When Ange Postecoglou was appointed Celtic manager during the summer of 2021, many eyebrows were raised as the Australian was seemingly plucked from thin air. The Aussie was known to few in Europe having only managed in Asia and Australia. He didn’t have the correct UEFA licensing and only the experts knew what a charismatic and tactically sound coach he is.
It didn’t take long for the boss to win the hearts of the Celtic fans, despite a shaky start. The rebuild needed at Celtic after last season’s disaster seemed an impossible job for the most experienced managers, however, Postecoglou’s team is playing some of the best football Celtic have seen in years. The acquisition of four of the J-League’s best in Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, and Yosuke Ideguchi as well as many others have inspired new life into Celtic.
Celtic are currently three points ahead of bitter rivals Rangers and are looking to go from strength to strength as a full squad is starting to develop with more and more players coming back to full fitness. Postecoglou has created a real buzz around the club at the moment and here are five of the best Celtic performances under his regime:
Celtic manager, Ange Postecoglou. Source - Getty Images
Celtic 6-0 Dundee
Celtic cruised to victory here against Dundee back in August and done so by giving us our first real look at what ‘Angeball’ meant. The hoops put on a show with quick passes, great movement out of possession, and were very solid defensively, as well as a hat-trick from new hero, Kyogo Furahashi. Postecoglou has built himself a reputation of transforming new players, none more so that Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston.
At the beginning of the season, the thought of having Anthony Ralston – a man who struggled to get into the St. Johnstone team last season – as Celtic’s only natural right-back, was a scary one, to say the least. However, Ralston has been one of the key factors in Celtic’s success this season, having the second-most assists in the league and being a solid hand in defence. Ralston popped up with a goal himself in this one, to the disbelief of most watching.
He was pivotal to Celtic’s performance during this match as he scored Celtic’s fifth to put them out of sight from James McPake’s side. The real headline act on this day was Japanense striker, Kyogo Furuhashi. Kyogo scored a beautiful hat-trick and filled the Celtic fans with confidence going forward in the season as they knew they could rely on him for goals.
Kyogo Furuhashi celebrating one of his goals vs Dundee. Source - Getty Images
The other goals came from Tom Rogic who slotted the ball home after a beautiful pass from Ryan Christie at the by-line and Odsonne Edouard who placed it in the top corner from the penalty spot.
Although it wasn’t the toughest of opposition, Celtic completely blew Dundee away and Ange Postecoglou’s vision was starting to become a reality.
Celtic 6-0 Dundee highlights.
Hibernian 1-3 Celtic
It was a cold mid-week game at the capital for this match against Hibernian, a match in which Celtic manager, Ange Postecoglou hailed Celtic’s first-half performance as their best during his time in charge.
It was goals from Anthony Ralston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Kyogo Furuhashi that helped the Celt’s breeze past Hibernian in this one.
Anthony Ralston opened the scoring here in a rather unfamiliar fashion for Celtic as they scored from a set-piece. David Turnbull’s cross from the free-kick was comfortably headed home from the right-back who was lingering at the back post.
Anthony Ralston celebrating his goal with his fellow Celtic players. Source - Getty Images
Ralston’s fellow defender, Cameron Carter Vickers doubled Celtic’s lead only four minutes later as Celtic were 2-0 to the good inside 15 minutes. Celtic again scored from a set-piece as David Turnbull gained another assist, this time from a corner. The ball was whipped I by the Scotsman to Carter-Vickers who confidently volleyed it into the bottom corner of the Hibs net.
Celtic finally got their third after several threats through usual suspect Kyogo Furuhashi. It was Portuguese winger, Filipe Jota who threaded the ball across the face of the goal that left an easy tap-in for the Japanese striker.
Hibs did get another in the second half through Ryan Porteous. The ball was whipped in from a corner and the Scottish centre-half headed the ball home which was merely a consolation goal at this point in the match.
Ange Postecoglou had this to say after the match: "We were really fluent, played through the lines and created good chances. We scored three and could have had another three in the first half. It was really pleasing to see, especially here against a good side.
"Joe had to make a couple of saves but that's why he's there. He's an outstanding goalkeeper and an important part of our team because for the most part we're dominating games and you need a keeper who can make those one or two big saves."
Hibernian 1-3 Celtic highlights
Celtic 2-1 Hibernian
Another Celtic vs Hibernian game, although this time the stakes were much higher. A trip to Hampden was in order for this one as the two teams looked to take the Scottish League Cup home.
It was Kyogo Furuhashi who was the hoops hero as he scored a brace to help Celtic come from behind and win their first trophy of the Postecoglou era.
Kyogo Furuhashi, Ange Postecoglou and Callum McGregor celebrating with the Scottish League Cup.
