Kasper Hogh scored his first hat-trick for Celtic as the Scottish champions thumped Kilmarnock 5-1 at Rugby Park on Saturday. The £11m striker, Celtic’s record-breaking summer recruit, had his side ahead in just 64 seconds and completed his treble inside little more than half an hour.
His opener was a firm back-post header, followed by a precise low finish and then a diving header to complete the rapid-fire hat-trick. It marked the first league hat-trick from a Celtic forward since James Forrest scored three against Hibernian in October 2022, though Daizen Maeda had previously managed the feat in cup ties.
Pundits hail natural goalscorer
BBC pundit Pat Nevin praised Hogh’s opening goal, an early header from Arne Engels’ cross, describing it as an easy goal but a good one. Nevin said Celtic fans have found a player they will fall in love with, calling him ‘a total and utter natural goalscorer’ as well as a good technical player.
Nevin compared Hogh’s impact to previous Celtic favourites Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi, saying the striker looks capable of filling those shoes with ease. He added that after 45 minutes he was convinced the display was no fluke, praising Hogh’s intelligent movement and link-up play.
BBC Scotland’s chief sportswriter Tom English was similarly impressed, saying Hogh looked more ruthless than in a previous match where he had chances but failed to score. English described him as the most proven goalscorer Celtic have signed since Chris Sutton, citing his record in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid, Manchester City and Inter Milan, as well as for Bodo/Glimt against Sporting, Olympiacos and Porto. He said the £11m fee looked well spent and predicted Hogh would score heavily this season, noting he is primarily a six-yard-box striker.
Bigger tests to come
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Hogh put his display down to ‘shooting practice’. He arrived at Celtic with a strong scoring record from Norway, where he was Bodo/Glimt’s top scorer in the last two seasons and built a reputation in Europe under Kjetil Knutsen.
The hat-trick drew Hogh level with St Mirren’s Killian Phillips as the Premiership’s top scorer so far this season. His next challenge is to help Celtic progress in the League Cup before a Champions League play-off tie against LASK.
The article notes that while the hat-trick is a start on repaying Celtic’s record outlay for Hogh, the club is focused on progress in Europe, where the financial rewards would exceed the fee paid for him. Should Hogh replicate his European form for Celtic, comparisons with past great strikers at the club look set to continue.
