Daizen Maeda Reaches Celtic Milestone With Hattrick vs Raith Rovers
Daizen Maeda was handed the role of a striker by Brendan Rodgers and he made quite the case for himself as has hit the 50-goal mark with Celtic by scoring a hat-trick against Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup. He has been exceptional in the last few matches. This entire season, to be honest.
Maeda had been on 50-goal watch for a few matches now and his brace against Dundee set him up brilliantly to complete the feat against Raith Rovers.
His first goal came extremely early in the match on only the sixth minute, and then he would get one more right before halftime on an assist from Yang Hyun-jun.
The goal to get him to the 50-mark would come in the 77th minute on a cross by Luke McCowan, which went across the whole face of the goal and found Maeda on the far post, which he would tap in.
A hat trick is quite the way to hit a goal-scoring mark, and this will be a memorable one no doubt for fans and player alike. It was clear for much of the second half that Brendan Rodgers was doing everything in his power to get Maeda on the ball, with a multitude of passes coming his way.
Rodgers would leave Maeda on the pitch during substitutions in the 65th minute, bringing on Johnny Kenny but not moving him to the striker spot, rather replacing Yang.
This allowed Maeda to hit his mark and get a morale boost, as he will miss the next match for Celtic due to his two-match ban. Regardless, his form has been exceptional, and he will look to continue it.
Jeremy Trottier started his writing journey with WBLZ Media, and has worked through multiple publications with 247Sports, USA Today, Fansided, SBNation and others. He is an avid fan of motorsports and most sports in general, and has completed a degree in sports management to further understand the sports industry. During his time with sports media, he has been credentialed for coverage of Boston College sports, and can often be found attending their football and basketball games as well as expected coverage of their men’s soccer team in the near future. Sports are a large part of his life and career, as he looks to pursue a full time role within the industry someday.