Daizen Maeda maintained his winter hot streak to fire Celtic into the Scottish Cup fifth round after battling past committed Kilmarnock.
The Japanese wide man was back in the Hoops side after missing a couple of games through injury. And he grabbed the winner with his fifth goal in his last eight games with 20 minutes to go in a hard fought tie at Celtic Park. Callum McGregor struck with another early long range stunner – his seventh goal of the season and all from outside the box. But the Hoops missed a host of chances and Kilmarnock grew into the game before Bobby Wales equalised before the interval following a VAR check for handball from Robbie Deas in the build up.
Celtic had to dig deep against the resilient Rugby Park men but Maeda pounced to keep the holders on the road to Hampden. Brendan Rodgers is still undefeated in 19 Scottish Cup ties with Celtic and will now turn his attention to the Champions League. But he’ll be relieved to have eventually got the job done against Killie despite his team missing plenty of chances to make it more comfortable.
Derek McInnes’ side recovered from a nightmare start to give the Hoops a tough test. But it was a couple of moments of quality that counted in the end. Kilmarnock were up against it from the off – as they lost Robby McCrorie in the opening minute.
The keeper was carted off after taking a hefty blow to the face when he bravely diving at the feet of Nicholas Kuhn when the hitman looked set to nab a quick-fire opener. Stand-in Kieran O’Hara beat out a Maeda attempt with his first touch – from a breakaway seconds after Fraser Murray had thumped the bar with a curling free kick at the other end.
And all of this was before McGregor raced on to a cute Kyogo lay-off to walk past a couple of markers and slam into the bottom corner from 25 yards in the 12th minute. Celts could have been out of sight after half an hour. Kyogo fired wide, Reo Hatate blazed over after slick move involving Cameron Carter-Vickers and Arne Engels then Robbie Deas smuggled one off the line ahead of Kuhn.
Killie hadn’t posed much threat – but Celtic got punished for their wastefulness when the visitors levelled out of the blue right on half-time in controversial fashion. Wales tucked it away at the back post with Celts claiming for a handball from Deas after the defender diverted Murray’s cross.
But VAR allowed the goal to stand and Killie were back in business. The Rugby Park men grew in belief for the second period while the Hoops started to struggle with being pressed higher up the pitch.
And Celtic were continuing to spurn chances when they did get through, with Kyogo and Engels both missing big openings. Maeda made the breakthrough on 69 minutes just when things were beginning to get a tad tense.
Kuhn did the damage with a darting run to tee up his teammate, who coolly buried past O’Hara. Celtic sparked to life and could have sealed it with room to spare with Kuhn clattering the bar and then clipping wide when put through by Adam Idah late on. But it was enough to see the Hoops safely through in the end.
Can’t take any chances
Celtic will be relieved to get the Cup tie out of the way – but they could have made life a lot easier for themselves. The Scottish Cup holders should have been home and dry by half an hour here.
And they could have added a good few more after finally nudging ahead in the second period. Instead – much like Dens Park last week – they missed several gilt-edged opportunities and were almost made to pay the price. They got there in the end but they might not be so lucky in the Champions League this week the Young Boys arrive in Glasgow.
The Swiss outfit may be out of the running for the knockout stages but they will be fresh after just coming back from a month’s winter break. They have pride at stake and won’t roll over. Celtic have been playing in patches in recent weeks but will need to be switched on for 90 minutes. And they certainly can’t afford to be passing up any huge opportunities that come their way.
In the Nic of time
Celtic are a different animal with Nicolas Kuhn in the side. The winger has been a massive influence all season in terms of goals and assists. But he’s also a huge part of the way the Hoops play.
His pace and direct running is a constant source of danger for opposition teams and he can cause problems against packed defences as well as on the counter. Kuhn is clearly bursting with confidence despite his brief layoff and he is going to be vital against Young Boys this week. The German has already shown he can cut it in the Champions League with his sensational display against RB Leipzig. And Celtic will need him firing on all cylinders again on Wednesday as they target the knockout stages.
Kil-joy
It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster season for Killie so far with their European adventure and slow start to the league. The results have been up and down at times and there’s no doubt Derek McInnes has been hampered by injuries to key men, like striker Kyle Vassell.
Again here, he must have despaired at seeing Robby McCrorie and Brad Lyons forced to come off. But there is still plenty to be positive about for the Rugby Park men. Once they got over the early slackness and pressed Celtic man-form-man, they rattled the hosts and got some joy. It was much more like their old selves and it should give them a blueprint for the coming weeks with a tough run of games ahead, including Hearts, Dundee United, Aberdeen and Rangers. The Scottish Cup might be gone but there’s still every chance they’ll be in the fight for the top six.