Daizen Maeda's magical overhead kick: Breaking down stunning Old Firm goal

AberdeenCelticDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonMotherwellRangersSt. MirrenScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsDaizen Maeda’s magical overhead kick: Breaking down stunning Old Firm goalDaizen Maeda makes it 3-1 to Celtic against Rangers in the Old Firm derby Paul Devlin/SNS Group via Getty Images Share articleTalk about the Midas touch. Daizen Maeda’s glorious overhead kick lit up Celtic Park and ensured Celtic’s hopes of retaining their Scottish Premiership title are still alive after a 3-1 win over Rangers. It would almost certainly be a goal of the season contender — had that award not already been won by Rangers’ Youssef Chermiti earlier this month. Maeda’s acrobatic strike will be remembered as the spectacular goal that clinched this Old Firm tie, but it could also be defining in the tightest of title races. With two games to play in the Scottish top flight, Celtic are a point behind leaders Hearts, who drew away to Motherwell, and play their title rivals in the final game of the season. The time-stopping bicycle kick arrived three minutes and nine seconds after Maeda had sent Celtic Park into raptures by getting on the end of Kieran Tierney’s cross to put Celtic into a 2-1 lead. If that first Maeda goal felt good, things got better for Celtic fans. The forward flicked up a deflected cross and went on to produce some more magic. As the clock struck 56 minutes and six seconds, Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland could only watch, his feet rooted, as the ball looped into his top-left corner. 🔥 DAIZEN MAEDA WITH AN OVERHEAD KICK! Celtic with a two-goal cushion over Rangers, and it comes in SPECTACULAR fashion ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/EZgSda8fYm — Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 10, 2026 Inside the stadium, the sound system played out Tequila by The Champs and the home fans screamed “Maeda” as the chorus. “What a finish,” Callum McGregor told Sky Sports. “You could feel the atmosphere in the stadium. Something special for sure.” Maeda responded modestly when asked about his strike. “It was just lucky,” he told Sky Sports. Two ball boys behind the goal with the best view at Parkhead embraced each other. But how exactly did he score such a goal? The Athletic breaks down the memorable moment. After going 2-1 up, momentum was with Celtic. Winger Sebastian Tounekti took on Rangers’ captain James Tavernier with quick feet down the left, moving the defender one way and then the other on the edge of the box before crossing. Rangers’ Connor Barron was the first to the ball, but the No 8 deflected it into the path of Maeda. Facing away from goal, the Japan international still had a lot to do. The 28-year-old took a deft touch with his left foot. It looked so relaxed, so effortless, he might as well have been playing in the park with his friends. As the ball began to drop, Maeda changed his body position, and with his back to goal acrobatically threw himself up before making contact with the ball with his right foot. As gravity was doing its job, the falling Maeda sent the ball looping towards goal. Rangers centre-back Nasser Djiga, his hands tucked behind his back, approached the forward but there was little he could do. The angle behind the goal made it look like it was going over the crossbar. But Maeda, sitting on the floor by now, had time to watch on as the ball went into the net, before running off in celebration and diving onto the grass as his team-mates jumped on top of him. Celtic manager Martin O’Neill joked after the match he would be taking Maeda out to celebrate the goal, which surely ranks among the best scored in the Old Firm derby and one of the best ever overhead kicks, particularly considering the magnitude of the match and its significance in a title race. Should Celtic beat Motherwell on May 13 and title rivals Hearts on the final day of the season three days later, the title will be Celtic’s for a record 56th time. Some might argue Maeda’s jump isn’t high enough for it to be labelled one of the great overhead goals. Maybe he did not soar quite like Cristiano Ronaldo against Juventus for Real Madrid in the Champions League, but Maeda’s first touch puts the goal in a league of its own. Others might question the power when comparing it to Alejandro Garnacho’s 2024 Puskas Award winner for Manchester United against Everton in November 2023. There is, of course, Gareth Bale’s Champions League final doozy against Liverpool in 2018, and Wayne Rooney’s effort against Manchester City in 2011. And let’s not forget Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s outside-of-the-box overhead kick against England for Sweden in a friendly in 2012. But what makes Maeda’s goal different is his technique and balance. No one anticipated what was about to happen. Until it did. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms