Koreans in Europe: Yang Hyun-jun wins back his Celtic position right before his first defeat

Celtic’s Yang Hyeon-jun reacts during a UEFA Champions League match against Lazio at the Olympic Stadium in Rome on Nov. 28. [AFP/YONHAP]

Sunday saw Yang Hyun-jun make his comeback to the Celtic team, having been benched for just a few days following his disastrous performance against St. Johnstone a week earlier.
Despite Yang’s return to the bench, Oh Hyeon-gyu, a countryman, started Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Kilmarnock, Celtic’s first loss of the 2023–24 campaign.
Oh participated in the entire game for the first time this season, playing the whole ninety minutes in the defeat. It was a poor day to receive that specific title, as Kilmarnock emerged victorious with two late goals, the first coming from an own goal in the 75th minute.
Yang replaced Michael Johnston in the 70th minute and was on the field for both of Kilmarnock’s goals. Given that the youthful midfield player was banished during the week following the St. Johnstone match, the timing is particularly regrettable.
Compared to his more seasoned colleague, Yang, who joined Celtic over the summer, has been getting more exposure. Before Sunday’s game, Yang had played for 774 minutes on the field in 13 outings this season, which is a substantial amount more than Oh’s 395 minutes. Yang has started seven of those games.
However, having so much playing time has also made him more vulnerable to criticism, especially following the weekend’s lackluster first half against St. Johnstone, which manager Brendan Rodgers claimed made him the angrier than he had ever been in his managerial career.
After trailing 1-0 at the interval, Celtic went on to win that match 3-1. It’s interesting to note that Yang was the only player changed out of the starting lineup for the 4-1 victory over Hibernian on Wednesday.
This week, Celtic won’t have much time to heal from their defeat because they play Feyenoord at home on Wednesday in the Champions League.

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