Celtic progressed to the last eight of the Scottish Cup on Sunday afternoon. Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda both got on the scoresheet to secure the win.
It was the latter who got the second, stabbing home from close range after Matt O’Riley rattled the woodwork. The initial cross that led to the strike came from the architect of the Hoops’ opener, Luis Palma, but the importance of another player to the goal has been highlighted.
Indeed, Alexandro Bernabei has come into the Celtic team in recent weeks. He has quietly progressed and improved in terms of his performances.
His potential is evident, but he remains a raw prospect. Despite this, ex-Celt Peter Grant outlined how pivotal he was to Maeda’s strike. Speaking live on air on Sportscene, Grant praised the full-back’s actions: “Bernabei does well”, he said.
“He does the overlap instead of the underlap. Maeda is in the box like all good wide players should be. Matt will be quite disappointed.
“But the Bernabei run here takes the defender deeper and allows Palma to cross the ball in.”
Next weekend against Kilmarnock, manager Brendan Rodgers may have a slight left-back dilemma on his hands. Bernabei has done himself a few favours with his recent performances, but Greg Taylor will soon be fit again.
Rodgers confirmed post-match yesterday that the Scotland internationalist will be back and available for Saturday’s game, but the young Argentine defender has presented his case well to keep his place in the team.
