Callum McGregor & Daizen Maeda reflect on 3-1 derby victory

Callum McGregor & Daizen Maeda reflect on 3-1 derby victory

It was a beautiful Sunday at Paradise as Celtic defeated Rangers 3-1 to keep themselves well in the fight for this season’s Premiership title.

Martin O’Neill’s men showed their fighting spirit all afternoon, conceding an early goal for the visitors but going on to make it a day to remember for everyone of a Celtic persuasion.

The equaliser from Yang cranked the noise levels inside Paradise up a few notches, and when Daizen Maeda’s second goal of the afternoon hit the back of the net to make it 3-1, the celebrations all around the stadium were a joy to behold.

That goal, which put the game beyond the visitors, was a thing of sheer beauty and will rightly be regarded as one of the greatest goals ever scored in a Glasgow derby, with Daizen Maeda producing a moment of magic with an incredible overhead kick to sink the Ibrox side’s season.

From back to front, the Hoops commanded the game, and, speaking after the match, Callum McGregor heaped praise on the Celts’ performance.

“It was outstanding,” McGregor said. “The way the boys worked and ran for each other was brilliant and there were moments of quality.

“We scored really good goals, everything we work on and Daizen’s is a special moment in itself.

‘When you get the game to that level and intensity then it’s hard for teams to live with that.’

“We got hit with a sucker punch on the counter-attack, but the response to that was excellent. We stayed calm and were in control of the game and once we scored we didn’t really look back.”