In his debut game for Celtic—the son of the great George Weah has scored.
Set up by one of the longest, greatest harpoon-assists of the year.
Yes, that’s a new term.
Officially been coined tonight—right here and now.
The harpoon-assist.
/ här’poon ə’sist /
noun
- (soccer) the act of playing a long through-ball pass on the ground, sharply and in a straight line, that cuts through two lines of defense and finds a teammate for a goal.
Like the piercing, fast-shooting action of a harpoon, flying through air and water to strike a distant fish.
In other words, the magic on the field tonight in Glasgow—from Boyata to Weah.
It’s unclear, at a second glance at the play, if Boyata was really passing to Weah, or if he saw Nir Bitton making the run nearby, and figured he’d slot it through and hope for the best.
But with how much pace he put on it, it had to have been intended.
Weah made the run, diagonal behind Airdrie’s last defender…
And a moment later the ball came hard on the ground to his feet.
The harpoon-assist from midfield.
So who’s going to talk about Boyata turning into xabi alonso this season then?
— Aidan (@aidanarr_67) January 19, 2019
It’s one of the best ones of the year, and the hardest variety to pull off—unlike a long ball in the air, that gets over the defense more easily than through it, and which doesn’t risk a counter attack in response.
So far, it’s the best one since another just like it, in Ligue 1 two weeks back.
Thiago Mendes to Nicolas Pépé:
So at the scoring end of this one, it was young Timothy Weah—the promising 18-year-old American on loan from PSG for the second half of the season.
A great little toe poke to put Celtic up 3-0, in his first game with the team.
More to come this year, and more with PSG and the U.S. national team in the years ahead.
And maybe, someday soon, young Timo will score one like his father did: