Kyogo Furuhashi eyes permanent place on Celtic Park walls as striker spared from St Mirren criticism

Given the almost childlike enthusiasm with which he energetically celebrates every victory, it should probably not come as a huge surprise to see Kyogo Furuhashi continue to whizz around the park in these end-of-season dead rubber contests as if his life depended on it.

Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi celebrates after making it 1-1 against St Mirren. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Celtic were painfully flat on Saturday and perhaps fortunate to earn a 2-2 draw with St Mirren, even if manager Ange Postecoglou visibly bristled at the notion afterwards. As witnessed at various points already this season, the Australian clearly considers any suggestion that luck or fortune may have influenced his team’s journey to be on a par with an insult. Nothing ever happens by chance at Postecoglou’s Celtic.

Even well-drilled, well-oiled football machines, however, are still susceptible to the whims of the human condition. And with a title wrapped up with four games to spare, there was always the distinct possibility of Celtic dropping down the gears, with little obvious incentive to maintain the ridiculously high standards that have been the hallmark of another successful campaign.

Instead it was St Mirren, motivated by the chance to secure European football for the first time in 36 years, who looked the livelier team throughout. Curtis Main’s first-half double – either side of Furuhashi’s strike – looked to have sent them on their way to becoming the first Scottish side to win at Celtic Park since, well, themselves in January 2021.

Callum McGregor’s late goal, however, denied them and did at least speak to Celtic being sufficiently roused to protect that long undefeated home record as well as their ability to bring on international-calibre replacements when a much-needed injection of energy was required. St Mirren, nursing an ever-lengthening injury list, had no such luxury as legs tired.

Furuhashi, though, should be spared any criticism. Even on a day when the usual steady supply of crosses and passes into his path dried up to the point of non-existence, his sense of perpetual motion remained undiminished as he tracked back at one point to rumble into a midfield tackle. How Celtic could have done with another 10 Kyogos.

There was the near obligatory goal of course, the 31st of a stellar season that has already seen multiple player awards bestowed upon him. The ball through from Reo Hatate was perfectly weighted and Furuhashi lashed it high beyond Trevor Carson in the St Mirren goal.

A centre forward’s craving for goals never dissipates regardless of the circumstances. Furuhashi is now level with the total collared by Gary Hooper in 2012/13 and just one behind the 32 scored by Kris Commons the following season and Moussa Dembele in 2016/17.

Leigh Griffiths’ high-water mark of 40 in 2015/16 is now out of Furuhashi’s reach but the chance to record the club’s second-best goals total in a decade ought to provide him with additional motivation ahead of the three games that remain. Not that he needs to be prodded in any way.

At 28-years-old, Furuhashi is something of a late bloomer but in this form there is little doubt that he can play at a higher station, even if that’s not something Celtic fans would ever want to contemplate.

“It was nice to score another goal but I always aim to score goals to win the game,” he said afterwards via a translator. “There is always the target to score as many goals as I can and hopefully I can add to my total in the final matches of the season.

“We try to set our standards as high as possible and if you can reach that level in every game, that is very good. It is not always possible but you have to make that the target.”

Managers and players, you suspect, care only about trophies and winner’s medals but there is still a chance for Celtic to match the 111 league goals posted by the Lisbon Lions in season 1966/67 if they can find another four to add to their tally.

“Can I score four more?” queried Furuhashi. “I don’t know if I can do it! But as a team, I believe it is definitely achievable in the remaining two games.

“I know there is a lot of history at this club and a lot of great achievements, from great teams like the Lisbon Lions. Teams like that one are the reason the club is where it is today, and it’s the reason we are all here today.

“You see the pictures on the walls around the stadium and you hear a lot about the great history. I will be glad if one day my picture is on the walls as well, but there are many things I need to do before then. That’s my focus.

“It would be nice to get the record, but if we want to enjoy such a moment we need to prepare well in training and produce performances in the matches.”

The only remaining date of note in the Celtic diary is the Scottish Cup final against Inverness Caley Thistle on June 3 but Furuhashi toed the party line.

“I am not thinking about that yet,” he said. “We have two games to go and we want to win these matches. It will be important to be at our best in the final because it is another big game with a trophy. But the most important thing is to focus on these games because we want to build some momentum before then. Continuity is very important for us.”