The medals will remain boxed up until May, but this afternoon Celtic Park hosted a title party in all but name.
There were 60,000 in attendance, yet one man to thank above all others for making it happen. Down the years, there have been special individuals who waltz into the chaos of this fixture from afar and make it their own as though it were the easiest thing in the world.
Kyogo Furuhashi is quickly becoming one of them.
It remains a tad too early to elevate the Japanese striker into Celtic’s pantheon of all-time greats, but one key entry requirement dictates you leave an indelible mark on this game. Bobby Lennox did it. Henrik Larsson did it. In the modern era, Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Edouard perhaps did not leave as legends, but they did so often serve up days like this one, days that now belong to Kyogo.
Do not be fooled by his almost childlike stature, amiable nature and sportsmanship with stricken opponents – place this man between the width of the posts and he becomes an ice-cold killer. Long periods pass where you barely notice his presence, but that soon becomes the problem. By the time defenders realise he is there, it is already too late.
Remember Roy Makaay? The Dutch marksman of early 2000s fame, in his Bayern Munich days, earned the moniker ‘Das Phantom’ for an almost supernatural ability to appear from nowhere, and depart again with the ball in the back of your net. With each passing derby, Kyogo haunts Rangers in similarly terrifying fashion.
Another clinical double takes his tally to five in his last three outings in this fixture, enough to push anyone of an Ibrox persuasion into ‘sick of the sight of him’ territory. It is no accident he finds himself in exactly the right place, at exactly the right moment,, time and again. The ball does simply land at his feet by matter of chance.
His sheer consistency in making opponents pay for momentary lapses in concentration, the ability to smash the door down in an instant when it is left even the slightest bit ajar, is startling. There is only so much you can do to defend against a player who demands perfection from you for 90 minutes.
Not only is he a constant thorn in the side of Rangers, Kyogo is a reminder of something they have lacked in this fixture over recent years. Even when they enjoyed a purple patch of six unbeaten derbies in a row under Steven Gerrard, their successes did not have a talismanic figure at the heart of it, that one player you could always rely on to deliver goals.
In these matches, which invariably turn on a knife-edge, such a figure is invaluable.
Rangers, with justification, were still reeling from the decision to disallow Alfredo Morelos’ goal for a foul on Alistair Johnston when Kyogo struck the opener. It is in these moments, where opponents are not quite thinking straight, that he becomes most dangerous.
After James Tavernier’s wonderful free-kick equaliser on the cusp of half-time, Rangers emerged for a tantalisingly poised second period with a point to prove. Morelos and Todd Cantwell went close, just not close enough. Given a sniff at the other end, Kyogo punished them mercilessly.
Jota added a third which ultimately proved to be the winner, but it was his diminutive, yet utterly lethal, team-mate who had the most significant say, the difference-maker in a derby that really could have gone either way. Rangers were well in it for the duration, and will undoubtedly feel aggrieved at not being afforded the lead for that Morelos incident.
They had other chances too, more than they would generally expect at this venue. But they did not possess the required clinical edge to conjure the result which may just have kept the dying embers of a title race alive for that little bit longer.
Instead, it was Celtic who moved 12 points clear at the top, another championship effectively theirs once more. When it arrives, it will be a richly deserved success for Ange Postecoglou and his players, who have again been superior to their city rivals by some distance over the course.
Fans had grown accustomed to watching their team blow Rangers away in the blink of an eye at Celtic Park – the last two in Glasgow’s east end were done and dusted in brutal fashion by the half-time whistle. They were required to work much harder for this one, and for that – plus the consequences for the title race – may make it taste just that bit sweeter.
Even had they emerged with something, the Premiership trophy would likely have still been beyond Rangers, so little changes in that regard. But it will undoubtedly sting that they have come here, competed for the entirety, scored twice, and still walked off to the sound of Mental as Anything’s 'Live It Up' taunting their eardrums.
They can still rescue something from the season in the form of the Scottish Cup, but it has been a second league campaign to forget in Govan. This was Michael Beale’s first Premiership defeat as manager, and yet the fact his league record has been near flawless matters for very little in the face of Celtic’s relentlessness. Those, unfortunately for Rangers, are the fine margins they are up against in this city’s eternal battle for footballing supremacy.
In Kyogo, Celtic have a special player who lives on those fine margins, who thrives on them more than any other in the country.
