Celtic’s star who won 8/11 duels was an even bigger hero than Idaho

Celtic secured a place in the play-off round Champions League on Wednesday night with a dramatic 1-0 win over BSC Young Boys at Parkhead.

It was a tight game between two fairly even teams for most of the night, but the key moment came just four minutes before the 90 minute mark.

Adam Idah stayed composed and strong for the shot and saw his effort go from the keeper to a defender, Loris Benito, who cleared the ball into his own net.

It was a winning cameo from the Irish international, who started the match on the bench behind Kyoga Furuhashi, and could have tempted Brendan Rodgers in returning him to the XI.

Adam Idaho’s performance against the Young Boys

The 6-foot-3 marksman came on with 15 minutes left in the 90 minutes after Kyogo failed to register shot on goal and completed just 20% (1/5) of his pass attempts.

Idah struggled to get into the game at first and didn’t have much luck against the Young Boys defenders, because lost both matches on earth.

The summer signing from Norwich, however, produced a perfect run and broke through to score in the 86th minute, stayed onside and then used his strength to strike.

Unfortunately, Idaho’s shot was saved by the goalkeeper, but thanks to Benito, the ball still ended up in the box and celebrated with the Parkhead fans.

However, the real hero of the night for Rodgers and Celtic was the player who played the pass and sent the striker through – Reo Hatate.

Why Reo Hatate was Celtic’s hero

The Japan international was the main man for the Scottish giants on Wednesday night with an action-packed display to help his side claim all three points.

Celtic’s winning goal this evening was created by his moment of pure quality on the ball. Hatate took possession inside his own half and had the vision and quality to spot Idaho’s run and play an inch perfect, 30-40 yard, through ball with his weak foot to put the scorer on goal.

Apart from that magical play from the Japanese maestro, the midfield star played a key role in the clean sheet for the Bhoys with his fantastic play off the ball.

As you can see in the table above, Hatate won 73% of his face-offs in the match, as he dominated the opposing players in physical battles and won four attacks without a single dribble pass.

These stats show that the Young Boys players found it incredibly difficult to overcome the midfielder, helping to keep Kasper Schmeichel under even more pressure.

So Hatate was a real hero for Rodgers as his play in and out of possession played a huge part in Celtic taking all three points.