Daizen Maeda was named man of the match after Celtic’s late win over Motherwell but the initial celebration of the award was more bizarre than it was fitting.

Dafabet, as usual, posted their standard man of the match tweet with an image of the player only this time, it wasn’t actually Maeda. Instead, the photo appeared to be an AI-generated likeness of the Japanese forward. The face was noticeably off, the badge on the shirt wasn’t the Celtic crest, and the whole image looked nothing like anything taken from Sunday’s match.

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It didn’t take long for fans to notice, with quote tweets filling up almost immediately pointing out the awkward gaffe.

To their credit, the sponsor corrected the image and reposted a proper photo of Maeda shortly after, but it still begs the question: why use an AI image at all when a real one clearly exists?

As for Maeda’s performance, it certainly wasn’t his sharpest in a Celtic shirt. For large parts of the match he looked off the pace, lacking the usual zip and relentlessness that makes him so difficult to defend against. But football is often about moments, and Maeda delivered when it counted. His injury-time header sealed a vital three points and perhaps provided the lift he’s needed in what’s been a mixed start to the season.

Post-match, the forward was all smiles and rightly so. The goal may be just the spark he needs to rediscover his best form. Whether or not he agreed with being named man of the match is another matter, but in a game that needed someone to step up late, Maeda was the one who did. Strange AI photo or not, it was his moment.