shooting past Zak Hemmings to give Celtic the perfect start- again.
Over the last three years Maeda has taken a combined total of 10 minutes to open Celtic’s scoring account for the new year.