After three appearances that haven’t yet stretched beyond the 72nd minute Reo Hatate has brought a fresh dimension to Celtic’s style of play.
On the plastic of Livingston, amid the hostility of Ibrox and across a blizzard hit Celtic Park the class of the midfielder shone through with a very cutting edge added to yesterday’s performance.
Receiving the ball at any angle Hatate is unrushed, almost like Cameron Carter-Vickers in an advanced role, he sees the game differently finding passes that others can barely think about.
Yesterday he was on the receiving end of a pass, what he did with the ball from Alistair Johnston was bordering on ridiculous as a tricky match in the run in to the title swung Celtic’s way with two brilliant touches.
Johnston found Hatate in space but as he tamed the pass with his left foot his right was already in motion as he curled his shot across Zak Hemmings into the top corner of the net.
The joy was obvious, from his team-mates as much as the goalscorer as Hatate scored his first goal since the start of October.
Johnston provided another impressive assist for Kyogo Furuhashi to head in Celtic’s second goal before the determination of Adam Idah concluded an impressive 3-0 victory.
