A shining second half show saw Celtic fire themselves into the semi-finals of the Scottish Communities League Cup, as they thumped Hibernian 4-1 on Wednesday evening.
Daniel Majstorovic was credited with an own goal after he failed to stop an Ivan Sproule shot from finding the Bhoys net. That made it 1-0 to Hibs at Easter Road and it stayed that way until just after half-time when James Forrest dragged the Bhoys level.
Forrest then added another, which was added to by strikes from Anthony Stokes and Gary Hooper. Hibs’ cause was soon lost completely when Sproule was dismissed with 18 minutes still left to play.
With Kilmarnock the only other side from the top division left in the competition, Celtic went into the game as huge favourites for the trophy. However, they were to find themselves a goal behind after just four minutes.
The home side won a corner, which was delivered in by Leigh Griffiths but directed away by Adam Matthews. However, the clearance only went as far as Sproule and he drove it across goal and past Fraser Forster after it diverted off of Majstorovic.
It took Neil Lennon’s men some time to recover but they would eventually begin to conjure up chances, one of which Hooper knocked just wide after sliding in to meet a Beram Kayal cross.
Stokes then sent a powerful 25-yard free-kick over Mark Brown’s bar before the vertical woodwork came into play, with Stokes again involved as he drove an effort off the outside of the upright from just outside the Hibs area.
The Irishman continued to get chances as he headed a Ki Sung-Yueng corner too high. However, Colin Calderwood’s men were dangerous on the break and Sproule almost had a second when he picked up Garry O'Connor’s pass and drove it just wide of the far post.
Hibs, in fact, ended the first half strongly, with Forster needed to run from his line to beat Junior Agogo to a Sproule pass. The Bhoys goalkeeper then blocked a well-struck Griffiths shot to make sure his side trailed by just one at the break.
Those Forster interventions proved to be all the more important as they meant Forrest was able to level the tie in the first minute of the second half. Hooper took charge of the ball after receiving a Ki pass on the edge of the box. He fed the ball on to team-mate Forrest and the 20-year-old sold Paul Hanlon before smashing the ball to the back of the home side’s net.
A poor free-kick from Griffiths and an abysmal effort from Agogo, which cleared the bar by about eight feet, were the below-par immediate responses to the goal from Hibs. They were nowhere near enough as Forrest continued his mission to turn the tide of the game by putting his side in front for the first time on 58 minutes. It was simple but classy as Forrest played a neat one-two with Stokes before clipping his left-footed effort wide of Brown but inside the post.
Stokes then put two clear goals between the sides. His side won a corner, which was delivered by Ki, and the Hibernian defence was nowhere as Stokes rose to head the ball home unchallenged against his old side.
Hooper added a fourth five minutes later, the former Scunthorpe United man staying onside before bringing the ball down and firing it home in a single movement. Hibernian well and truly dead and buried!
To add to their woes Sproule then found himself heading for an early bath, as referee Willie Collum showed him his second yellow card of the night after a foul on the near-flawless Forrest.
The sides will meet again on Saturday and, after this second half performance, Hibs will not be looking forward to that one. Celtic march onto the semi-finals but the league takes centre-stage for them now as they look to make up a ten-point gap to Rangers, starting at home to Calderwood’s strugglers on Saturday.