Was cup final fond farewell for Larssonesque Maeda?
Everyone at Celtic is reluctant to compare any mere mortal to Henrik Larsson, a saintly figure of the club's past. Martin O'Neill fits the bill on both counts. When he said the other day that Daizen Maeda's contribution in the final, nerve-jangling, weeks of the league season was "absolutely Larssonesque" it was a mighty claim, but could any Celtic fan argue the point?
[PA Media] Everyone at Celtic is reluctant to compare any mere mortal to Henrik Larsson, a saintly figure of the club's past. If you go there and mention a player in the same light then you'd better have credibility and an unarguable case. Martin O'Neill fits the bill on both counts.
When he said the other day that Daizen Maeda's contribution in the final, nerve-jangling, weeks of the league season was "absolutely Larssonesque" it was a mighty claim, but could any Celtic fan argue the point? Hardly. All the indications are that Maeda will leave Celtic this summer, exiting with a crash, a bang and a wallop.
His latest, and probably last, act was his lobbed opener that set Celtic on their way at Hampden. A ball dropping, a defender flailing and a striker as cool as can be, cushioning the ball up and over a stranded goalkeeper. It might have been too early to say that the final and the double was done at that point, but the writing was on the wall for Dunfermline.
It was Maeda's 17th goal of the season and his ninth goal in his last seven. Larssonesque was not hyperbolic. The post-final songs and celebrations had O'Neill at their heart, understandably.
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