Celtic ship six despite Maeda hat-trick on Japan homecoming | OneFootball

Daizen Maeda helped himself to a hat-trick on his return home as Celtic but it wasn’t enough to prevent his side falling to a heavy defeat in their Japanese tour opener against Yokohama Marinos.

Scorers: Lopes 4′, 59′, Mizunuma 23′, Saneto 66′, Miyaichi 87′, 89′; Maeda 6′, 21′, 43′, Turnbull 90+2′

The Hoops did fall behind in embarrassing fashion early as Joe Hart spilled a ball under no pressure and after making a mess in his attempt to retrieve, allowed Anderson Lopes a tap-in.

But the score was level again within minutes as Liel Abada drove forward to tee up Maeda, who then put Celtic in front on 21 minutes as he again benefited from an Abada assist.

This time, it was Yokohama’s turn to respond with a swift leveller when Koti Mizunuma popped up at the back post for the home side to find the net.

However, there was time for more Maeda heroics before half-time as he claimed the match ball with a goal made in Japan and scored there as Tomoki Iwata set his compatriot up to find the far corner.

On the hour mark, Yokohama levelled again through Lopes, who beat Benjamin Siegrist (after replacing Hart at half-time) following an error at the back from Carl Starfelt before the goalkeeper was forced to pick out again after Yuki Saneto found the net.

Marinos finished with a flourish and exposed the defensive issues facing Brendan Rodgers when Ryo Miyaichi netted twice in the closing stages to take his side’s tally for the day to six, although the Bhoys did have the final say with a long-range bullet from David Turnbull.