Celtic were utterly dominant as they swept Heart of Midlothian aside to reach the Semi Finals of the Scottish Cup. Ange Postecoglou’s side beat Hearts 3-1 four days previously in the league but the spectacle of a one-off in the Quarter Finals of the Cup made for a spectacular occasion.
Celtic, buoyed on by a full Roseburn Stand – who were covered by a colourful mosaic of smoke as the players came out, were relentless from the get-go. Reo Hatate stung the palms of Zander Clark with a powerful effort and minutes later, the ex-St Johnstone keeper was picking the ball out of the net.
Jota made a fine run down the right hand side, before cutting back for Aaron Mooy to smash the ball into the net. It was a good finish by the Australian, who tucked the ball away with no mistake.
Hearts made a rare venture forward and Sibbick forced a terrific double save from Celtic No.1, Joe Hart. Apart from that, Hart and the Celtic defence were comfortable.
Andy Halliday should have been penalised for a foul on Ally Johnston in the box but both Kevin Clancy and VAR Official Wullie Collum saw nothing untoward and it was not checked. Bizarrely.
Celtic started the half with a goal and they bookmarked the first 45 with another goal with Kyogo’s delicious effort. Johnston’s cross was attacked at the front post by the Japanese striker, who’s cute backheel finish left Clark with no chance.
Into the second half, Celtic were in control and completed the scoring through Cameron Carter-Vickers. After Nathaniel Atkinson’s vicious tackle resulted in a booking and free-kick, the Amercian Internationalist rose to meet a Matt O’Riley cross. The central defender, who was immense at the back, enjoyed the goal and took the acclaim of the supporters behind the goal.
Celtic: Hart; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt (Kobayashi ’45), Taylor; McGregor, Mooy (O’Riley ’77), Hatate (Iwata ’82); Jota, Kyogo (Oh ’77), Haksabanovic (’59).
Celtic will discover their opponents for the Semi-Final at Hampden this evening, following the conclusion of Falkirk v Ayr United. The winners of this game will join Inverness CT and Rangers in the hat.
