Rangers booked their place in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 win over nine-man Hibernian at Easter Road.

Midfielder John Lundstram bundled in the opener in the 23rd minute after Hibs keeper David Marshall had saved a penalty from captain James Tavernier.

Hibs attacker Martin Boyle was taken to hospital with an injury following a duel with defender John Souttar and Philippe Clement’s side wobbled at the start of the second half, looking weary after their battling 2-2 draw with Benfica in the Europa League in Lisbon on Thursday night.

However, Hibernian defender Jordan Obita was sent off in the 68th minute for picking up the second of two yellow cards for a foul on Rabbi Matondo before Nathan Moriah-Welsh was shown a straight red by referee Steven McLean three minutes later for a foul on Lundstram.

Portuguese striker Fabio Silva added a second in the 83rd minute to take Rangers into the last-four draw along with Aberdeen and Celtic, with Championship side Morton hosting Hearts on Monday night.

However, there were more injuries for Clement to deal with Dujon Sterling and his replacement Ross McCausland going off during a pulsating game.

Hibs defender Chris Cadden made his first start of the season after his long-term injury absence with midfielder Nectar Triantis also coming in, as injured Lewis Miller and Dylan Vente dropped out.

Despite their European exertions, the visitors were unchanged with Cyriel Dessers and Silva in attack with the former knocking a cross from left-back Ridvan Yilmaz past the near post after 13 minutes of a frenetic beginning.

Moments later, Jack Butland almost got caught dribbling along his six-yard box by attacker Myziane Maolida, the ball coming off the post after a tackle and ricocheting off the keeper for a corner which came to nothing.

Then Dessers robbed hesitant Obita down the left flank and drove into the box but his angled-drive was blocked by Marshall for a corner which was defended.

Obita compounded his error in the 21st minute when he tripped Sterling inside the penalty area leaving referee McLean with little option but to point to the spot.

Tavernier’s driven penalty was parried out by Marshall but Lundstram was quicker than the Hibs defenders to react and forced the ball over the line from a few yards out.

Marshall then saved a powerful drive from Sterling minutes later before the Light Blues utility player pulled up with what looked like a hamstring problem and had to be replaced by McCausland.

Hibs had their own injury concerns soon afterwards when Boyle and Souttar collided in an aerial duel just outside the Rangers penalty area and the winger, after a lengthy stoppage, was taken from the field on a stretcher, his place taken by Elie Youan.

The visitors had to withstand sustained pressure when the game resumed and after Rangers defender Connor Goldson fouled Emiliano Marcondes 30 yards out, the Hibs forward forced a fine diving save from Butland with his curling free-kick.

Then substitute McCausland limped off to be replaced by Matondo, with Kemar Roofe on for Dessers, before the hosts were reduced to 10 men when Obita, already booked for a foul on Tom Lawrence, saw a second yellow for a tackle on Matondo with Moriah-Welsh following him minutes later after scything down Lundstram.

And it was the former Sheffield United midfielder who set up Silva to rifle in Rangers’ second from 14 yards to settle an eventful cup tie and secure a last-four place at Hampden Park.

It could have been more, substitute Cole McKinnon having the ball in the net in added time only to see the offside flag up.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers understood why his side did not reach their peak in a tricky Scottish Gas Scottish Cup tie against Livingston after Cameron Carter-Vickers joined Callum McGregor on the sidelines on the eve of the game.

Celtic reached the semi-finals but it was more nervy than the 4-2 scoreline suggested with Livingston twice equalising through Daniel MacKay and Tete Yengi before Daizen Maeda completed his hat-trick in the 86th minute and substitute Kyogo Furuhashi netted deep in stoppage time.

Celtic again missed skipper McGregor, who hopes to return from an Achilles issue after the international break, and vice-captain Carter-Vickers was left out as a precaution amid concern over the troublesome hamstring which has forced the defender out for several lay-offs this season.

Rodgers was also without the suspended Yang Hyun-jun and injured Luis Palma along with long-term absentee Reo Hatate.

The Celtic boss praised Nicolas Kuhn for his creativity and fellow winger Maeda for his finishing, but added: “We didn’t close the spaces anywhere near what we would want and the speed of our game wasn’t what we would want. But I am understanding of that, some of the guys coming in and also the level of players who were missing.

“The players deserve credit, some hadn’t played a lot, Matt O’Riley was ill all week, Stephen Welsh came in at the last minute, Nicolas had one of his first games. There was a bit of disruption, but the guys got the job done.”

Rodgers admitted Celtic gave away “poor goals”, and added: “I think you see whenever Cam is not in the team – with the greatest of respect – the security in the team.

“I don’t have any fears when we have those guys back. I just think there’s a moment in any team when you are missing your best players then you will maybe not be as tight as you want to be.”

The Celtic manager explained the centre-back’s latest absence.

“We were just going through something very, very light and he made a pass and felt something in the back of his leg,” he said.

