Reo Hatate has been one of Celtic’s standout players this season and once again produced a big performance in the Viaplay Cup final against Rangers.
The Japanese midfielders form since returning from the World Cup break has been first class and although he wasn’t on the scoresheet for the Hoops at Hampden, he played a big part in both Kyogo’s goals.
During the build up play to the opener, Rangers had concentrated a lot of bodies towards the middle of the pitch which meant that spaces were few and far between.
Hatate has a great understanding with the fullbacks and was able to drag Malik Tillman away from his position which left a gap on the wing that Greg Taylor could run into who Aaron Mooy perfectly picked out.
The second goal was a bit different as Callum McGregor did a similar sort of run that led to Tom Rogic’s goal at Ibrox last year. He picked the ball up and drove at the Rangers defence which took two or three players out the game before passing the ball to Mooy.
This time it was Hatate who got on his bike to make a splitting run into the Rangers box to receive the pass and assist Kyogo to double the Hoops lead.
He was absolutely fantastic on a day where Celtic could have easily had four of five different man of the match performances.
