Celtic got the job done against Livingston thanks to the unpredictability brilliant Daizen Maeda – who scored an hat-trick and could have got another, plus the killer instinct of his Japanese compatriot Kyogo. This amid atrocious defending from the Hoops who seemed to struggle playing and the literal giants of Scottish football at Celtic Park.
4-2 it finished, so Celtic are heading to Hampden and we’ll find out tomorrow who we will play.
After today’s win the Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said to Celtic TV: “It was nowhere near the level of performance that we would want, but you have to give a big credit to Livingston.
“They worked ever so hard and scored very good goals, and the 4-2 scoreline looks more comfortable than it actually was,” Brendan Rodgers
“So we’re in the next round, which is where we wanted to be, but with injuries and guys coming in and having not played, I thought it wasn’t as cohesive as what I would want, but we got the job done in the end.”
Daizen Maeda scored twice in the first-half, only for Livingston to twice peg Celtic back, but late in the game, Maeda netted a well-deserved hat-trick which also saw him pick up the Man of the Match Award.
And the manager also acknowledged James Forrest’s contribution when he came in the second-half for his first appearance since December 23 – also against Livingston at Celtic Park.
“It’s brilliant from Daizen to get the hat-trick,” said Brendan Rodgers. “His movement, his runs, his desire to get in has got him his goals. So I’m delighted for him.
“I was probably at my happiest when James came on because I saw genuine quality in the game – touch, control, body work, everything. He’s a big talent so I was really happy when James came in.
‘Everything we really created was probably mostly down that right side and the left side finished it off, but James was excellent when he came on,” Brendan Rodgers
“We had to dig it out today but the guys have got us there, which is important.
“Now we can see who we can draw in the semi-final and hopefully we’ll have a few of those players back that will up the level of our performance.”