“He continued to train but we didn’t want to take any risk whatsoever because as much as he wants to play every game, we had this earlier in the season when he said he was OK and then we ended up losing him for more matches. So hopefully it’s nothing too serious, but we had to take the precaution.”

Rodgers also stated that the level McGregor brings to the game to is “beyond what a lot of our players can do”.

“To be fair, it’s a bit like Jamesy Forrest coming into the game, what a joy to see someone come in for that 25 minutes with that quality and the football idea he brought to the game,” Rodgers said.

“Callum is a player that is important for us, so fingers crossed again we can get to the bottom of that and he’ll be available after the international break.”

Livingston manager David Martindale bemoaned a Joe Hart save from Michael Nottingham’s header at 2-2 and hopes his players can take heart from their display as they bid to overturn a six-point deficit at the foot of the cinch Premiership.

“I’m pretty proud of them albeit we’re out of the cup,” he said.

“It’s been a painful season and we’re on a torrid run. I don’t need self-belief, but I can only hope the players take a wee bit of self-belief.

“I thought they were very good in the game, it would have been easy to come here and accept a 3-0 or 4-0 but they didn’t do that. They played on the front foot and managed the game reasonably well.”

Daizen Maeda marked his 100th Celtic appearance with a match-winning hat-trick as the holders saw off a spirited challenge from Livingston to reach the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-finals.

Maeda put Celtic ahead for the third time in the 86th minute to take his tally for the club to 27 goals after the cinch Premiership bottom side had twice equalised at Celtic Park through Daniel MacKay and Tete Yengi.

Substitute Kyogo Furuhashi was on target deep into stoppage time as Celtic sealed a 4-2 triumph.

Celtic missed both Callum McGregor and Cameron Carter-Vickers through injury, but they did just enough to seal a Hampden trip next month.

Carter-Vickers was withdrawn as a precaution after the defender’s hamstring caused concern in training, while Luis Palma failed to shake off a knock, which allowed Nicolas Kuhn to make his first start at Celtic Park.

Livingston also had injury issues to contend with, mainly in midfield. Jason Holt dropped out through illness and Andrew Shinnie with a groin problem, while the cup-tied David Carson joined Scott Pittman on the sidelines.

David Martindale lined up with full-back Jamie Brandon and winger Steven Bradley as part of his central trio.

Celtic had an early warning when Ayo Obileye hit the post, although Willie Collum blew for a home free-kick.

Kuhn had already shown flashes of promise before setting up the seventh-minute opener with an excellent cross from the right.

Right-back Michael Nottingham allowed Maeda to go but the forward was level when the cross came in and he took a touch before finishing from six yards.

Livi levelled five minutes later after Cristian Montano’s ball in between Stephen Welsh and Alistair Johnston put MacKay in behind.

The winger, who scored against Celtic for Inverness in last year’s final, had time to wait for the ball to bounce before curling into the top corner.

Left-back Montano undid his good work 10 minutes later when he dithered in possession on the edge of his box after Livi appeared to have thwarted a dangerous counter-attack.

Matt O’Riley won the ball back and Maeda stooped to head home after Michael McGovern had stopped the midfielder’s shot.

Celtic had chances to enjoy a more comfortable half-time break with Adam Idah the biggest cuplrit, making a mess of two shooting chances when he got in behind, although he forced a good stop with a header.

McGovern also saved well from Maeda twice before the break and both the Japan international and Idah failed to convert a low cross from Kuhn after the interval.

Yengi stabbed Stephen Kelly’s cross just wide before netting Livingston’s second equaliser in the 54th minute.

O’Riley was caught in possession by Brandon on the halfway line and, although the Celtic midfielder got back to hold up Yengi, the striker turned and curled a brilliant finish into the far corner.

The home support were almost stunned further moments later when Nottingham’s header was stopped by Joe Hart’s foot on the line.

Celtic took time to react and McGovern was equal to efforts from Johnston and Kuhn when they got going.

Furuhashi, Daniel Kelly and James Forrest – making his first appearance of 2024 – came on and the latter added a spark before being involved in taking the lead for a third time.

The winger fed Tomoki Iwata’s run beyond and the Japanese midfielder’s low cross was tapped in by Maeda.

The attacker almost got his fourth, but hit the crossbar from close range and Furuhashi was played through in the closing seconds to slot home, which was initially denied, before a VAR review overturned an offside decision.

Neil Warnock advised Aberdeen to give a new manager time to assess the squad before the summer before stepping down immediately after leading the Dons to Hampden.

Warnock’s departure was announced soon after a 3-1 home victory over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

It was a second win in eight games for Warnock – the other came against Bonnyrigg Rose in the previous round – since he replaced the sacked Barry Robson on February 5.

That appointment was designed to last until the end of the season but Warnock leaves the club 10th in the cinch Premiership, four points above the danger zone.

Chairman Dave Cormack declared in a brief statement that the search for a long-term manager was at an “advanced stage”. Neil Lennon has emerged as the favourite in recent days after declaring his strong interest in the job.

