Celtic 4-0 Raith Rovers: Hosts ease into last-eight

Giorgos Giakoumakis scored his fourth goal of the season for Celtic

Celtic were too strong for a spirited Raith Rovers side as they cruised into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

But the well-drilled Championship team were well in the game before the hosts lifted themselves out of their slumber with Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daizen Maeda scoring in quick succession.

Nir Bitton added gloss to the scoreline when he netted a late fourth on the rebound from his saved penalty.

There was further good news for Celtic with Christopher Jullien making his comeback after a 13-month injury lay-off.

Postecoglou's side will find out their opponents in the last eight on Monday following the tie between Peterhead and Dundee.

• Reaction & how it happened

In their last three games Celtic had been adept at taking the game to their opponents early on with eight of their 10 goals being scored before half-time.

And they set their stall out early against John McGlynn's visitors with Mikey Johnston and Bitton shooting over and Rea Hatate drilling a shot into the hands of goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald.

Scales broke Raith's resistance when he opened up his left foot and cracked a shot in off the post that MacDonald could not get close to.

Celtic were fortunate not to concede a penalty when a bouncing ball appeared to hit the arm of defender Cameron Carter-Vickers inside the box, but Raith's appeals were dismissed by referee Steven McLean.

There were other nervous moments in Celtic's box as Raith committed men forward, but the visitors struggled to get a meaningful shot on target and goalkeeper Joe Hart was a virtual spectator.

Giakoumakis hit the crossbar but it is unlikely it would have counted with Johnston offside when he played the ball across.

Celtic had hit a lull before Jota's introduction gave them a lift, the winger creating a chance for Tom Rogic before he was instrumental in Giakoumakis making it 2-0.

The Greek striker timed his run to beat the offside trap and knocked in Jota's inch-perfect pass.

Soon it was three when Maeda got to a corner. MacDonald made a great save initially, but could only knock it off the Celtic man and back over the line.

A controversial penalty made it four when Sean Mackie was harshly penalised for handball. Bitton bundled it home after his first effort was saved by MacDonald, with the 4-0 scoreline a touch harsh on Raith.

Man of the match - Liam Scales

Celtic's Liam Scales scored a stunning strike to make it 1-0 and was excellent throughout

What did they say?

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou: "We weren't great in the first half. We didn't work hard enough, we didn't play at a tempo, took too many touches of the ball. The second half was better.

"We made seven changes to the team so you know it's not going to be as fluent or as cohesive. It's not about singling out individuals. We have an intent and ambition to be a certain kind of team, training is intense so game day we are intense no matter who starts, and I think the urgency wasn't quite there."

Raith Rovers manager John McGlynn: "I thought we were very well organised and disciplined in our play. We knew Celtic would come out the traps and bombard us early on and we wanted to get beyond that period, which I thought we did.

"There was a claim for a penalty, but I haven't seen it back. I am proud of the players and we have to get our league campaign going again."