sport news Celtic cruise to victory with emphatic Scottish Cup quarter-finals win over ... trends now

The Treble is now firmly in sight for Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic, who transferred their relentless league form into a comprehensive Scottish Cup bludgeoning of Hearts.

Ahead within two minutes and still still pressing for goals at the death, this was a performance that swiftly dismantled the sense that this was a quarter-final tie fraught with danger.

Hearts boss Robbie Neilson did his best to talk up the challenge in advance, speaking about Hearts being at their ‘peak’ in the build-up, a comment not necessarily borne out by results but clearly crafted to convince his players they were capable of claiming a memorable victory.

Postecoglou batted away the pre-match narrative, dismissing the significance of so-called mind games and his players were true to his words, delivering another focused and sharp performance that suffocated the home team.

Roundly hailed as Scotland’s third force, Hearts were a distant second on a day which Neilson believed would offer his team a chance to land a knock-out blow.

Hopes that top scorer and stand-in captain Lawrence Shankland would be fit were dashed 75 minutes before kick-off when the team sheets dropped.

Kept out of these teams’ midweek meeting in Glasgow, there was insufficient improvement in the striker’s tight hamstring, meaning Josh Ginnelly again led the line but, with the supporting Barrie McKay, anonymous the forward had scant chance to add to the goal he score in Glasgow last Wednesday.

Celtic were also missing a midweek scorer in Daizen Maeda but Ange Postecoglou simply swapped in another in Sead Haksabanovic, who’d curled home the clinching goal from the bench.

Comfortable 3-1 winners in the end, Celtic would have been steeled for something more exacting in Edinburgh but obliterated that threat by tearing into their hosts. Within two minutes they’d created three clear chances and scored a goal.

First Haksabanovic fed Hatate for an early hit that Clark turned away and from the half-cleared corner corner Callum McGregor fired over.

There’s a school of thought that Jota does his best work for Celtic operating off the left flank, but with Haksabanovic on that beat he offered a forceful reminder that he is quite comfortable operating as an orthodox winger on the right.

Fed on the halfway line the Portuguese first ghosted his way onto the ball and then drove ahead with purpose and speed.

A swarm of supporting runners gave him plenty to aim at and he picked out Aaron Mooy who side-footed home with his left foot.