First-team coach Peter Leven could be in charge for Wednesday’s Premiership clash at Dundee though, with Warnock bowing out immediately.

Warnock said in his final post-match press conference: “I said I’d try to help them out and give them my advice. My advice is to get a new manager in as soon as possible now.

“They’re well down the line and it needs an overhaul in the summer. There’s no use waiting until then and they’ve listened to me.

“I think he needs to have a couple of months looking at the squad now in depth. Because I think to be successful – and you can be successful with the right recruitment – they need a couple of months to assess it.

“I’m glad I’ve been able to get the fans to the semi-final and we deserved it because we were superior in every department. It was a really good way to end.

“I’m disappointed I won’t lead them out at Hampden but some lucky man will come in to do that.”

Warnock described his time at Pittodrie as “up and down”. He faced questions over his future after the Dons lost 2-1 against St Mirren the previous weekend despite leading with 95 minutes on the clock.

“I didn’t enjoy last week after the St Mirren game,” the former Sheffield United manager said. “I did think: ‘What am I doing here at 75’?

“But I knew I had to be the one to get everyone going on Monday because you don’t have time to dwell.”

Warnock’s departure was planned during a meeting with Cormack and chief executive Alan Burrows on Thursday.

“We had a chat and I thought it was the right time to bring someone else in,” he said. “They’re not far away. If it’s just one game or so, Peter will be okay.

“The lads know what they’re doing now. I felt it was the right time. I wanted to win and finish like that.

“That was the situation on Thursday. I told them how I felt and we’ve left amicably.”

Warnock will now possibly spend time at his holiday home in Dunoon and stated he might go to watch Morton in their quarter-final against Hearts on Monday, while he promised the Aberdeen players he will go to Hampden “for the final”.

But he would not rule out one last job, having come out of retirement last season to steer Huddersfield away from relegation danger.

When asked if this was the end, he said: “I’ve just been asked that and I said, ‘look, it’s the 16th time I’ve retired now’. I would say yes but who knows, when you get to my age you don’t know what’s around the corner – you just hope that you keep living.”

Jamie McGrath opened and closed the scoring and Graeme Shinnie netted on a day of mixed emotions for the captain – he picked up a late yellow card for dissent which will rule him out of the semi-final.

Danny Armstrong pulled a goal back for Killie late in the first half but they could not carve out any second-half chances.

The visitors missed winger Matty Kennedy through injury and could not bring on Kevin van Veen after the striker experienced a tight hamstring during the warm-up.

Manager Derek McInnes said: “We had a brilliant crowd here, expectations have been raised, but we never met that expectation and sometimes that’s the way it goes.”

Neil Warnock guided Aberdeen into the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-finals in what proved to be his final match as manager as the Dons beat Kilmarnock 3-1 at Pittodrie.

Warnock had faced questions about his future ahead of the game after failing to net a win in six cinch Premiership matches to leave the Dons third-bottom of the league.

It turned out his mind was made up regardless of the quarter-final outcome as he left on a high after Jamie McGrath’s double saw the 75-year-old record a second win in eight matches, having overseen a win over Bonnyrigg Rose in the previous round.

The Dons announced soon after the game that Warnock had stepped aside along with assistant Ronnie Jepson, having been appointed until the end of the season on February 5.

Chairman Dave Cormack said in a statement: “With the search for a new manager at an advanced stage, Peter Leven will assume control of all first team matters until the process is concluded.”

McGrath hit an early opener and rounded off the scoring during a comfortable second half for the home side at Pittodrie.

Graeme Shinnie had put the Dons two ahead and Kilmarnock could not make the most of the lifeline afforded by Danny Armstrong’s strike late in the first half.

Killie have taken nine points from Aberdeen this season but the Dons had not lost in 13 previous Scottish Cup meetings between the teams. The cups continue to be a bright spot in Aberdeen’s difficult league campaign, with the victory sealing a third trip to Hampden so far.

Aberdeen’s 11th-minute opener came as a result of a long ball from Stefan Gartenmann, which was just too high for Stuart Findlay to properly head clear.

Bojan Miovski’s backheel put Junior Hoilett in behind and McGrath was on hand to knock home the rebound after Will Dennis stopped the winger’s shot.

Kilmarnock responded well. The visitors claimed for handball in the box from Gartenmann but referee John Beaton and video assistant Andrew Dallas were both unconvinced.

Aberdeen doubled their lead in the 33rd minute after Hoilett took a quick throw and crossed. Miovski laid the ball back for Shinnie, who had run off the back of Kyle Vassell, and the Dons captain sent a powerful strike into the roof of the net via a deflection off Liam Donnelly.

Cheered on by a full away end in the 10,879 crowd, the visitors  got back into the game eight minutes later when Vassell got past Nicky Devlin and cut the ball back for Armstrong to sweep into the net first time.

Aberdeen dealt well with some sporadic set-pieces and restored their two-goal lead in the 66th minute.

Left-back Jack MacKenzie overlapped and cut the ball back for McGrath to guide a shot home off the head of Findlay.

