William Hill Scottish Cup
Quarter-final
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Celtic Park, Glasgow

ST JOHNSTONE… 0

CELTIC… 1
(Christie 81)

CELTIC moved one step closer to defending the Scottish Cup for a fourth consecutive year with a well-contested 1-0 win at St Johnstone this afternoon (Sunday). A late goal from Ryan Christie secured progression to the penultimate stage of the competition and another trip to Hampden next month - where the Hoops will face Aberdeen.

Inspired by the vocal travelling support, Celtic passed well from the back in the opening stages, as they sought to stretch the game. Christie was integral to this process, and was unlucky not to hit the target with a curling effort from the edge of the box after two minutes.

St Johnstone, to their credit, stepped out from the back to press the Hoops, forcing a handful of early routine stops from Forster between the sticks.

Ahead of the 10-minute mark, however, Celtic began to get a foothold on the match. Leigh Griffiths had a 20-yard effort blocked and sent for a corner, while Christopher Jullien was unfortunate not to connect with a long and searching Christie pass just yards from goal.

Despite the heaviness of the McDiarmid Park pitch, the Scottish Cup holders passed the ball well in the final third. James Forrest combined especially well with Odsonne Edouard and Callum McGregor, through which on 12 minutes, the latter forced a fine block from the legs of Zander Clark in goal.

The Hoops’ next half-chance fell to Edouard on 24 minutes, when he caught a failed clearance on the volley that was sent down the throat of the Saints keeper. While keen to contain the visitors by sitting deep, St Johnstone did create an opportunity of their own on 32 minutes, when Forster was forced to tip Wotherspoon’s looping effort over the crossbar.

With five minutes of the first period remaining, Drey Wright forced a strong two-handed save from Forster with a well-struck right-foot from 18 yards. From the ensuing corner, ex-Celt Jamie McCart’s header was slapped away by the Englishman to keep the scoreline tied at 0-0.

That’s how it remained going into the break, before Celtic returned with a spring in their step. On 47 minutes, Forrest sent a shot whizzing by the post after some neat link-up play between himself and Christie, and, one minute later, Edouard burst into the box before sending his effort high and wide of the mark.

On 54 minutes, Celtic’s best chance of the half fell to Forrest, when, after some nice footwork to the right of the Saints’ penalty area, he drilled a shot low and to the left of goal. Clark did well to push the ball from danger, as Griffiths was fast approaching the six-yard box.

Ten minutes after that, McGregor thundered towards the home side’s area, before playing a smart one-two with Forrest. The midfielder then laid the ball to his right for Christie, who in turn fired a shot across the goalkeeper and around the wrong side of the post.

On for Griffiths after 65 minutes, Tom Rogic sought to affect the game when he danced into the box, flicked the ball to Edouard who found Christie six yards from goal. The 25-year-old’s effort forced another fine stop from Clark; before Edouard then hit the post with a flick from the resulting corner, and Jullien had his follow-up effort again turned away.

In a bid to stem Celtic’s high press, much of St Johnstone’s offence in the final quarter-hour was on the counter. Neil Lennon’s men however held out and, with nine minutes of normal time remaining, broke the deadlock.

After Jamie McCart fouled Forrest on the right flank, Christie swung a dangerous ball into the box which was missed by all, despite Jullien throwing himself into its path. Both players celebreated, but Jullien himself gave his team-mate the nod after full-time.

From there, the home side rarely threatened the Hoops’ goal, and opted to play long on the increasingly heavy pitch. Neil Lennon’s men in turn saw out the match and now look forward to another visit to the national stadium in next month's semi-final.

ST JOHNSTONE: Clark, Tanser, McCart, Wright, Wotherspoon (O’Halloran 83), May, Kerr, Butcher, McCann, Hendry (Kane 76), Gordon
Subs not used: Parish, Swanson, Holt, Booth, Craig

CELTIC: Forster; Bitton, Jullien, Ajer; Brown, Forrest, Christie, McGregor, Taylor (Hayes 76); Griffiths (Rogic 65), Edouard (Bayo 86)
Subs not used: Bain, Klimala, Frimpong, Elhamed

Website Man of the Match: Callum McGregor

Celts progress to Scottish Cup semi-final with St Johnstone win