It was Hibernian however that took the lead through captain Paul Hanlon and another set piece that hurt Celtic which seems to be an all too familiar story. It was Martin Boyle with the corner kick into the ball and Hanlon who headed it by Joe Hart to put the Hibee’s 1-0 to the good in the final.
However, their lead didn’t last too long as within a minute later, Kyogo Furuhashi levelled Celtic with a smart finish at Hib’s goalkeeper, Matt Macey’s near post.
Kyogo – who was an injury doubt coming into the game – was then too quick for the Hibs defenders as he lobbed the ball over Matt Macey’s head to secure the trophy for the hoops.
This win extended Celtic’s unbeaten run at Hampden to 18 games, whilst Hibs were left ruing another failed opportunity at the national stadium, having lost last season’s Scottish Cup Final to St Johnstone.
Hibs did, however, have a couple of opportunities to equalize through Kevin Nisbet and Paul Hanlon as the striker headed off a post before Hanlon skied the rebound from 10 yards in the 89th minute.
Postecoglou added after the match: “It’s what this football clubs about, the people in here, it’s a generational support, they’ve invested their lives, their kid’s lives in this football club, and these are the rewards we want to give to them.
“It’s the only measure at Celtic. You win it and then you go on to the next one”.
Celtic 2-1 Hibernian highlights
Celtic 4-0 Motherwell
Celtic put on a relentless performance here at Fir Park, scoring three goals all inside the first half. Goals coming from Liel Abada, a Tom Rogic brace, and a fortuitous finish from Daizen Maeda, the hoops form just seemed to be getting better and better.
Motherwell held on against some early chances from Celtic with Liel Abada coming close twice but it was two decent saves from Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly that kept the sides level.
Ultimately it was the Israeli winger Liel Abada that put Celtic in front when Reo Hatate whipped the ball into the box for Abada to drive it home into the bottom left corner.
Two more goals came in quick succession for Tom Rogic, the first of which was a sensational strike. Rogic collected the ball from the edge of the box and whipped into the far-left corner, leaving Liam Kelly questioning where his defence was to close the Aussie down.
The second of Rogic’s goals came from a nicely worked team goal which culminated in Liel Abada whipping the ball down low for Tom Rogic to place it in the bottom corner.
The fourth of Celtic’s goals came when Japanese striker Daizen Maeda attempted to drive it into the net when an untimely deflection from Motherwell defender Bevis Mugabi caused the ball to fly right over Liam Kelly’s head and into the goal for Celtic’s fourth.
Daizen Maeda celebrating his goal vs Motherwell. Source - Getty Images
It was a dominant performance from Celtic and one in which manager Ange Postecoglou was very pleased with.
He said: "We like to play a certain way. We don't want to be a team that grinds out results, we want to get the fans off their seats.
"We didn't come here to shut up shop after three goals. We want to get four, five, six. We will be doing that until the end of the season until we rest, or we drop to the ground."
Motherwell 0-4 Celtic highlights
Celtic 3-0 Rangers
Postecoglou’s side overwhelmed their fierce rivals Rangers in a dominant first-half performance, as Reo Hatate bagged himself a brace which was swiftly followed by the third from Liel Abada.
Going into this match it was tough to split the sides as Rangers were two points to the good in the Scottish Premiership table and Rangers were coming in with a 13-game unbeaten start for new boss Giovanni Van Bronckhorst.
As well as Rangers deadline day signing of Aaron Ramsey which caused extra buzz going into this match, despite the fact that the Welshman didn't feature in the squad.
The fact that there were no away fans was a sight to behold as 60,000 Celtic fans were cheering on the team from the get-go, and it took only five minutes for Celtic to go 1-0 up through Japanese midfielder Reo Hatate.
Hatate collected the ball from the edge of the box after a Matt O’Reilly corner was cleared and struck the ball cleanly into the bottom corner and beat Alan McGregor down to his left.
Rangers lacked any real urgency or intensity, and it was clear early on that it was going to be a tough night for them.
Reo Hatate popped up with his second of the evening as he struck the ball magnificently, beating Alan McGregor to the right-hand-side of his goal.
Reo Hatate celebrating his second goal vs Rangers. Source - Getty Images
The Celtic fans didn’t have time to settle down from their celebrations of the second goal before Filipe Jota crossed the ball into Liel Abada who lost his marker and tapped the ball into the bottom corner.
Rangers came close to pulling a consolation goal back through Ryan Jack when his long-range effort struck the crossbar.
Ultimately though it was the Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou who left ‘Paradise’ the happier of the two managers.
He said: “Our first 45 mins were outstanding; three great goals, our football was pretty special, and their keeper pulled off some great saves. Considering the context of the game, I thought our football was outstanding.
"Second-half, we had to defend a bit more, but we've been a team that can do that. It shows another layer. We knew the consequences, what it meant to our supporters, and we stood up."
Celtic 3-0 Rangers highlights
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