There was no way back for Killie and Miovski was denied by Dennis as Aberdeen finished the stronger side, although there was a late blow when Shinnie received a yellow card for dissent that rules him out of the semi-final.

Warnock received a warm ovation as he celebrated with his players on the pitch in what proved to be his farewell to the Dons fans.

Neil Warnock has stepped down as Aberdeen manager after guiding the club into the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-finals.

A 3-1 quarter-final victory over Kilmarnock proved to be the final match of the 75-year-old’s short spell in charge.

Warnock was handed the job until the end of the season after Barry Robson was sacked but did not enjoy a cinch Premiership win in six matches.

The Dons stated that Warnock had “stepped aside” and chairman Dave Cormack added on Aberdeen’s website: “The club would like to thank both Neil and Ronnie Jepson for their efforts.

“With the search for a new manager at an advanced stage, Peter Leven will assume control of all first team matters until the process is concluded.”

Jamie McGrath’s double helped Aberdeen into the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-finals and gave manager Neil Warnock a much-needed lift as the Dons beat Kilmarnock 3-1.

McGrath hit an early opener and rounded off the scoring during a comfortable second half for the home side at Pittodrie.

Graeme Shinnie had put the Dons two ahead and Kilmarnock could not make the most of the lifeline afforded by Danny Armstrong’s strike late in the first half.

Warnock had faced questions about his future ahead of the game after failing to net a win in his first six cinch Premiership matches. A run of 10 games without a league victory in total sees the Dons in third-bottom place and Killie have taken nine points off them this season.

But Aberdeen had not lost in 13 previous Scottish Cup meetings with Killie and the cups continue to be a bright spot in Aberdeen’s difficult league campaign, with the victory sealing a third trip to Hampden so far.

Aberdeen’s 11th-minute opener came as a result of a long ball from Stefan Gartenmann, which was just too high for Stuart Findlay to properly head clear.

Bojan Miovski’s backheel put Junior Hoilett in behind and McGrath was on hand to knock home the rebound after Will Dennis stopped the winger’s shot.

Kilmarnock responded well. The visitors claimed for handball in the box from Gartenmann but referee John Beaton and video assistant Andrew Dallas were both unconvinced.

Kyle Vassell volleyed over on the turn and both Liam Donnelly and Findlay failed to hit the target from free headers.

Aberdeen doubled their lead in the 33rd minute after Hoilett took a quick throw and crossed. Miovski laid the ball back for Shinnie, who had run off the back of Vassell, and the Dons captain sent a powerful strike into the roof of the net via a deflection off Donnelly.

Cheered on by a full away end in the 10,879 crowd, the visitors  got back into the game eight minutes later when Vassell got past Nicky Devlin and cut the ball back for Armstrong to sweep into the net first time.

Killie midfielder Liam Polworth hit a powerful shot straight at Kelle Roos before the break but the Ayrshire side could not maintain their pressure after the interval.

Aberdeen dealt well with some sporadic set-pieces and restored their two-goal lead in the 66th minute.

Left-back Jack MacKenzie overlapped and cut the ball back for McGrath to guide a shot home off the head of Findlay.

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes had replaced David Watson with Fraser Murray at half-time but he waited until the 76th minute before looking to change the second half from his bench. Former Aberdeen pair Greg Stewart and Gary Mackay-Steven came on along with James Balagizi.

There was no immediate transformation and Dennis saved well from Miovski before McInnes made his last roll of the dice, bringing on Innes Cameron ahead of Kevin van Veen.

But there was no way back for Killie and Warnock received a warm ovation as he celebrated with his players on the pitch.

Philippe Clement insists Rangers will park  encouraging European ambitions to concentrate on the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup tie against Hibernian on Sunday.

There is little respite for the Light Blues, who drew 2-2 with Benfica in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie in Lisbon on Thursday night, with the return game at Ibrox next week.

The cinch Premiership leaders are now preparing for the last-eight clash with the Hibees at Easter Road, where Clement believes their focus will be “200 per cent. No doubt about that”.

The Belgian boss, whose side beat Hibernian 4-0 at Ibrox in his first game in charge of the Govan club last October and 3-0 in Leith in January, said:  “My team have been working hard all season in that way and never stopped.

“Good proof is after the Real Betis game (in December), a few days later they had the Viaplay Cup final and they were there (won 1-0).

“My team is hungry to win more trophies and we know we need to play well against Hibs because they are really hungry to beat us, apparently.

“We are going to see how people recover for the next two days and we are going to go hard to get into the semi-final because it is important.

“I have read that they (Hibs) were really unlucky in their last two games against us. So they have a lot of belief, clearly.

“So it is about us getting a good result there and qualifying.”

Clement was proud of all of his players’ efforts in Lisbon but had special praise for Portuguese attacker Fabio Silva, on loan from Wolves, who returned to a club where he spent two years in the youth system and turned in a fine performance on the left-hand side.

