Celtic blank Morton, will face Rangers in semi-finals

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Celtic progress through the Scottish Cup with a 3-0 win over Greenock Morton at Paradise.

Two goals came from Moussa Dembele who has really found his touch recently. Odsonne Edouard added the final dagger to send the Bhoys into the semi-finals.

The Celts have set themselves up for a date with Rangers on April 14 at Hampden Park. The winner gets one step closer to a piece of silverware which is arguably needed for both clubs at the end of the season.

Celtic’s problems of looking a bit vulnerable in their recent wins seemed to vanish in this fixture. The Hoops finished the contest with 26 shots while controlling the possession game by a score of 66/34.

It was evident that Celtic had clear control of the contest from the word go. Jozo Simunovic and Dembele both had chances early on that were inside the box, but only went just wide.

Tom Rogic played his second competitive contest since returning from injury. The Australian had two decent chances in consecutive fashion that both went wide. Kieran Tierney fed Rogic with a sublime cross that was hit first-time, but no luck came at the end of the play.

The first half came to a close with the Celts rarely being tested by the opposition. The second frame opened with a chance for Edouard right in front of the net, but the Frenchmen’s shot went straight at the keeper.

Rogic then found a touch of his own as he sent a cross into the frame that Dembele got a piece of to finally make it 1-0. Dembele went down in the box not even ten minutes later, which gave the in-form striker another goal through the penalty kick.

James Forrest has also been in incredible form lately. His low cross found the feet of Edouard who smashed the final goal in the final minute into the top of the net.

Key Stats

Celtic FC

• 26 shots
• 10 shots on target
• 66 percent possession
• 10 corners

Greenock Morton

• 5 shots
• 1 shot on target
• 8 fouls
• 3 yellow cards

Celtic Subs: Patrick Roberts, Odsonne Edouard, Mikael Lustig, Scott Bain, Callum McGregor, Charly Musonda, Eboue Kouassi.

Feautres from the Fixture

Marvin Compper and Roberts both made their returns to first-team football in this one. It’s one more step to becoming a much more healthy squad, and the Celts need that more than ever in the chase for silverware.

Lustig will find some time on the bench for the next couple of games. His red card against Aberdeen will see him miss the Dundee fixture, and he was also out for this contest as well.

Keep an eye on Dorus de Vries. The keeper looked decent in this one, but there were some mix-ups at the back that could have led to errors. It will be very interesting to see how Dorus plays down the stretch with fixtures becoming more and more critical.

What’s next for Celtic?

Its the contest that could really separate the Celts again in the table, or it could start to put some people on the edge of their seats. Rangers and Celtic happens on Mar. 11 at the Ibrox.

A win for the Gers puts them three points behind Celtic in the race for the league. Victory is a must next Sunday, and Brendan Rodgers has a whole week ahead of him to figure out lineups and get his squad rested.

Opinion

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This wasn’t the position Celtic was in about a month or two ago. A win in the Scottish Cup is nice, but the league has to be the focus at the moment. What could have been a treble at the end of the season could very easily see the Bhoys with one or no trophies.

The Celts look to be taking it one game at a time which can’t be a bad thing. One way to solve the mystery of struggles is to get a healthy lineup back. Rogic looked sharp in this one, and it will be nice to see what Roberts can do down the road.

Rodgers has almost all the options in front of him right now. Subtract Lustig (which can’t be that big of a deal) and Celtic could really put all the weapons out against the Rangers. It’s time to see more Scott Sinclair, more Dembele and creativity at the back-line.

Stay tuned for what’s ahead.

Next: Celtic make bank from Champions League

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