Celtic bounced back from a disappointing defeat to their local rivals before an international break after defeating Hart 3-0 at Parkhead in the Scottish premiership on Saturday.
Hoop ran out of comfortable winners and scored all three goals in the first half. And it was a much needed victory after two weeks of slugging to get the Rangers to lose in front of their last home supporters.
Hamza Igamane’s 88th minute winner won a 3-2 victory with the Garth when he met Glasgow and returned to 2-2 towards Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Celtic had to bounce back from its disappointing performance and results. That’s exactly what they did by highlighting and claiming all three points against the jam tart.
Without first-choice goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, the Scottish giants helped Viljami Sinisalo maintain his first clean sheet in the league.
Daizen Maeda added two more goals to the season’s tally on both sides of the strike from Jota.
Daizen Maeda’s goalscoring form this season
The 27-year-old Dynamo scored the 29th and 30th goals of the campaign in all competitions to set up the hoops on the way Celtic headed for a victory with Hart, and scored one of two goals in a 3-2 loss to the Rangers before the break.
Maeda scored 30 goals and provided nine assists in 43 appearances for the Bhoys.
Celtic Number 38 scored two goals from three shots against Hart, showing off his clinical edge in front of the goal, and was the team’s most effective finisher this season at the premiership level.
Celtic players with the most xg (premier) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
24/25 season | xg | the goal | xg differential |
Kyogo Furuhashi | 14.14 | 10 | -4.14 |
Daizen Maeda | 13.02 | 15 | +1.98 |
Adam Ida | 10.28 | 8 | -2.28 |
Nicholas Kuhn | 9.43 | 10 | +0.57 |
Arne Engels | 8.76 | 9 | +0.24 |
Statistics via whoscored | |||
As you can see in the table above, he is the only player in the XG team’s top five, surpassing his expected tally with multiple goals on a strike from 13.02 xg.
Mada’s performance against Heart was important. Because he scored two of his three goals, he was far from the only top performer on the Scottish giants’ pitch.
Why Maik Nawrocki was just as good as Daizen Maeda
The Polish central defender nodded next to the Cameron Carter Bickers, despite the availability of Oston Trust, repaiding Rogers’ faith with a sensational display at the centre-back.
Nawrocki mixed an incredible calm with a determined defensive task to provide Celtic with a platform to build from the back.
The former Legia Warsaw star completed a whopping 98% of his attempted passes (123/125) and did not own it twice with 144 touches.
VS Heart | Cameron Carter Bickers | Maik Nawrocki |
|---|---|---|
clearance | 3 | 10 |
block | 0 | 3 |
work on | 1 | 1 |
The past dribbling | 0x | 0x |
The ground duel won | 1/6 | 1/2 |
A duel won | 2/3 | 7/7 |
touch | 139 | 144 |
Lost Ownership | 3x | 2x |
Statistics via Sofascore | ||
As you can see at the table above, Now Rocky was better than experienced central defender Carter Bicker throughout the game thanks to his defensive and passing contributions.
The 24-year-old star won 89% of duels in the game to prevent Elton Kabang and James Wilson from causing too many problems.
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So he was just as good as against Hart by having the central back as his essential defensive work at the backline, surpassing Carter Vicker and keeping away sides for most of the match.
Maik Nawrocki revived his Celtic career
Before the clash with the Rangers before an international break, Now Rocky has not played a minute of action in the premiership this season and has not started a single match in all competitions.
The central defender, who joined the club from Legia Warsaw in the summer of 2023, was behind the Carter Bickers, Trust, Liam Scale and Stephen Wales before leaving in January in his position throughout the 2024/25 campaign.
Given his minutes shortfall and how much order he was down, it looked like he was heading towards the exit from Parkhead during the summer transfer period, but the injury to scale and confidence gave him the opportunity to offer him his first league appearance with the Rangers.
Nawrocki put in a phenomenal display where seven clearances, four intercepts, one tackle and seven of the 10 duels won in the match despite the results.
Rogers supported the 24-year-old Colossus and recreated the display despite the trustworthy items being available again.
Shirt should be Now Rocky, who will lose between now and the end of the season. If he can continue his performance like he did in the previous two matches, it would be very difficult for the manager to take him down from the starting XI.
A strong end to the campaign was able to set him up for a big season at Parkhead in the 2025/26 campaign, as the Central Defender could enter as a first-choice option.
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So Now Rocky’s final two performances revived his Celtic career, which appeared to have ended before the Rangers’ match.