Ko Itakura netted his third goal of the German Bundesliga season to help Borussia Monchengladbach overcome an early deficit in their 3-1 win over Wolfsburg on Sunday.

The Japan center-back equalized for the visitors with a long-range strike that ricocheted off a defender in the 52nd minute at Volkswagen Arena.

Wolfsburg made a strong start to their first home game under new manager Ralph Hasenhuettl when they took the lead seven minutes into the contest through midfielder Ridle Baku.

Borussia Monchengladbach's Ko Itakura (L) scores a goal in the second half of a German Bundesliga football match against Wolfsburg on April 7, 2024, in Wolfsburg. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Gladbach had created few chances before Itakura found the target from nearly 30 meters out. His right-footed strike took a wicked deflection off Wolsfburg defender Moritz Jenz's knee, giving goalkeeper Pavao Pervan no chance.

Nathan Ngoumou gave Gladbach the lead in the 58th minute and Rocco Reitz made it 3-1 with two minutes left in regular time.

Elsewhere in Europe, Celtic forward Daizen Maeda opened the scoring in the first minute of his team's 3-3 draw away to Rangers in the Scottish Premiership's Old Firm derby.

Celtic's Daizen Maeda (R) scores in the first half of a Scottish Premiership football match against Rangers on April 7, 2024, in Glasgow. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Maeda outsprinted his marker to a ball cleared by Celtic keeper Joe Hart and lashed home from outside the box with his first touch, bringing his season tally to five.

The Samurai Blue attacker later earned one of four Celtic yellow cards in a hot-tempered match that saw the defending champions squander a 2-0 halftime advantage against their title rivals.

In the English Premier League, Japan captain Wataru Endo played until the 69th minute for Liverpool in their 2-2 draw away to Manchester United.


Related coverage:

Football: Japan suffer 2-1 defeat against U.S. at SheBelieves Cup

Football: Hashioka's own goal contributes to Luton's defeat

Japan football manga "Captain Tsubasa" ends after 43-year run