Celtic fumbled a huge opportunity to return to the top of the Scottish Premiership table as they were beaten 2-0 by Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday.
They had the chance to go one point clear of their closest rivals after Philippe Clement’s Rangers, who were two points ahead of the Hoops, lost 2-1 to Motherwell on Saturday at Ibrox.
However, Brendan Rodgers’ team were unable to make the most of that opening and now remain two points behind the Gers in the title race.
It was an eventual afternoon at Tynecastle that saw two penalties and a red card awarded by VAR as the hosts secured a fantastic victory against the Glasgow giants.
The head coach bemoaned the “shocking” decision-making by the officials, in reference to Hyun-jun Yang’s sending off and the penalty given against Tomoki Iwata for handball, but he may also want to look a little closer to home.
Despite his side being down to ten men from the 16th minute onwards, Rodgers only made two of his five available substitutions, and one of the stars left on the bench – Luis Palma – could have clawed Hearts back with his attacking quality in place of Daizen Maeda.
Daizen Maeda's performance against Hearts in numbers
The Japan international lined up on the left flank for the Hoops as part of a front three including Ireland international Adam Idah, who missed a penalty, and Yang, who was sent off.
Maeda struggled throughout the 90 minutes as he failed to offer quality in or out of possession for the Scottish giants, despite playing the full game.
Given the 26-year-old gem’s excellent work rate, which Rodgers once likened to having two players on the pitch, it made sense, in theory, to keep him in the game to make up for the man lost by Yang’s red card.
However, Celtic were 1-0 down at half-time, and 2-0 down in the 56th minute, and they desperately needed an injection of quality in the final third to claw Hearts back for a draw, at least.
Unfortunately, Maeda did not cause the opposition many problems in their own third, which has been the case for many of the teams he has faced this season.
Minutes played
90
Shots on target
Zero
Key passes
One
Big chances created
Zero
Pass accuracy
70%
As you can see in the table above, the right-footed whiz made very little impact at the top end of the pitch with zero shots on target and zero ‘big chances’ created for his teammates.
He was also sloppy on the ball with a pass success rate of 70%, which means that the forward was not reliable or creative in possession for the Hoops.
Along with his weak attacking play, Maeda was dominated by the Hearts defenders as he lost a whopping 70% (7/10) of his ground duels and was dribbled past four times on the day.
Daizen Maeda's Premiership stats this season
Unfortunately, the 26-year-old’s struggles in and out of possession have been a theme of his performances throughout the Premiership season so far.
The Ange Postecoglou signing has not provided consistent quality as either a scorer or a creator of goals for the Scottish giants, whilst he has also been weak at times in physical contests.
Across 22 appearances and 20 starts in the top-flight, Maeda has lost 57% of his duels, including 59% of his aerial battles. This shows that opposition players have found it too easy to get the better of him more often than not.
He has also left a lot to be desired with his wasteful finishing. The Celtic attacker has contributed with four goals and nine ‘big chances’ missed, from 6.8 Expected Goals, which shows that the dynamo has spurned more quality chances than he has converted.
Maeda has rarely created high-quality opportunities for his fellow attackers. He has racked up four ‘big chances’ created, 0.5 key passes per game, and two assists in the Premiership.
These statistics show that the Japanese gem has not been a reliable performer in the final third for the Bhoys throughout the league season so far, which is why Rodgers should not have relied upon him to bring Celtic back into the game against Hearts.
The stats that show why Palma should've been subbed on
The Hoops boss could have brought his side back into the match by bringing on Palma for Maeda on the left flank, given the former Aris star’s attacking quality.
Signed from the Greek side on a permanent deal last summer, the 5 foot 11 maestro has the ability on the ball to make something happen out of nothing.
In 23 appearances and 17 starts in the Premiership this season, the Honduras international has produced six goals and nine assists for the Scottish giants.
Palma, who was described as a “real threat” by Peter Grant, has been relatively efficient in front of goal with six strikes from an xG of 6.9, which is less of an underperformance than Maeda’s four from 6.8 xG.
Assists
Nine
1st
Big chances created
12
1st
Key passes per game
2.7
1st
Sofascore rating
7.72
2nd
As you can see in the table above, the right-footed gem has been the outstanding creator for Celtic in the Premiership with his knack for creating high-quality chances for his teammates on a consistent basis.
These statistics suggest that Palma could have been a difference-maker and produced a moment of magic to claw his team back into the match against Hearts, particularly at 1-0 down at the break.
In six games off the bench, the 24-year-old wizard has produced two goals and one assist. This shows that he has the quality and mentality to make an instant impact as a substitute, with a goal contribution every other appearance off the bench on average.
Therefore, Rodgers appears, with the benefit of hindsight, to have had a howler as he kept the underperforming Maeda on the pitch for the full 90 and left Palma on the bench, with three available substitutions going unused in the end.
The manager may now look back on that decision to leave the Honduras international on the bench and wonder whether or not he could have earned the Hoops a draw, at least, from the game.