Celtic sealed a place in the Scottish Cup final thanks to an extra-time demolition as they smashed St Mirren 6-2 at Hampden Park on Sunday afternoon.
Daizen Maeda put Celtic ahead in bizarre circumstances less than a minute into the clash, when St Mirren goalkeeper Ryan Mullen fired his clearance against the Japanese international and saw it trickle over the line. Anthony Ralston blasted home a stunning second deep into first-half stoppage time to double the lad.
St Mirren refused to lie down though, and dragged themselves back into the game on 53 minutes when Mikael Mandron headed home superbly from Declan John’s teasing left-wing cross. With the game edging towards the final minutes, Mandron forced the game into extra-time, firing home with aplomb after latching onto Jake Young’s knock on.
However, the Buddies were blown apart in the first-half of extra time as the goals rained in at the national stadium, with substitute Kelechi Iheanacho bagging a quickfire brace (96, 101), Luke McCowan (98), and Benjamin Nygren (102) sealed a remarkable win for Celtic.
Here’s how The Scotsman rated the performance of each player as Celtic beat St Mirren 6-2 at Hampden:
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5. Benjamin Arthur (Celtic) - 5
Brought in for the suspended Liam Scales and endured a difficult afternoon against a physically imposing St Mirren frontline. | SNS Group
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6. Alex Gogic (St Mirren) - 6
Led by example and helped St Mirren compose themselves after a disastrous start. Enjoyed his battle with Maeda, but was powerless to resist as Celtic exploded into life late on. | PA
7. Auston Trusty (Celtic) - 5
Like his defensive partner Arthur, the American found it tough going against Mandron and co. | PA
8. Miguel Freckleton (St Mirren) - 5
Composed in possession, he was another that did well until Celtic overwhelmed them in the first period of extra time. | SNS Group