Celtic are through to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup after seeing off St Mirren by a 5-1 margin this evening.
Daizen Maeda was the first goal-hero of the night, slotting home from Aaron Mooy’s low cross in the first half. It was his ninth goal of the season in all competitions as he closes in on the double-figure landmark.
Reo Hatate then converted from the penalty spot with 15 minutes to go, doubling the Bhoys’ advantage and making it comfortable.
New signing Hyeongyu Oh later opened his club account after reacting sharply to a saved Callum McGregor shot.
Matt O’Riley also scored a beauty in the 90th minute, his first goal of the season. Hatate was at it again in stoppage time, rounding off the scoring with a lovely strike.
It was yet another pleasing Celtic performance this season and there’s plenty to talk about now the full-time whistle has gone. These are the three things at the forefront of our minds…
Kyogo off injured but it was only a precaution
There was concern for Kyogo Furuhashi when he went off injured in the first half. He fell awkwardly on his shoulder and looked to be in discomfort, barely moving his arm as headed towards the bench.
However, broadcaster Viaplay Sports 1 later updated viewers on his situation, sharing information in the commentary that he had only been taken off as a precaution rather than it being any sort of serious injury.
Ange Postecoglou then said in his post-match interview that he’ll be sent for a scan tomorrow but was hopeful it wasn’t serious as he’s a “quick healer”.
With only two weeks to go until the Scottish League Cup final at Hampden, that’s definitely good news. He remains our best option through the middle despite Maeda quickly scoring after he filled in.
New Bhoy opens his account in a poaching style
It was brilliant to see South Korean forward Hyeongyu Oh show off his goal-poaching skills late in the match. Now that Giorgos Giakoumakis has moved on, we need a striker who gets into tight areas and reacts well to loose balls in the box, as an alternative to the first-choice Kyogo.
Oh showed he can step up and do that tonight. Callum McGregor’s shot was palmed by Trever Carson and the new Bhoy was sharper than his opponents, quickly moving to slot it home with ease.
We’ll need him as the season progresses, so it’s pleasing that he is already contributing. He got some nice applause from Ange Postecoglou on the touchline too – the manager knows its important for strikers to quickly get off the mark.
David Turnbull’s big chance
Turnbull was starting for just the second time since November after a number of effective contributions off the bench in recent weeks. Unfortunately, tonight’s 60 minutes on the pitch weren’t a great advert for him starting in upcoming matches against Aberdeen or Rangers.
He struggled to get into the midfield battle in the first half, with some of his passing fairly lacklustre too. Arguably the Celtic performance improved after the manager’s raft of substitutions in the second half. Reo Hatate is clearly a more effective option alongside Callum McGregor and Aaron Mooy. Turnbull doesn’t quite have that same energy or thrust as Celtic transition from defence to attack.
The 23-year-old has shown some pleasing classy moments used as a substitute this term, exploiting opponents when there’s more space in the match and the Bhoys are already on the road to victory. However, the jury is very much out on him getting back to consistent starts under Ange Postecoglou.
In other news, “This is just the start”; Unified message coming out of Celtic on Ange Postecoglou.
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