Scottish professional soccer club Celtic forward Yang Hyun-jun has scored his first offensive point in just two official matches since joining the European club.
Yang provided the assist for Matt O’Reilly’s goal in the 39th minute of the second round of the 2023-2024 Scottish Premiership away match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie Stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland, on Sept. 13.
It was the first offensive point for Yang, who became a European player when he joined Celtic late last month after playing for K League One side Gangwon FC.
Yang made his official match debut in the regular season opener against Ross County on May 5, coming on as a 34th-minute substitute, and he started the day on the bench before coming on for Riel Abada in the 25th minute.
After coming on as a substitute in the opening two games of the regular season, Yang was given more time on this occasion, and he quickly caught the eye of Brendan Rodgers as a point of attack.
Yang’s assisted wedge goal gave Celtic a 3-1 victory over Aberdeen to make it two wins in a row to open the campaign, following a 4-2 win in the first leg.
Celtic had a “Korean trio” in forward Oh Hyun-gyu, who has been playing since the beginning of the year, along with Yang Hyun-joon and midfielder Kwon Hyuk-kyu, who had been playing in the K League prior to this season.
Oh, who was on the bench in the first round, is expected to miss four to six weeks with a calf injury, and Kwon, who was also on the bench in the first round, was not on the roster today.
Celtic, who started with a frontline of Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Abada, took the lead in the 11th minute of play.
O’Reilly’s free kick from the right flank was headed in by Maeda, and the ball rattled the net as Abada touched it with his foot just in front of the goal.
The goal was initially disallowed due to Abada being offside, but a video assistant referee (VAR) review changed the decision.
Celtic conceded an equalizer through Bojan Miowski in the 25th minute, but took the lead again just four minutes later, capitalizing on an opposition error.
A header backpass attempted by Aberdeen defender Nicky Devlin fell in an awkward position because it wasn’t quite good enough, allowing Furuhashi to slot home with his right foot from the center of the penalty area.
It was Furuhashi’s second consecutive goal in the opening two games.
Celtic brought on Yang Hyun-joon for Abada in the 25th minute as the game tightened up in the second half and replaced Leo Hartate, who had been substituted at the start of the second half but was unable to play through injury, with Odin Thiago Holm.
Aberdeen’s push for the three points was 토토사이트 relentless, and it was Yang’s pass in the 39th minute that set the stage for Celtic’s winner.
After receiving a pass from Greig Taylor, Yang made a brilliant run down the left side of the penalty area before laying the ball off to O’Reilly in the center of the box, who was relatively free to slot home a left-footed shot to seal the win for Celtic.
Yang has a rating of 7.0 on Footballstats.com, which ranks him in the middle of the pack among Celtic players. The highest rating is 8.1 for Maeda.