•  Kyogo scored the only goal of the game but another player truly stole the show in the Old Firm for Celtic.
•  They won eight physical battles during the game, more than any other midfielder on show.
•  The player linked up fantastically well with Kyogo during the 90 minutes.

Celtic head into the international break top of the Scottish Premiership table after they beat Rangers 1-0 at Ibrox in the first Old Firm derby of the 2023/24 campaign.

How did Celtic beat Rangers?

Brendan Rodgers’ side dictated the ball during the first half and put the opposition defence under relentless pressure, which allowed them to create a number of chances.

Kyogo Furuhashi came close to opening the scoring early on as he raced away down the right channel and found himself in a one-on-one situation against Jack Butland but stalled too long and by the time he got his shot away a defender was able to come back to make a key block.

The Japan international was not to be denied, though, as a poor header from Connor Goldson at the back allowed the prolific forward to latch onto a ball over the top and he made no mistake that time with a thumping volley from distance into the bottom corner of Jack Butland’s net.

Whilst Kyogo scored the winning goal and may take the headlines due to his superb finish to claim all three points, Matt O’Riley stole the show with his fantastic performance in midfield.

How did Matt O’Riley perform against Rangers?

The £12k-per-week ace offered real quality on and off the ball in the middle of the park to break up Rangers attacks whilst also being able to start Celtic counters to create chances at the top end of the pitch.

It was his quick thinking from Goldson’s header that allowed him to send Kyogo through on goal for the first-half strike and it was the Denmark U21 international’s sublime defence-splitting pass that set up the early one-on-one opportunity for the striker.

O’Riley completed 85% of his attempted passes to go along with those two chances that he created and was, therefore, a reliable option in midfield as he rarely gave the ball away.

His work out of possession was also crucial for Celtic as the former MK Dons star was up for the battle and competed well in midfield to break up the play.

As per Sofascore, the 22-year-old won eight of his 13 duels and that included three of his four aerial contests. This led to four tackles and two interceptions from the Dane, whilst Callum McGregor and David Turnbull made just two tackles and one interception combined across the rest of the midfield.

O’Riley’s two teammates in the middle of the park also failed to create a single chance between them, which means that the left-footed maestro was the outstanding performer in that position from a defensive and offensive perspective.

The numbers show that he made a significant impact at both ends of the pitch and that is why he stole the show from Kyogo at Ibrox, as the Japanese marksman offered little outside of his strike.

The talented finisher only completed two of his three attempted passes and failed to win a single physical duel in his 76 minutes on the pitch, as per Sofascore, and did not produce the impressive all-round display that his Danish teammate did.