Scottish CupSunday, March 9, 2025Celtic Park, Glasgow CELTIC…2(Maeda 38, Idah 90 +1) HIBS…0 Celtic delivered a dominant and impressive performance at Celtic Park this afternoon as they overcame Hibernian thanks to goals from Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah to book their place in the Scottish Cup semi-final. The Celts looked dangerous from the start and they fashioned a good opportunity within the first few minutes when Nicolas Kühn drifted a ball in to the six-yard box where Daizen Maeda was prowling, but the Japanese forward couldn’t get a touch on the ball before Jordan Smith gathered it up. Less than two minutes later, Callum McGregor drew a good diving save from the Hibs keeper as the captain hit a vicious strike from outside the box which looked destined for the bottom corner. Celtic were in full command of the opening stages of the match, however Hibs have shown over the course of the last few months that they carry a threat going forward, and with 18 minutes played, they showed that again when Kieron Bowie burst in the Celtic penalty area and powered a shot towards goal, which Kasper Schmeichel done well to keep out. As the half wore on, the visitors started to grow in to the game as they disrupted the Celts’ rhythm by committing fouls and breaking up the play wherever they could. The Hoops, however, continued to try and cut Hibs open and with just under 10 minutes of the first half left to play, Daizen Maeda had a massive opportunity to make it 1-0. Reo Hatate sent a dangerous ball in Daizen’s direction, which the forward controlled and carried in to the box, however, his shot drifted well over the bar. He made no mistake with his next opportunity however, which came just a minute later when a ball to the back post from Jeffrey Schlupp found Nicolas Kühn. Kühn’s effort was saved by Smith, but as he so often is, Daizen was the first to react to the rebound and he slammed it in to net to make it 1-0 to Celtic. In the 43rd minute, Hatate almost scored a goal-of-the-season contender when he fired an effort towards the top corner from 25 yards out, but Jordan Smith got up well and tipped the effort over the bar with his fingertips.With just under 10 minutes of the second half gone, Jota produced a moment of brilliance as he carried the ball down the left wing from the halfway line, leaving Chris Cadden in his wake as he skipped in to the box and had a shot at goal, which the keeper was able to keep out. In the 60th minute, Daizen found himself with another huge opportunity to score as Nicolas Kühn flashed a ball across the face of Hibs’ goal towards the Japanese forward, but incredibly the ball ricocheted off of Daizen two yards out from goal and ended up drifting over the bar. Jeffrey Schlupp then almost grabbed his second Celtic goal five minutes later as the chances kept coming for the Hoops, but his low, curling effort crept just wide of the post. As the game wore on, the massive travelling Hibs support started to grow in belief that their side could grab a late equaliser to take the match to extra-time, however Celtic limited the visitors to few chances as they focused their efforts on securing a spot in the last four. Brendan Rodgers made two changes with 15 minutes of the match remaining, bringing Luke McCowan and Yang on for Callum McGregor and Jota as the Celts continued to hunt for a second goal to put the game beyond Hibs. And Yang found himself with a chance to kill the game off in the 90th minute after a good ball across the Hibernian back line from Daizen, but Yang was unable to make a convincing connection with the ball. However, the Celts’ place in the semi final was made certain in the 91st minute when Adam Idah made it 2-0 after some great work from Luke McCowan to set up the chance. Brendan Rodgers and his side will find out tomorrow who they will face in the semi-final, as they look ahead to next weekend’s Glasgow derby at Celtic Park.FixturesCeltic Vs. Hibernian – Sun, Mar 9th 2025, 15:00
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