Celtic meanwhile cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Hearts in the Scottish Premiership, Daizen Maeda their star of the show. In that weekend match, Maeda scored the opener before his teammate and USA international Joe Scally doubled the lead. His outstanding play helped spark his team’s overall dominant performance. Those efforts combined for his 30th goal of the season. On the field, they played some lovely football and marshalled Celtic to within a whisker of another Scottish Premiership title.
The match started with Maik Nawrocki starting the first phase of the play that resulted in Celtic’s first goal. Nawrocki’s vision freed Reo Hatate to run and play a beautiful ball between defenders into Nicolas Kuhn. Kuhn followed that up with an excellent low cross, allowing Maeda to connect with a low drive to finish into the bottom corner and give Celtic the lead. The Japanese forward’s involvement did not stop there, as he was instrumental in doubling Celtic’s lead just 24 minutes into the game. Maeda expertly latched onto a clever through ball from Kuhn. His defend ended up a criminal backwards header off the post, which allowed Jota the simple task of slamming home the rebound.
Jota’s presence in the box was crucial as he pounced on the opportunity created by Maeda’s initial effort. This goal further solidified Celtic’s dominance and left Hearts struggling to find their footing in the match. Schlupp drew a fine one-hand save from Craig Gordon after going on a stellar solo run. Hearts weren’t able to capitalize on their few opportunities.
Hearts’ best chance to score came when James Wilson found himself unmarked, yet he sent a free header wide of the target, squandering a significant opportunity to challenge Celtic’s lead. As the first half wore on, Maeda continued making an impact. He gave Celtic a third not long before half time to stretch their lead to three and effectively kill the game.
The Scottish side’s performance proved their quality, confidence, and hunger as they move closer to winning yet another league title. With Maeda at the forefront of their attack, supported by Jota’s clinical finishing, they proved too formidable for Hearts on this occasion.
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