Celtic striker Kyogo has his say on Derby Day - again

The moment these words left Boydy's lips on Sky Sports after Lawrence Shankland's last-gasp winner in the Edinburgh derby against Hibs at Easter Road on night you just knew Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi was going to have his say.

Boyd, rather unwisely, said: "The goalscorer, or the attacking player, will tell you there is time for one more opportunity, there is time for me to become the match-winner. He (Shankland) would have been looking for it, backing in, trying to get it down. The little touch just opens the goal up and doesn't give the keeper any chance. What a finish it is. It's his weaker foot as well.

"I've spoken about Kyogo in this league, they are different types of strikers but Kyogo couldn't finish like that. His finishing is unbelievable and, for me, he is the best in the league."

60,000 Celtic supporters crammed inside the amphitheatre today would beg to differ Kris...and two others. Chris Sutton and yours truly. No team talk would have been required ahead of the latest instalment of the derby for the 28-year-old after Boydy's TV outburst.

The Japanese talisman duly produced another sublime top-drawer strike for the scrapbook ironically with his weaker foot - his left - which handed Celtic the Glasgow derby bragging rights heading into 2024.

It was Kyogo's best-ever goal against Rangers. As ex-QPR, West Ham and England star Trevor Sinclair tweeted: "Reverse movement, back foot, quick shift and what a strike. Take a bow Kyogo." Quite. The movement is a joy to behold. The way Kyogo creates the space is genuinely something that you cannot teach a player. It's a striker's instinct. You are either born with it or you're not. End of.

READ MORE: Why Celtic's Kyogo needs to revert to being a striker

Kyogo's goal also kept Brendan Rodgers's astonishing record of having only lost once in this fixture intact as the Northern Irishman handed Belgian Phillipe Clement his first taste of defeat as Rangers manager.

He ain't the King of Kings...yet. However, Kyogo is fast approaching God-like status down Glasgow's east end way. Only certain players become deities in the eyes of the Celtic faithful and the men in green and white have not had a plundered of goals extraordinaire against their deadly rivals since Super Swede Henrik Larsson.

It was Kyogo's seventh strike against the Light Blues in the last seven derby encounters. Those figures are truly astonishing. Seven goals in a calendar year against your deadly rivals include a last-minute equaliser at Ibrox, a brace at Hampden to secure the League Cup, another double in a crucial 3-2 win at Celtic Park in April and the only goal in Govan earlier this season in September when the away supporters were locked out. None of those previous goals will top this one.

What is more impressive is that it took an absolute stunner and a goal of outrageously breathtaking quality to beat a goalkeeper of Jack Butland's quality all ends up. To misquote legendary BBC TV commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme it was a goal, "good enough to win the League, the Scottish Cup, the Charity Shield, the World Cup and even the Grand National".

It was that good. It lit up Celtic Park on a bitterly cold December afternoon. Portuguese midfielder Paulo Bernardo's goal wasn't too shabby either but nobody steals Kyogo's thunder on derby day. Nobody. sorry Paulo.

READ MORE: Celtic instant analysis as Bernardo and Kyogo shoot down Rangers

It was former Celtic boss Neil Lennon who dryly remarked as he carried out his TV pundit duty in the Sky Sports studio that loss of form was temporary and that class was permanent. Class is permanent when it comes to Kyogo. He is a big game player and always will be. He is adored by those who dwell inside the stadium with the G40 postcode.

The best players win matches with moments of quality. A goal good enough to win the Grand National will do for starters. That's the thing though. Boyd was not alone in buying into the hype. He bought into the Kyogo is not firing on all cylinders bandwagon just as many others did. The Rangers supporters most certainly did. 

Kyogo may have gone off the boil of late, but to have a pop at his striking credentials and label the most lethal marksman in the country not as good a finisher as Shankland was bordering on nonsense. It was not objective criticism. How Kyogo silenced his more vociferous critics in one fell swoop and one swish of the left boot.

The Japanese attacker has not hit the target as regularly as he would have liked this season but he was still making his trademark near-post runs. He was still a thorn in the flesh of the Rangers rearguard on the day when it mattered most. How the Govan side must hate the sight of the man from Japan.

Rodgers certainly knows what he has in the shape of Kyogo. The Northern Irishman remarked after the game: "His movement was excellent and his finish was absolutely sublime. To kick it onto that side and to put it past a keeper of Jack Butland's quality was fantastic.

"I don't think he is at his best but he is only a couple of goals away from last season's return. When you play at Celtic trying to sustain it is a challenge, especially after a couple of years of success. There will be a dip for some players, that is natural.

"He is still a great guy to have as he presses the game well, his movement is good and he is scoring important goals. As long as he is contributing to the team then that is all that really matters."

That's the bottom line. That's all that matters. Goals are Kyogo's currency. Sutton even jokingly taunted Boyd at one point when he shouted through the screen as the TV cameras cut back to Celtic Park: "Keep writing Kyogo off Kris! Write Kyogo off at your peril!" Perhaps Sky Sports commentator Ian Crocker came away with the best line of the day when he rather succinctly screamed down the microphone: "Derby day is Kyogo day!"

Derby Day is turning into Kyogo Day. That's 64 goals and counting for Celtic. His latest strike was as Wolstenholme once famously said a piece of 'sheer delightful football'.

Kyogo was not sent down from heaven but you can see exactly why the green and white hordes worship their goalscoring Messiah. Kyogo? He'll soon be changing his name by deed poll to Kyogod.