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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Andy McGilvray

Motherwell 0, Celtic 4: Abada double and Hatate and Kyogo magic send Celtic through

Celtic cruised into the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals with a comfortable win over Motherwell at Fir Park.

A Liel Abada double, a stunning strike by Reo Hatate and a Kyogo strike saw Celtic ease past their quarter-final opponents, but Motherwell had their chances, too.

Stuart McKinstry should have done better than blast over an open goal in the first half, and Matt Penney was unlucky to see a low shot saved well by Benji Siegrist in the Celtic goal.

However, the Glasgow giants could have considerably added to their score, too, with Kyogo hitting the crossbar and sending a low effort inches wide, when it might have been easier to score, in the first half.

Motherwell hosted Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final at Fir Park (SNS Group)

But Celtic got their goals at crucial times and effectively had the game wrapped up inside the hour, though Kyogo added a late fourth anyway.

Motherwell boss Stevie Hammell made two changes from the side that lost 2-1 to Rangers on Sunday. Blair Spittal returned to the squad and Connor Shields started, in place of Ross Tierney and Josh Morris.

Celtic's Liel Abada celebrates with Greg Taylor after opening the scoring (SNS Group)

Ange Postecoglou made five changes from the side that demolished Hibs 6-1 on Saturday. Goalkeeper Benji Siegrist started instead of Joe Hart, while Josip Juranovic, Greg Taylor, Liel Abada and Kyogo came in for Anthony Ralston, Alex Bernabei, James Forrest and Giorgios Giakoumakis.

Celtic started well as you might expect, but too often the final pass was astray, or they were halted by strong defending.

Motherwell didn't offer too much up front in the opening exchanges, but threw themselves at everything inside their own box.

Reo Hatate thought he had set Kyogo up for the opener in 12 minutes but he fired past the right post.

Kyogo sent a shot crashing off the underside of the crossbar in 19 minutes, with Liel Abada unable to capitalise on the rebound as Liam Kelly saved his effort.

Motherwell's Sondre Solhom and Celtic's Sead Haksabanovic in action during the cup clash (SNS Group)

Shortly after that, Aaron Mooy had a shot well blocked by Kelly as Celtic piled on the pressure.

Motherwell should have taken the lead in 25 minutes but Stuart McKinstry blasted the ball over an open goal from a Connor Shields cross from the right that caught Siegrist out.

Hatate then played a neat ball through to Kyogo in 29 minutes who looked odds-on to score, but Kelly blocked well to send his shot over the bar.

At the other end, Sean Goss had a low, curling shot well held at the bottom left corner in 43 minutes.

But Celtic took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Greg Taylor played a neat one-two with Sead Haksabanovic before sending a low ball across the six-yard box for Abada to tap into the net.

Motherwell's Connor Shields challenges Celtic's Greg Taylor during the quarter-final clash (SNS Group)

Motherwell went close inside the opening minute of the second half, but Matt Penney saw his angled shot from the left side of the box well punched past the right post by Siegrist.

But Celtic scored their second goal in 56 minutes. Josip Juranovic and Mooy had shots punched clear by Kelly, but Abada volleyed the rebound into the bottom right corner from about 17 yards.

They made sure of their passage to the semi-final two minutes later when Reo Hatate pounced on a defensive error and used some fancy footwork to leave Kelly standing as he slipped the ball into the bottom right corner.

Celtic added a fourth in 76 minutes when a defensive blunder let sub Daizen Maeda in and his shot struck the right post, but Kyogo swept the rebound into the net.

Celtic celebrate Kyogo's goal for 4-0 (SNS Group)

Penney's cross from the left was heading for sub Ross Tierney in 89 minutes, but was headed over for a corner, with Tierney's set-piece just too high for Bevis Mugabi.

However, the hosts were unable to grab a consolation as Celtic eased through.

MOTHERWELL: Kelly, McGinn, Solholm (Mugabi, 64), Lamie, Penney, Goss (Maguire, 81), Slattery (Cornelius, 64), Spittal (Tierney, 64), McKinstry, Shields (Morris, 81), van Veen.

Subs (not used): Oxborough (GK), O'Donnell, Miller, Ferrie.

Booked: Spittal (55)

CELTIC: Siegrist, Juranovic, Carter-Vickers, Jenz, Taylor, O'Riley (Abildgaard, 61), Mooy (McCarthy, 72), Hatate (Maeda, 72), Abada, Haksabanovic (Giakoumakis, 80), Kyogo.

Subs: Hart (GK), Ideguchi, Bernabei, Forrest, Ralston.

Referee: Don Robertson.

Attendance: 8370.

Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.

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