CELTIC 3 HIBS 1
DEADLY Daizen Maeda fired in a first-half double as Celtic eased past Hibs in the Premier Sports League Cup at Parkhead this afternoon.
The makeshift attack-leader displayed his lightning reflexes twice to make certain there was no banana skin at this stage of the competition after last season’s mishap at Rugby Park.
Nicolas Kuhn added a third after the interval to rubber-stamp a fairly routine victory.
It took Celtic a mere four minutes to take the lead with a swift move that cut through their rivals’ rearguard for Maeda to apply the killer finish.
CROWDPLEASERS…scorer Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate celebrate Celtic’s first goal.
Kuhn released Reo Hatate on the right with a neat pass and the midfielder swept an inviting cross into the box.
Fellow-Japanese international Maeda was the quickest to react and he clipped an effort past the stranded Joe Bursik.
The Hoops were in cruise control with some slick movement and excellent combinations with their opponents chasing shadows and it was no surprise when the hosts doubled their advantage in the 17th minute.
The ball was moved all over the pitch with Brendan Rodgers’ men enjoying a period of possession before Kuhn dinked a pass in front of the rampaging Maeda.
The pacy hitman, deputising for injured team-mate Kyogo Furuhashi in the middle of the attack, was onto the pass in an instant as he rolled his effort wide of the outrushing keeper.
However, the visitors were invited back into the contest in the 35th minute when the champions’ defence fell asleep at a right-wing free-kick from Martin Boyle.
Kasper Schmeichel lost his first goal as Joe Hart’s successor when Mykola Kuharevich beat the offside trap to send a looping header high over his outstretched hands into the corner of the net.
Only moments later, the Hoops were denied what looked like a clear-cut penalty-kick when James Forrest was bundled to the ground as two Hibs defenders took him out of play.
OOPS AND WHOOPS…Nicolas Kuhn races away after capitalisng on a Hibs blunder to net Celtic’s third goal at Parkhead.
Amazingly, referee Kevin Clancy wasn’t interested and, remarkably, VAR official Andrew Dallas agreed with the onfield official after a quickfire check of the incident.
In the 57th minute, Kuhn eased any concerns among the Hoops ranks as he capitalised on some slack play in the Hibs ranks.
The German challenged Bursik when the netminder looked slow to react to a passback and his clearance ricocheted off the winger into the net.
Three minute later, there was a massive cheer to welcome back Adam Idah to Celtic as he took over from James Forrest with Maeda reverting to his more accustomed left-wing role.
Yang Hyun-jun replaced Maeda in the 71st minute and Paulo Bernardo and Luis Palma took over from Hatate and Kuhn 10 minutes later.
O’Riley brought out a good diving save from Bursik and Palma swept one just wide as Rodgers’ side kept up the pressure on their way to the quarter-finals.
TEAM: Schmeichel; A Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor; O’Riley, McGregor, Hatate (sub: Bernardo 81); Kuhn (sub: Palma 81), Maeda (sub: Yang 71), Forrest (sub: Idah 60).