He said: “Fabio is growing. He is still a young player at 21. We had a lot of talks before he came to Rangers about his role and the roles he could play.

“We talked about him as a striker and also playing on the left side, or even around the striker. He can do all these roles and he showed his quality in this game.

“You see he has integrated really quickly into the squad and feels really good within the club. He plays with a smile and gives a lot of energy to the team.

“He has his qualities and is taking more and more control of his emotions. We talked a lot about that, that it’s the next step for him to take.

“I am really happy about how he handled the game in Lisbon because it was a hostile situation with a lot of attention towards him. But he played for the team, to show everybody he’s a good player.

“He played to be good player for Rangers and that’s important to me.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has no regrets over his criticism of the match officials following last weekend’s defeat by Hearts after being hit with a Scottish Football Association disciplinary charge.

Rodgers faces a hearing on March 28 after being accused of breaching a rule which forbids criticising match officials “in such a way as to indicate bias or incompetence”.

The Northern Irishman claimed the “level of incompetence” made him worry for the game as he criticised the displays of referee Don Robertson and video assistant John Beaton in particular, with Yang Hyun-jun’s red card and a penalty for handball against Tomoki Iwata the key complaints.

Rodgers risks being banned from the touchline for Celtic’s cinch Premiership clash against Rangers on April 7 but, when asked if he had any regrets over his comments, he said: “No, not at all. My job is to defend the team, defend the club and that’s what we will do in this case.

“We will defend it vigorously and when the date comes we will go from there. I will sit down with the club and the lawyers and we will look at it from there.”

Rodgers added: “It was my observations over many games, primarily around the inconsistency of decisions.

“I never talk so much about referees and haven’t done over the course of my career. I understand they make mistakes. But I felt the ones last week were clear, clear errors.”

Celtic failed in an appeal over Yang’s red card for a high boot on Alex Cochrane, which was upgraded following a VAR review.

Rodgers said: “I have seen incidents worse than that, and I thought the on-field decision was correct, a yellow card.

“We had a report back that the studs and the boot was in the face of the player, which clearly a couple of days later when we get that report and it says that, it is clearly not the case when you watch it.”

Yang will be suspended for Sunday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final against Livingston and fellow winger Luis Palma is a doubt with a knock.

Captain Callum McGregor will again sit out the game following an inconclusive scan after being troubled by pain in his Achilles/calf area.

“We had it in our mind anyway he would miss through until the international break and then take it from there,” Rodgers said.

“He travelled for the scan but nothing really showed up so much. We will assess it over the next couple of weeks. We will just have to see how that feels on a day-to-day basis really.

“It’s something he has felt most seasons of late, towards the back end of the season, but he has had to play through it or was able to play through it. It’s not something new but it’s something we have to look at and be mindful of.”

Alexandro Bernabei also drops out of the squad after being loaned to Brazilian club Internacional for the rest of 2024.

Rodgers was comfortable with the departure of the Argentinian despite having no regular left-back as cover for Greg Taylor.

“If I didn’t want it to happen it, it didn’t have to happen, but I’m confident enough in what we have in the squad for the remainder of the season, we will have coverage in that position,” Rodgers said. “Liam Scales has played there and we have other options.”

Steven Naismith was delighted at his side’s performance as they powered to the last eight of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup with a 4-1 thumping of Airdire.

Hearts raced into a three-goal lead with just 21 minutes on the clock after goals from Lawrence Shankland, Kenneth Vargas and Calem Nieuwenhof had them on easy street.

Adam Frizzell restored some hope for the hosts, though that would be extinguished when Shankland dinked home his 24th goal of the season with 17 minutes remaining.

“It was a really good performance, we scored early goals, scored four goals and it’s a comfortable night,” Naismith said.

“On top of that, the detail that we’d worked on, nearly all of it was right and the players executed it brilliantly.

“There was loads of positives. I’d say we’re still a good bit away, we could be more clinical and in some moments I think when it went 3-0 we picked the wrong option and were forcing it.”

Hearts will now travel to Morton in the quarter-finals, hoping to reach Hampden for the second time this season having already made the semi-final of the Viaplay Cup.

Dougie Imrie’s cinch Championship side shocked Motherwell to book their place in the next round, and Naismith is anticipating a tough encounter.

“Everybody in the last eight thinks they have a chance,” he added.

“Our tie away to Morton, people will think we are favourites, but think there’s a potential upset there.

“I think if we’re not at it then it’ll be a really difficult game, they’ve shown on Friday that they are a good team and are in form.

“We want to go as far as we can, one of the games this season that is disappointing is the semi-final in the last cup – we want to get to the semi-final and do well this time.”

Despite a night filled with positives for the Tynecastle side, there was one major disappointment as Craig Halkett limped off after 25 minutes.

Halkett had only recently returned from a year long lay-off with a ruptured ACL, though Naismith is hopeful the defender will make a speedy recovery.

“It’s just something with his knee, it doesn’t seem to be major but we don’t know at the moment,” he explained.

