Celtic had come into the Glasgow Derby as the team in form while the Rangers had struggled since the return from the winter break. But form often goes out the window in these games, and as a result, most people would have expected a tight contest. In fact, considering the Hoops’ record against the Ibrox side in recent years, most fans would have been worried.

It ultimately ended up being a comfortable 3-0 victory for Celtic though, and it could have easily been five or six if not for some good reflex saves from Allan McGregor.

Reo Hatate was the star of the evening, scoring a brilliant brace while also setting up Liel Abada’s goal, which put the game to bed.

On the other end of the pitch, the only real chance that the Rangers had was when a shot from distance struck Joe Hart’s post. Other than that, Celtic seemed to be in cruise control throughout.

Celtic: 3 biggest winners from Glasgow Derby vs Rangers

Here are the three biggest winners for Celtic as they walked out of Parkhead with a dominant 3-0 victory over the Rangers:

Reo Hatate

Reo Hatate, Celtic. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

It was one of the best Glasgow Derby performances that you will ever see, especially coming from someone who was playing his first. His brace, both goals coming from distance, put Celtic 2-0 up and then the Japanese midfielder also provided the assist for Abada’s goal, which made it 3-0 to the Hoops.

While the signing of Daizen Maeda grabbed most of the headlines in January and understandably so, as he had topped the J1 League scoring charts in the 2021 season, it is Hatate who was been the standout player in recent times.

And there have been suggestions that he is not fit enough yet and would be expected to get even better moving forward. That is an exciting thought for sure.

This article was originally posted here