Was cup final fond farewell for Larssonesque Maeda?

Martin O’Neill compared Daizen Maeda’s final-season contributions to Henrik Larsson, a high standard that Celtic fans largely accepted. Maeda’s lobbed opener at Hampden set Celtic on their way, with a calm finish over a stranded goalkeeper after a defender failed to clear. The goal helped drive Celtic toward the final and the double, with Dunfermline effectively beaten early. Maeda scored 17 goals in the season and nine in his last seven matches, including a long scoring drought of 17 games before his surge. His impact came amid managerial turmoil after Brendan Rodgers’ exit and Wilfried Nancy’s troubled spell, followed by O’Neill’s revival. Fans celebrated O’Neill intensely, suggesting uncertainty about his future, while Maeda remained central to the success.

"Everyone at Celtic is reluctant to compare any mere mortal to Henrik Larsson, a saintly figure of the club's past. If you go there and mention a player in the same light then you'd better have credibility and an unarguable case. Martin O'Neill fits the bill on both counts. When he said the other day that Daizen Maeda's contribution in the final, nerve-jangling, weeks of the league season was "absolutely Larssonesque" it was a mighty claim, but could any Celtic fan argue the point? Hardly."

"His latest, and probably last, act was his lobbed opener that set Celtic on their way at Hampden. A ball dropping, a defender flailing and a striker as cool as can be, cushioning the ball up and over a stranded goalkeeper. It might have been too early to say that the final and the double was done at that point, but the writing was on the wall for Dunfermline. It was Maeda's 17th goal of the season and his ninth goal in his last seven."

"The post-final songs and celebrations had O'Neill at their heart, understandably. It's hard to know just yet whether he's managed Celtic for the last time or not, but the fans weren't taking any chances. They serenaded him just in case this was the end. Maeda took a back-seat in ovation terms but what a force he has been in a season that has lurched from the chaos of Brendan Rodgers' exit, to the embarrassment of Wilfried Nancy's time, to the undiluted fury of Celtic fans railing against the board, and onwards to glory under the great redeemer, O'Neill."

"Celtic have had many doubles, but they haven't won one like this, a surreal experience. Maeda was a central character. Before his goal-fest in the toughest weeks of the season, he went 17 games without scoring. That was 17 games of hard running but little return, 17 games when he looked at times like he had little left to offer an"

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