Will cup final be Maeda's last dance?
It Daizen Maeda is nearing the end of his Celtic career, what a way to go out. Between matchday one and 22 in the Scottish Premiership, he registered just seven goals - not a great return for your number one striker. For his next 11 league matches, Maeda failed to register a goal or an assist as Celtic's title chances appeared to dwindle.
It Daizen Maeda is nearing the end of his Celtic career, what a way to go out. The 28-year-old Japan forward, who was denied a move last summer, is entering the final year of his contract and recently spoke of his ambition to play in the English Premier League And for large parts of this campaign it looked as though Maeda had one foot firmly out the door. Between matchday one and 22 in the Scottish Premiership, he registered just seven goals - not a great return for your number one striker.
Things went downhill from there. For his next 11 league matches, Maeda failed to register a goal or an assist as Celtic's title chances appeared to dwindle. But in a resurgence for the ages, Maeda found form at the perfect time.
The spark was rediscovered in the Scottish Cup semi-final win over St Mirren as Maeda charged down a clearance in the opening seconds to end his goal drought. From there, he was the standout player in Celtic's late charge for the title, scoring in all five post-split fixtures. First up was the 3-1 win over Falkirk where Maeda was involved in all Celtic's goals, scoring two and setting up Kieran Tierney for the other.
He followed that up with the opener in the 2-1 victory over Hibs at Easter Road. Even better was to come. With the Old Firm derby on a second-half knife-edge at 1-1, Maeda put Celtic ahead with a typical instinctive finish - then conjured a spectacular overhead kick that is already assured iconic status.