Celticincruisecontrolas theydrivepastairdriein searchofthetrebletreble
CELTIC 3 AIRDRIE 0
The Scottish Cup holders secured their place in the last 16 with a fuss-free win at Celtic Park.
Two goals from Scott Sinclair plus a single from new Bhoy Timothy Weah added up to zero chance of an upset.
To be fair, on a day that saw Motherwell and Ayr United and dramatically dumped out of the tournament, Celtic took no chances in this home tie against League One opposition.
It took only a glance at the teamsheet to see the depth of manager Brendan Rodgers’ determination to push on in the hunt for a treble treble.
Seven of the starting 11 against Rangers in the derby were in place.
Of the four changes, three: Scott Bain, Olivier Burke and Emillio Izaguirre, were internationalists.
The first two named for Scotland and Izaguirre for Honduras, who he represented in the World Cup Finals last summer. The remaining member of the quartet Anthony Ralston, is a current Scotland U-21.
And if the last of Burke’s handful of caps came two years ago, the fact the 21-year-old has already generated £28 million in transfer fees would not have been lost on envious Diamonds boss Ian Murray.
Implausibly, it was Izaguirre who was first to show attacking menace.
First he controlled the ball neatly and volleyed wide of the Airdrie goal. Then he won his side a penalty when drawing a foul out of Chris O’neil.
The visitors protested furiously it had been a dive and ref Andrew Dallas warned skipper Sean Crighton about the volley of abuse he directed at the prone Celtic full back.
Keeper David Hutton pulled off a magnificent save to deny Scott Sinclair from the spot, diving full length to his right to push the ball away.
It was only a temporary reprieve with Celtic and Sinclair recovering from the setback to grab the lead with a goal of real quality.
Ralston sent James Forrest scampering down the right and from the cutback Burke sent a snap shot in on goal.
Again Hutton did well to save but this time he only succeeded in pushing the ball into Sinclair’s path.
From a tight angle, the winger shot home. CELTIC:
(4-2-3-1) Bain 7; Ralston 7, Boyata 6, Benkovic 6, Izaguirre 7; Brown 7 (Bitton 81 5), Mcgregor 8; Forrest 6 (Johnston 68 6), Christie 7, Sinclair 7 (Weah 68 6); Burke 6. Unused – Gordon, Lustig, Ajer, Henderson.
AIRDRIE:
(3-5-2) Hutton 7; O’neil 6, Crichton 6, Macdonald 6; Stewart 6 (Duffy 76 5), Campbell 5 (Carrick 60 5), Gallagher 6, Millar 6, Edwards 6; Wilkie 6 (Glass 51 6), Mcintosh 5. Unused – Robertson, Mckenzie, Page, Cairns.
Fans might have been forgiven for expecting a procession after that but remarkably the hosts were lucky to go in at the break ahead.
It took a fantastic save from Scott Bain to keep out Kyle Wilkie’s effort and then a decent follow up block to thwart Leighton Mcintosh.
The stramash that followed seemed sure to end in a goal but somehow Celtic managed to clear the danger.
Opposition managers routinely talk about the necessity of their sides being clinical in games against Celtic and the point was proved here with the Hoops extending their lead soon after half-time.
And again it was Sinclair who showed how it should be done, coolly shooting home when Hutton again put the ball in his direction – this time from a strong header from Dedryck Boyata.
Airdrie were clearly deflated but they stuck to their game plan, scurrying around to shut down the Premiership side’s time and space as much as possible and often breaking with intent.
The gulf in class was evident, however, never more so than when Scott Brown gave Diamonds substitute Declan Glass a few yards of start in a ball chase before simply kicking it up a gear to cruise past his opponent and pass back to Bain.
Sinclair thought he had got the match ball when netting with a tap-in after a fierce effort by Burke but it was not to be with the far side assistant flagging him offside.
The winger’s slightly disappointed shrug was just about his final contribution to the match with Rodgers taking the chance to underline the difference in resources, in both financial and playing terms, by turning to his subs bench.
Off went Sinclair and Forrest, on came Timothy Weah, the on loan teen from Paris Saint-germain and Mikey Johnston, an undeniably talented young Scot.
Weah it was who made the most of his chance, sliding home from Boyata’s clever pass to round off the scoring on an easy afternoon for the Hoops.
MATCH STATS
REF WATCH:
Andrew Dallas was the target of a pitch invader, but the official did okay in the match itself.
CALLUM MCGREGOR
STAR MAN
Scott Sinclair got a brace and was pretty sharp all round, Anthony Ralston and Scott Brown both looked good but best on show – yet again – was
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