Hoops serve up a fitting tribute to Tommy – but only after early scare
BRENDAN RODGERS spoke about playing the Celtic way as a tribute to the Lisbon Lions.
But this was a day when he’d have settled for winning any way before finally seeing his side turn on the style.
The Treble dream looked under real threat as the Hoops trailed St Mirren after a shock early opener from Harry Davis at Parkhead.
Rodgers hailed the midweek win over Inverness as the best display of his reign but the sloppy first half here was one of the worst.
Saints were then denied by the woodwork in the second half before Celtic eventually got their act together.
They got the breakthrough just before the hour and then produced a four-goal, 20-minute spell to blow away the battling Buddies and book a Scottish Cup semi-final with Rangers.
The league champions paid an emotional tribute to Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell after his passing and it was current full-back Mikael Lustig who started the comeback with a headed equaliser after 58 minutes.
Scott Sinclair turned the quarterfinal tie on its head when he scored just 60 seconds later to knock the stuffing out of Jack Ross’ side.
Moussa Dembele made it 12 goals in six games before substitute Leigh Griffiths completed the scoring.
The win made it 34 domestic games unbeaten and kept Celtic on course for a first clean sweep in 16 years as they look to lift the Cup for the first time since 2013.
It was a cruel end for St Mirren who had lost 21 times and drawn twice in their 23 trips to the east end of Glasgow since a young Paul Lambert inspired them to their last Parkhead victory 27 years ago.
Not only were the Paisley side facing the most formidable team in the country but they also had to contend with the emotional factor as the home fans paid tribute to Gemmell.
Footage of some of the full-back’s greatest moments – including goals in two European Cup Finals – was shown before a minute’s silence in memory of the man who made more than 400 appearances in a decade of sterling service at Parkhead.
And there was also a special video tribute to Lisbon Lions skipper Billy McNeill at half-time in the week of his 77th birthday after it was revealed he was battling dementia.
St Mirren, sitting bottom of the Championship, didn’t look fazed by the huge task facing them.
Their goal came from Cammy Smith’s deep cross from the left which was headed down into the danger area by John Sutton and, with Dedryck Boyata just playing him onside, Davis tapped home from close range.
It was the first goal Craig Gordon had conceded in over 300 minutes and the first at home this year.
Referee Steven McLean then waved away screams for a penalty from the crowd when Gary Mackay-Steven was caught by Stelios Demetriou’s high boot in the box.
When Dembele is passing up chances then you know it’s an off-day and that’s what happened when Scott Brown’s ball across goal found the Frenchman and he fired wide.
St Mirren then went up the other end and Boyata timed his challenge to perfect to deny Sutton a shooting chance just as he was about to pull the trigger inside the box.
Mackay-Steven was off the pace in the opening 45 minutes and it was no surprise he stayed inside at the break with Patrick Roberts introduced to try to save Celtic’s Treble dream.
Dembele flashed a shot over after good control but the Buddies continued to threaten on the break and Sutton’s shot was deflected over by Erik Sviatchenko after panic in the Celtic box. But that was nothing compared to the huge let-off shortly after when, after Nir Bitton was booked for a challenge, Stevie Mallan whipped in a free kick that Dembele almost put into his own net but incredibly came back off the underside of the bar.
The situation was getting desperate and Griffiths was thrown on in an inspired substitution as the striker played his part in two Celtic goals inside a frantic 60 seconds that turned the game on its head.
Griffiths won a free-kick after inviting a challenge from Demetriou that saw the Cypriot booked and Roberts floated in a ball for Lustig to glance home the equaliser.
That finally brought some life to the Hoops and they then got their noses in front with Griffiths playing his part again with a pass to Sinclair who darted at the Saints defence and curled a delicious shot high into the net. It was so cruel on the Buddies but they still had chances and Gordon got himself into trouble with Sutton putting him under pressure from a passback. However, the Paisley men were finally killed off with just over 20 minutes left. Sinclair’s pace again caused the problems as he ran at the Saints defence before exchanging passes with Roberts and his ball across the face of goal was turned in by Dembele. Still the Buddies were positive and Lewis Morgan sent a shot just wide but Celtic grabbed a fourth when Roberts set up Griffiths who sent a long-range effort beyond Billy O’Brien. Boyata then had a goal chopped off for pulling inside the box from Dembele. Griffiths also had a strike disallowed for offside on a day Celtic fans were given their first glimpse of Kouassi Eboue who was introduced for his debut and was lucky not to go in the book for a challenge on Demetriou.