“We’ll just have to wait and see, at that moment in the game there wasn’t any major risk to continue on.”

Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe felt his side were competitive against their Premiership opponents, despite coming out on the end of a comprehensive defeat.

“I thought for large parts of the first half we were competitive,” McCabe said.

“We started the game really well with intent and didn’t sit off the game as probably a lot of smaller clubs would do against a big club like Hearts.

“You give a player the quality of Lawrence Shankland three or four opportunities then he’s bound to take one or two.

“There are loads of positives going around this club, yes we lost the game and are disappointed, but we’ve just come up from League One through the play-offs, got into the last 16 of the Scottish Cup and have the final of the Challenge Cup against The New Saints in a couple of weeks’ time.”

Hearts booked a Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final clash with Morton after a first-half blitz powered them to a 4-1 victory at Airdrie.

Lawrence Shankland was yet again the key man for Steven Naismith’s side, with the captain bagging a brace to take his tally for the season to 24.

Shankland fired the Jambos in front and despite a positive response from the home side, the game was soon almost out of reach.

Kenneth Vargas and Calem Nieuwenhof both found the net to have the visitors on easy street with just 21 minutes on the clock.

There was a glimmer of hope for the Diamonds following Adam Frizzell’s glancing header after 34 minutes, but Shankland would add a decisive fourth with 17 minutes remaining to cap off an emphatic victory.

Craig Gordon returned between the sticks for the visitors, with Naismith making three changes from the side that defeated St Johnstone in midweek.

Jorge Grant and Craig Halkett were also handed starting roles, replacing Frankie Kent and Scott Fraser.

Arron Lyall made his first start for Airdrie since joining the club on loan from Rangers, the 20-year-old coming in for Liam McStravick.

The game began at a frantic pace and the home side forced three corners in the opening 10 minutes.

Hearts struck first in the 11th minute following a sweeping passing move that ended with Shankland powering home Alex Cochrane’s cutback.

Despite suffering an early setback, Airdrie responded well and looked to take the game to their cinch Premiership opponents.

Lyall’s cross almost caught out Gordon, but drifted just wide of the target, before Nikolay Todorov forced a wonderful close-range stop from the Hearts goalkeeper.

The Jambos survived a huge scare when Mason Hancock’s header from Charlie Telfer’s corner cannoned back off the crossbar.

Airdrie would be punished for not taking the chances that came their way when Kenneth Vargas doubled the visitors’ lead. The Costa Rican striker raced on to Halkett’s perfect through pass before prodding the ball past Josh Rae.

Suddenly, the Diamonds were facing a rout and they would concede again three minutes later after Nieuwenhof angled a low drive into the bottom corner.

Hearts were now cruising, though they would be dealt a blow when Halkett limped off to be replaced by Kye Rowles.

Alan Forrest worked Rae with a fizzing volley before the hosts gave themselves a glimmer of hope by reducing the deficit.

Hancock picked out Frizzell with a pin-point cross and the Airdrie skipper glanced beyond Gordon.

Rae denied Forrest and Dexter Lembikisa’s long-range strike either side of half-time as Hearts looked to put the game beyond doubt, but the hosts continued to demonstrate a threat of their own.

Lewis McGregor’s cross almost dropped under the crossbar with Gordon scrambling, and the introduction of Calum Gallagher for the final 23 minutes added an extra dimension to the Airdrie attack.

Any hopes of a shock comeback were extinguished after 73 minutes when Shankland was released by Fraser and the striker produced a typically composed finish to dink over the keeper.

Brendan Rodgers railed against the negative narrative around Celtic and him after reaching the quarter-finals of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup with a 2-0 win over St Mirren.

Despite sitting three points clear of Old Firm rivals Rangers at the top of the cinch Premiership, the Parkhead boss has come under fire for the Hoops’ style of play this season and also for his recruitment.

The holders were shorn of defenders Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Greg Taylor through injury but Japanese duo Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda netted against a spirited home side to earn a home quarter-final tie against Livingston.

Rodgers, who returned to Celtic Park for a second spell in the summer following the departure of Ange Postecoglou to Tottenham, noted that it is now eight wins and a draw in nine games for the Hoops – difficult to construe as any sort of a crisis.

He said: “It’s obviously (a narrative that’s) been created outside.

“But I don’t expect anything less to be honest. We just focus on ourselves.

“We are a winning club. When you’ve won consistently over a number of years, people will look to jump on you and bring us down – and bring me down.

“I am here to win. For sure we will have our day, and have many days going forward.

“We’ll get our influential players back and the squad will be very strong to the end of the season. We’ll continue to fight.

“We just have to prove a point to ourselves and our supporters. I think that’s always the best attitude. You are always looking to prove a point.

“It’s a part of the world where there is a lot of noise – and this year in particular when it (Celtic’s play) maybe hasn’t been as fluent.

“We get compared to the squad of last season but one, it’s not the same squad as last season, and two, a lot of those players who were starting last season have not been playing all of this season.

