Celtic booked their place in the last eight of the Scottish Cup following a comfortable 2-0 victory over St Mirren yesterday.
Kyogo Furuhashi opened the scoring at the SMiSA Stadium with a smart finish from the edge of the area in the 15th minute, taking full advantage of Luis Palma’s cutback.
Early in the second 45, his compatriot Daizen Maeda converted from close range after Matt O’Riley’s initial effort rebounded off the woodwork and into his path.
Despite the hosts creating several opportunities, special credit must go to the Bhoys’ backline of Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh, Liam Scales and Alexandro Bernabei, who were drafted together as a result of absences due to injury.
Livingston will now travel to Parkhead on the weekend of March 9th as Brendan Rodgers looks to continue his 100% winning record in the Scottish Cup.
In all competitions, the Scottish Premiership holders have won eight of their last nine matches, which will help to unite all facets of the club in their hunt for a domestic double.
Brendan Rodgers hits back at claims Celtic are in a crisis
Undoubtedly, Celtic fans were left feeling short-changed in the January transfer window, and the knock-on from the mid-season market closing came in the form of dropped points at Pittodrie the week before last.
Nevertheless, crucial wins over Hibernian and St Mirren on the road since have elevated the mood at Parkhead while also putting to an end talk of a crisis in Glasgow’s east end.
In an honest interview, Rodgers hit back at this notion with a fighting message, claiming that any suggestion of upheaval at the club has been created externally.
The 51-year-old stated [Football Scotland]: “I don’t think it’s a crisis. It’s obviously a narrative that has been created outside. I don’t expect anything less, to be honest. We just focus on ourselves. We are a winning club.
“When you have won consistently over a number of years, people will look to jump on you and bring you down. Bring me down. I am here to win. For sure, we will have our day – and have many days going forward.
“We’ll get our influential players back, and the squad will be very strong to the end of the season. We’ll continue to fight. We just have to prove a point to ourselves and our supporters. That’s always the best attitude. We are compared to the squad of last season.”
Celtic just need to keep winning at any cost
On the face of it, nobody can stop the outside noise surrounding Celtic, and there will always be scrutiny attached to being associated with a club that demands such high standards.
Nevertheless, Rodgers and company will be keen to ensure they continue to keep winning and are likely to focus on what they can control rather than things they cannot.
Despite having a clear challenge on their hands in the league title race, Celtic are still in a position where two trophies could arrive at Parkhead by the end of May.
Should they manage to claim both pieces of silverware, talk over a crisis at Parkhead will soon become a thing of the past.
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