Reo Hatate has Celtic fans revelling in Nakamura nostalgia with eerie side by side strike comparison

Hatate starred again and his first Hoops goal was a beauty - as fans quickly jumped on a comparison to one of Nakamura's famous strikes.

It seemed a lazy comparison at first.

Okay, they're former J-League stars turned Celtic heroes wearing long sleeves.

But that's where the comparison between Reo Hatate and Shunsuke Nakamura ends, right?

Even manager Ange Postecoglou gave the 'new Nakamura' question short shrift when he said: "He's Reo Hatate, mate."

But Celtic's new poster boy backed up the parallels against Hearts when he smashed home an eerie replica of Nakamura's famous swerving strike in a derby with Rangers.

That bonkers long-ranger in 2008 moved in about five different directions before leaving Allan McGregor dumbfounded in the visitors' goal at Parkhead.

And while Hatate's ferocious thunderbolt at Tynecastle lacked the kind of physics-defying spin only Nakamura is capable of, fans of both Celtic and Japanese football alike were quick to jump on the similarities.

Hatate's opener was backed up by Giorgos Giakoumakis before half-time but Liam Boyce halved the deficit then missed a penalty for the home side to ensure a nervy finish.

Celtic refused to crumble though and several side-by-side comparisons of the two strikes flooded Twitter in the aftermath.

One Japanese football fan wrote: "Man I’m having Nakamura vibes… except Hatate is clearly more of a box-to-box. Might have to change my next jersey order from Kyogo to Reo."

And after viewing the goals side-by-side, he added: "As I was saying... look how similar..."

While a Parkhead fan responded to the comparison: "Been waiting for someone to do this since Hatate scored. Immediately thought of Nakamura's goal when I seen it."

Another posted: "The power in that shot from Hatate offt as good as Nakamura goal against Rangers a few year back"

And finally, one Celtic supporter is still enamoured by the goal from 14 years ago: "I’m sure Hatate’s goal is great but I just can’t stop watching Nakamura’s."