Maloney says Hogh showed Champions League quality
Celtic's assistant manager Shaun Maloney said Kasper Hogh had demonstrated his Champions League quality with his hat-trick against Kilmarnock.
Celtic made it two wins from two games to start its Scottish Premiership title defence after an eye-catching 5-1 success at Rugby Park, with Maloney taking charge in Martin O'Neill's absence.
O'Neill gave a pre-match team talk to his players, having been discharged from hospital after undergoing a "small procedure" last week.
Benjamin Nygren and Luke McCowan were on target in the second half, but Celtic was already cruising by that point after Hogh's 35-minute hat-trick.
Prior to his club-record move to Glasgow last month, the Denmark international made his name with Norway's Bodo/Glimt, helping it reach the Champions League's round of 16 last season.
He scored five goals during Bodo's surprise European run, netting in victories over heavyweights Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter, and Maloney was not surprised to see him start quickly in Scotland.
"We've seen him for months now, so you know the level of player he is and what he's done at his previous club, at a really high level in the Champions League," Maloney said.
"I said before, it's the life of a striker. You're there, you score some, you miss some. He was really good today.
"He scored a brilliant hat-trick, but a big part of his game was when Kilmarnock went man for man. He had to hold it up. It's something the boss is really, really strong on and it made a big difference. His all-round game was really good."
Celtic is already five points clear of Old Firm rival Rangers, who were beaten 2-1 by Hibernian on Monday to keep Derek McInnes waiting for his first victory at the helm.
Maloney believes Celtic has set the standard for future games, saying: "I thought our creativity in the final third was as good as I've seen it in a little while.
"We were really good in the final third. We've set a bar now, and we have to keep trying to get there."
Celtic visits Dundee United next Sunday before hosting LASK in the first leg of their Champions League qualification play-off on 19 August, though it is unclear whether O'Neill will be back in the dugout for those matches.
