Celtic ace enters pantheon of Parkhead greats as he's granted invite to exclusive club with Edouard + Dembele

In-form attacker Daizen Maeda further cemented his status in Celtic folklore by scoring an epic brace in an emphatic 5-1 victory against third placed Aberdeen.

The Japanese international opened the scoring in opportunistic fashion by anticipating a deflected Arne Engels strike and volleying the ball past Ross Doohan in the Dons goal.

Further strikes from Nicolas Kuhn, Jota, Callum McGregor and Yang Hyun-Jun had already secured an emphatic victory for the Hoops before Maeda topped off proceedings in stoppage time with a poacher's goal after getting on the end of a superb Alistair Johnston cross.

It marked Maeda’s 11th strike of the league season and his 25th goal in 39 appearances across all competitions in a stellar individual campaign for the 27-year-old forward.

Daizen Maeda joins illustrious Celtic list

Daizen Maeda has become just the 12th Celtic player this century to reach the 25-mark for goals in a season across all competitions. He follows in the footsteps of fellow countryman Kyogo Furuhashi, now of Rennes, who scored 31 in his second season in 2022/23 - and still has a strong chance of becoming Celtic’s highest Japanese goalscorer in a season with a large portion of the campaign still to spare.

Overall, Maeda has 54 goals in 146 appearances in a Celtic shirt, which is still marginally below Kyogo’s record of 85 goals in 165 matches overall, but very attainable if he keeps up his current form in the final third. Maeda has been particularly proficient in front of goal since the turn of the year - and has scored 12 goals across all competitions since the start of 2025.

Celtic’s best goalscorers in a season this century

Daizen Maeda joins the likes of Odsonne Edouard, Scott Sinclair and Moussa Dembele in the list of players to reach a quarter of a century of goals in a season for the Hoops under Brendan Rodgers. However, he still has some way to go if he is to beat Henrik Larsson’s illustrious record of 53 goals in a season across all competitions. The Swedish international, widely regarded as one of Celtic’s best ever footballers, achieved the feat during the 2000/01 campaign under Martin O’Neil when the Hoops won a domestic treble.

Larsson would carry on in similar fashion for the next half a decade in a Celtic shirt and is the only player to hit the 25 mark in four consecutive seasons since 2000.

Other notable names to hit 25 goals on more than one occasion include Gary Hooper and John Hartson while Leigh Griffthis, Kris Commons and Scott McDonald also achieved the feat.

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