“But it hasn’t stopped the negativity.

“But I use it in a different way and look logically at it. We’ve missed some important players for long periods and we made some changes in the summer.

“This is a young group of players here who are giving everything, who are looking to develop and improve. If they keep doing that we’ll keep winning games.”

On Israel winger Liel Abada’s omission from the squad altogether, Rodgers said: “He wasn’t in a right frame of mind.

“I’ve spoke a lot to Liel and it has been a challenging time for him. I just felt when he came into the game (at Hibernian) the other night, it just wasn’t him.

“So we gave him this chance to have a few days and clear his mind. I’ll have a chat with him again next week, see where he’s at.”

Johnston picked up a head injury in the midweek win over Hibs and Rodgers said: “We’re just waiting to see again on him.

“A slight fracture on the side. The thinking is we’ll have a look in 10 days to see where he’s at.

“But it could be 10 days to four weeks. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson was both “proud” and “frustrated” about his side’s performance as they exited the cup.

He said: “I’m proud of them, but frustrated at the same time because we had chances and we weren’t clinical enough

“There has to be credit given to Celtic for the two chances they take, they are clinical, and they defended very, very well in their box.

“There were two or three blocks that were fantastic, and ultimately they were better in both 18-yard boxes.

“So, for all the stuff we did in between, they deserved to win the game.”

Japanese duo Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda scored as holders Celtic beat spirited St Mirren 2-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup.

Furuhashi finished off a fine move against the run of play after 15 minutes to give the cinch Premiership leaders a slender half-time lead at the SMiSA Stadium.

Alex Gogic had come close a couple of times for the Buddies in the first half but the Saints could not find a breakthrough and Maeda pounced from close range in the 52nd minute to double Celtic’s lead.

St Mirren could not get back into the game and will rue missed chances and although it was not a sparkling performance from a Celtic side who have been unconvincing recently, it kept intact boss Brendan Rodgers’ record of not having lost a Scottish Cup tie in two spells at the club.

Last season’s domestic treble winners did not arrive in Paisley without concerns.

Despite sitting three points clear of Old Firm rivals Rangers at the top of the Premiership, many fans have been at loggerheads with the club, from complaints about the board’s perceived resistance to splashing the cash in the recent transfer window to Rodgers and his team’s style of play.

The Hoops boss brought in Furuhashi to support birthday boy Adam Idah, who turned 23 on Sunday, up front with defender Anthony Ralston and winger Luis Palma also coming into the side.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson was unable to play on-loan midfielder Kwon Hyeok-kyu against his parent club, while James Bolton was suspended and James Scott dropped to the bench as Charles Dunne, Keanu Baccus and Lewis Jamieson returned for the home side, who made an encouraging start – only to be hit by a stunning goal from a sweeping Celtic move.

Hoops skipper Callum McGregor sent Palma running in to acres of space down the left and when he squared to Kyogo he assertively side-footed his finish past Buddies keeper Zach Hemming for his 12th goal of the season.

Back came Saints, forcing Celtic to defend again while being unable to really test Joe Hart, although the Celtic keeper was fortunate on the half-hour mark when Gogic rattled the bar with a shot on the turn following a Caolan Boyd-Munce corner.

Another swift Celtic move in the 38th minute saw Maeda knock a Palma cross past the post, before Baccus crashed into the VAR monitor on the sidelines leaving a technician to try to reassemble it.

Palma was booked by referee David Dickinson for diving inside the St Mirren box before a spectacular overhead kick from Gogic drew a great save from Hart, as Saints piled on the pressure.

Celtic should have scored again at the start of the second half.

On-loan Norwich striker Idah had a good opportunity from a Ralston pass but missed the target with a shot on the slide.

However, Celtic did not have to wait much longer to make it 2-0 as Palma cross from the left was met by Matt O’Riley and when his shot rebounded off the bar, Maeda knocked the ball into the net from six yards.

St Mirren kept plugging away as they chased a foothold back into the game.

On the hour-mark Greg Kiltie failed to connect properly with a Scott Tanser cross and the ball sped wide and substitute Scott came close in the 71st minute with an angled drive.

There was more defending to do for Celtic as the home side kept going all the way to the final whistle without reward, while there were also chances on the break for the Parkhead outfit to stretch their lead.

Scott Brown claimed referee Willie Collum crumbled under a “pressure decision” when he did not send off Fabio Silva in Rangers’ 2-0 win over cinch Championship side Ayr at Ibrox.

The Portuguese forward had been booked in the first half of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup last-16 tie where the home side took the lead after 10 minutes through a Borna Barisic strike which deflected in off Roy Syla, when he tackled George Granger after the break.

Collum resisted the temptation to flash a second yellow before he soon cautioned Brown for complaining – and then Silva, on loan from Wolves, netted the second after 76 minutes to take the Light Blues into the quarter-final draw.

Gers boss Philippe Clement had on Friday backed Collum despite Rangers reportedly asking the Scottish Football Association not to appoint the official to any of their games going forward after his part as the VAR official in a contentious non-penalty decision which went against them in their Old Firm derby defeat at the end of the year.

