FEW would have predicted that Celtic would have Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie as the two deeper midfielders with James Forrest, Tom Rogic and Scotty Sinclair ahead of the pair. But that’s how Celtic lineup up in the second half yesterday and the flowing, attacking football was devastating as far a Hearts were concerned and exhilarating for the 30,000 Celtic supporters inside Murrayfield.

Much, rightly, has been written about Ryan Christie today and he deserves all the plaudits. However a word for Callum McGregor, who started wide on the left but moved back when Eboue Kouassi had to go off. Scotty Sinclair was introduced and Callum dropped back to finish the first half playing next to Olivier Ntcham. The Frenchman however felt a tightening in his hamstring and didn’t res-emerge for the second half – Christie was his replacement, he made two and scored one (a screamer) and won the Man of the Match award.

Such misfortune was turned to Celtic’s advantage with the McGregor Christie combo at the heart of everything and both full backs – Kieran Tierney and Mikael Lustig piled forward to join in the assault on the Hearts goal. It was 45 minutes of glorious, attacking Celtic play.

And Callum McGregor was magnificent in that second half. He spoke to The Celtic View afterwards and seemed pretty pleased with how the semi-final panned out with it being a case of Mission Accomplished regarding reaching the Cup Final in early December.

“It gives us a focus point to go towards. Obviously, in a semi-final, the job is to get to the final and you keep in the back of your mind that you’re building up to that as well. It’s great for us.

“That’s us won all these semi-finals and it shows a real characteristic of the team that when we’re up against pressure, we can deal with that as well.

“It sort of cements that first half of the season – you’ve hopefully got a trophy and you’re building up all the time, performances are getting better and it tides you right through to the winter break. And when you’ve got a trophy in the bag, you go and push for the other two.”

The message is clear, Celtic eyes are on the Treble Treble, which would be a remarkable achievement.

Looking back on the first half yesterday, McGregor admits that there was little to get excited about.

“We didn’t have a great start to the game. Personally, it wasn’t great, but I felt when I went more central I started to get on the ball more and that helped us dictate the game to get us up the pitch and get us creating chances.

“So we have to take positives when we play well every week, and when we have those sticky moments, it’s important to come through them and I thought we did that in the second half.

“The subs came on and made a real impact with their pace and quality. They made a real difference as it allowed us to go and attack with Ryan in the corridor alongside Tom, with Scott on the outside doing his stuff on one-v-one and linking up with KT.

“I just thought the tempo went to another level and once you see that happening on a big pitch, the spaces open up and you create a lot of chances.

“Ryan was buzzing. I’ve said this about Ryan before, he’s always had that quality but it was just a matter of trying to an opportunity to get in the team. You see when he comes in that he’s full of life and confidence, and he takes a great strike as well. He made a real impact for us.”

Also on The Celtic Star and clicking on these links helps this site enormously…

‘No timeline’ on Griffiths return but Rodgers hopeful he’ll be back soon…See HERE

Piling on The Agony, Putting on The Style…See HERE.

Christie eyes new contract and starting role for Celtic…See HERE.

Murrayfield Video: ‘A Disappointing Defeat,’ This is how it feels to be Hearts…See HERE.

‘Natural Order Restored at Murrayfield,’ Karma on Celtic Fans TV…See HERE.

‘Blue Monday for some after a truly Beautiful Sunday,’ David Potter’s day at Murrayfield…See HERE

‘He is a fantastic player, definitely one we’d love to keep,’ Rodgers on Ryan…See HERE.

Jim Craig – Bobby Lennox wins the League Cup for Celtic…See HERE

Sheep shock Steven Gerrard as Rangers are beaten at Hampden…See HERE

“Ryan Christie had a sensational individual performance,” Rodgers…See HERE

Broken Hearts as Celtic dish out Capital Punishment…See HERE.