Celtic secured their place in the semi-finals of the League Cup on Sunday with a fantastic 4-0 win over Partick Thistle away from Parkhead at Firhill.
The Hoops strolled to a comfortable victory against the second tier outfit, who have not been in the Scottish Premiership in seven years, with four different goalscorers.
Hyun-jun Yang, Liam Scales, Sebastian Tounekti, and Luke McCowan all got their names on the scoresheet, and Tounekti was particularly impressive again.
The summer signing from Hammarby caught the eye against Kilmarnock, creating four chances (per Sofascore), and played an important role in the first goal against Partick Thistle with his pass for Benjamin Nygren, before going on to score his first goal for the club.
Brendan Rodgers will hope that the comfortable win will provide his squad with the confidence that they need to hit the ground running in the Europa League against Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday night.
One Celtic player who needs to step up on the pitch in the coming weeks after a string of unimpressive displays is central midfielder Reo Hatate.
Why Reo Hatate needs to step up for Celtic
The Japan international put in a decent showing against Partick Thistle, a Championship outfit, but it was not a mesmerising performance that made up for some of his recent outings.
Hatate’s form has not been up to the standards that he has set himself throughout his Celtic career, particularly with his displays in the Champions League qualifier clashes against Kairat.
The Hoops failed to qualify for the league phase of the competition, losing on penalties after two 0-0 draws, and the midfielder’s lack of contributions in and out of possession played a part in that.
Minutes
90
105
Shots on target
1
0
Pass accuracy
84%
68%
Big chances created
0
1
Duels won
0/8
3/15
Fouls committed
3
4
Possession lost
16x
25x
As you can see in the table above, Hatate was far too wasteful with the ball at his feet and weak off the ball, losing the majority of his duels, across the two matches.
The 27-year-old star also failed to score a goal or create a ‘big chance’ for the team in his last two appearances in the Scottish Premiership for the Hoops, which shows that he has struggled in recent weeks outside of his showing against a lower tier opponent.
Hatate scored ten goals, including the one in the clip above, and created 14 ‘big chances’ for his teammates in the Premiership in the 2024/25 campaign, per Sofascore, but he has been unable to deliver the same level of consistency in the final third this term.
This is why the Japan international needs to step up for the Scottish giants, because he is capable of being an exceptional performer for the club in the middle of the park with his ability at the top end of the pitch.
If Hatate is unable to recapture the form that his output last season proved he is capable of, Rodgers must consider removing him from the starting XI for a period of time.
The emergence of Colby Donovan, who has started the last two matches at right-back, shows that the manager is willing to provide academy talent with a chance if they are ready to be thrown in.
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With this in mind, Rodgers could find the next version of Donovan, who has been a solid performer in the last two matches with his defensive reliability and composure in possession, by unleashing Sean McArdle to replace Hatate in the XI.
Why Sean McArdle could replace Reo Hatate for Celtic
Of course, the manager does have club-record signing Arne Engels, who joined for £11m from Augsburg last summer, Luke McCowan, and Paulo Bernardo also at his disposal to select in midfield.
However, the minor success of Donovan, who won five of his nine duels and had 101 touches (per Sofascore) against Kilmarnock, could inspire the head coach to look to the academy once again.
McArdle is not a complete stranger to first-team football at Parkhead. Rodgers rewarded his strong form for the B team with two appearances for the senior side in the Premiership towards the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
The 18-year-old star made his first-team debut as a 17-year-old against Hibernian in the Premiership, playing eight minutes off the bench in a 3-1 win.
As the manager said in the clip above, the young sensation earned his chance through his form for the B team, and it is down to him to take the next step in his career.
McArdle, who Rodgers claimed has “got a wee edge to him”, then played a second match against Aberdeen, again off the bench, and showed promising signs in both outings.
Minutes
8
9
Passes completed
8/8
11/12
Key passes
0
1
Dribbles completed
0
1
Duels won
1/2
1/1
Possession lost
1x
1x
As you can see in the table above, the teenage whiz only lost possession twice in those 17 minutes, plus stoppage time, of football, whilst creating one chance for the side.
McArdle’s form at youth team level for Celtic also suggests that he can provide the goal threat that Hatate offers at his best, with seven goals in 53 matches, per Transfermarkt.
The Scottish starlet has scored in both of his appearances in the Challenge Cup this season, per Sofascore, including one against Alloa Athletic earlier this month.
These statistics show that he can provide a threat at the top end of the pitch to go along with his composure in possession, as evidenced by his pass accuracy in his first two first-team outings.
He was not phased by the occasion against Hibernian or Aberdeen, showing his class on the ball in both games, and this suggests that he has the mentality to take that next step to be Donovan 2.0 this season.
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This Celtic star was as good as Sebastian Tounekti in the comfortable win over Partick Thistle.
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It is now down to Rodgers to provide McArdle with that opportunity to impress once again to see if he can emerge as a genuine alternative to Hatate, who has been a shadow of himself of late.