Kyogo Furuhashi was Celtic’s hero because the Japanese worldwide’s double received the Scottish League Cup on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Old Firm rivals Rangers at Hampden.
Furuhashi additionally scored twice in final yr’s closing and took his tally for the season to 24 with two shut vary finishes both facet of half-time.
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Alfredo Morelos pulled a objective again 26 minutes from time however Rangers succumbed to a primary defeat since Michael Beale changed Giovanni van Bronckhorst as supervisor in November.
Victory may very well be the primary of a home treble for Ange Postecoglou’s males as they lead Rangers by 9 factors on the high of the Scottish Premiership and are into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.
Postecoglou was delighted with the win and believes it’s simply rewards for his crew placing within the laborious yards in coaching daily.
“We’ve worked awfully hard for a very long time and part of the process of working hard is to get rewarded for it at some point so that you can keep working hard, and the boys got the reward today, which I thought was well-deserved for them.
“You know what it means for our supporters, so it was a great day for the football club.’
Celtic skipper Callum McGregor reserved special praise for Furuhashi’s contribution.
“He’s a special player,” McGregor stated.
“It means the world to me. Time after time, you’re tasked to win at this club.”
Furuhashi missed his first couple of probability of the sport as Allan McGregor rushed from his line to dam earlier than Celtic’s talisman headed a wonderful alternative over.
However, he couldn’t miss a minute earlier than half-time as Daizen Maeda flicked on Greg Taylor’s cross and Furuhashi was unmarked to faucet in from point-blank vary.
A fantastic crew transfer arrange his second as Reo Hatate burst into the Rangers field and squared for his compatriot to drive the ball dwelling 11 minutes into the second half.
At that time the one doubt over the result gave the impression to be Celtic’s margin of victory.
But Rangers rallied after Morelos’ strike had an excessive amount of energy for Joe Hart when Celtic did not clear a free-kick.
Beale’s males then surged ahead in the hunt for an equaliser to take the sport to further time.
But it was the Hoops who had the higher possibilities to seal the trophy within the closing phases as McGregor denied Matt O’Riley and Sead Haksabanovic fired extensive.
Originally printed as ‘We’ve labored awfully laborious’: Ange ecstatic as Celtic beat Rangers in Scottish League Cup closing
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