It was Collum’s first involvement with Rangers since and former Celtic captain Brown was unimpressed.

The Somerset Park boss said: “The second goal comes from a man who probably shouldn’t be on the park.

“It was a big decision, a pressure decision and it probably was not the right decision.

“I knew he was never going to get sent off, that it was never going to be a red card. I think if it had been the other way around it could have been.

“It was the pressure, coming into these big occasions. Some people can deal with it, some people can’t.

“Willie is used to giving me yellow cards – I think he has missed me.”

Asked if he had quizzed Collum about Silva’s challenge, Brown said: “There is no point, it doesn’t change anything. I was disappointed at the time and then he goes on and scores the goal.

“So it is a harsh lesson but for me it is more about us and how we performed.

“A young team having a belief, because a lot of Premiership teams will just come here and defend but we knew we had to try and play.

“We don’t have that huge target man so we had to try and play. We had to move the ball really well, we had a shape and structure. We were fine throughout the whole game. I never felt we would lose that many goals.”

Clement disagreed with Brown’s assessment of Silva’s tackle.

He said: “No, he got a kick on his leg in that action. You need to look closely at the images.

“He showed me there were studs (marks) on the top of his leg.”

Clement took the opportunity to make seven changes to his side.

Mohamed Diomande, the Ivorian midfielder signed from Danish Superliga club Nordsjaelland and Colombian winger Oscar Cortes – on loan from Lens – were handed were handed their first starts, with the latter particularly impresssive in the hour he played.

Clement spoke about a “positive evening” in his assessment.

He said: “After three minutes we could have scored two goals. In football you also need a little bit of luck and that was not on our side today in the finishing, and all respect also to our opponents, who gave their lives to stop the goals, also in the second half by making saves on the goal line.

“It is a positive evening. The other positive thing is to play that kind of game for so many fans, that is maybe the most positive thing of the evening. In that way, I would have wished to give the fans more goals.”

Oscar Cortes shone in his first Rangers start as the Light Blues made their way into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup with a 2-0 win over Ayr at Ibrox.

The 20-year-old Colombian winger, on loan from French side Lens with an option for the Rangers to buy, had a couple of efforts on goal before he set up Borna Barisic’s low drive, which deflected in off Somerset Park midfielder Roy Syla after only 10 minutes.

However, Cortes departed after an hour with the Govan side struggling to see off the Championship side, managed by former Celtic captain Scott Brown, before on-loan Wolves striker Fabio Silva added a second in the 76th minute.

It was far from Rangers’ best performance of the season, but Gers boss Philippe Clement, who has already won the Viaplay Cup while hauling his side back into the cinch Premiership title race, will look forward to the next round.

Clement took the opportunity against the lower league side to make seven changes to his side.

Mohamed Diomande, the Ivorian midfielder signed from Nordsaelland, and Cortes were both handed their first starts with Barisic, Scott Wright, Ryan Jack, Nicolas Raskin and Silva also coming into the Rangers starting XI.

The visitors were backed by a good travelling support, who watched Cortes clip the outside of the post with a curling 20-yard drive in the second minute and had another effort saved by United goalkeeper Robbie Mutch.

Cortes was at the heart of much of Rangers’ early work and when he cut the ball back for Barisic, the left-back’s drive from 14 yards took a nick off former Albania Under-21 international midfielder Syla and wrong-footed Mutch.

Rangers dominated but after Connor Goldson lost possession, fellow Gers defender John Souttar’s saving challenge on Anton Dowds denied the Ayr attacker a shot on goal in the consequent break.

The visitors began to edge forward with growing belief, but just before the half-hour mark, Silva should have done better with a Barisic cross than heading wide from eight yards.

The lively Cortes screwed a shot just wide of the far post and a Barisic volley from a swirling Wright cross came off United’s George Stanger and keeper Mutch had to react quickly to save.

The Honest Men’s Ben Dempsey missed the target early on with an effort which should have at least been on target.

Portuguese striker Silva, booked in the first half for a foul on Nick McAllister, was perhaps lucky to escape further punishment when he appeared to leave his foot in on a tackle on Stanger and eyes went on referee Willie Collum.

Clement had on Friday backed Collum, despite Rangers reportedly asking the Scottish Football Association not to appoint the official to any of their games going forward after his part as the VAR officials in a contentious non-penalty decision which went against the Light Blues in their Old Firm derby defeat at the end of the year.

Collum took no action against Silva and United boss Brown vented at fourth official Craig Napier, and he soon saw yellow himself to the cheers of the home fans.

Clement brought on Todd Cantwell, Ridvan Yilmaz and Rabbi Matondo for Diomande, Barisic and Cortes just after the hour mark.

However, Silva ended any hopes of a shock when he fired in from 12 yards after Cantwell’s chip rebounded off the post, with VAR confirming the ball had not come off the arm of Matondo before it hit woodwork.