No matter the Easter rabbit. In Daizen Maeda, Celtic has a player who shares much more in common with the Duracell rabbit.
In this demolition of five goals from St Johnstone in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup, the relentless Maeda marked twice to make sure that Celtic remains firmly on the right track to win another trible.
The Japanese striker now has 34 goals this season for the club and the country, highlighting his references as a probable winner of the PFA Scotland player of this season.
His two goals – both intelligently taken, one with his right foot and the other with his left – came in a 12 -minute blitz in the first half which blew up St Johnstone and killed equality.
The men of Simo Valakari had beaten Celtic 1-0 in Perth a fortnight ago in the first, but the chances of whipping twice still looked slim.
From the moment when the Callum McGregor skipper put them ahead of 34 minutes, it was hardly a walk in the Sunday sun in Mount Florida for holders of the Brendan Rodgers Cup.
Adam Idah famous with James Forrest after putting Celtic three goals to the good
Daizen Maeda won a double while his side was tearing St Johnstone in tatters during a blitz in the first half
JOTA climbed the bench to complete a five -star performance for Celtic in Hampden
And thus continues the remarkable record of Rodgers in the Scottish Cup. Through his two spells in Glasgow, he has never lost in this competition, winning the 21 games.
Celtic will now face Aberdeen in Hampden during the May 24 final, the favorites heated by red to make another clean sweep of trophies under Rodgers.
After this loss to the shock in Perth, Rodgers had been fiercely critical of the performance of his team and said that major changes will occur in summer. It will come over time. But, in the here and now it was essentially a mission of revenge. Very ruthless, they dismantled St Johnstone in a complete way.
The saints have won this competition twice in the past 11 years, including a famous cup double in 2021, but they were dismissed yesterday as non-all.
The priority for Valakari and his players must now be to refocus their efforts in their attempt to escape relegation.
St Johnstone had won all 1-0 games on the way to Hampden, as well as beating Celtic by this score two weeks ago, but they were beaten on this occasion.
Playing on the mcdiart park’s tight surface and a junk was essentially a sport different from what happened on the expanses maintained in Hampden.
After a week that had seen one of the Celtic players in an ill -advised episode at the back of a taxi, St Johnstone felt a little green around the gills.
Brendan Rodgers will be back at the National Stadium in May to win a third triple
Rodgers stayed with the same team that beat Kilmarnock 5-1 last weekend, which meant that James Forrest and Adam Idah both kept their place in front of Nicolas Kuhn and Jota.
St Johnstone was short of the defense body, midfielder Sven, Sven, having had to fall into the back, while the veteran striker Nicky Clark was also brought to the front.
While the teams emerged from the tunnel in a hampden knocking on the sun, it probably looked like a home match for Celtic due to the overwhelming sea of green all around the place.
For a Scottish Cup semi-finals at the National Stadium, and with a kick-off of 3 p.m., the St Johnstone section was little filled with around 3,000 bettors present.
There were two tiny pockets of blue hidden in a corner, one of which engulfed in smoke at the start of the match after their fans gave themselves to a demonstration of pyrotechnics.
Hoping for a repeated performance two weeks ago, the boss of the Valakari saints would have been relatively satisfied with what he saw in the early stages.
Although his team camped deeply and had to make a lot of defense, they limited Celtic to a few long -term speculative efforts.
A Daisy McGregor cutter stung the palm of Andy Fisher, while Arne Engels made an effort towards the lens after an intelligent and swivel turn on the edge of the box.
Makenzie Kirk thought he had reduced the deficit with an astonishing strike before Var executed it
During the recent 1-0 victory in Perth, St Johnstone had marked early through Daniels Balodis and maintained for a result which denied the painting of the League of what is at the top compared to the bottom.
But they completed spectacular this time, losing four goals in a duplicate of ten minutes just before half-time while Celtic has mainly killed equality.
McGregor began rout over 34 minutes, the defense of the saints standing next to it and inviting the Celtic skipper to complete a precise finish far beyond the scope of Fisher.
Four minutes later, Maeda did it 2-0. Locating on a ball through McGregor that Sam Curtis failed to cut, Maeda calmly slipped into the most distant corner.
He quickly turned into a hammer, with the Idah converting to close range from a reduction in the Hatate Reo after a good pass from Liam Scales had cut St Johnstone Open.
Maeda then obtained her second in the afternoon when, once again, the defense of St Johnstone was held from the Celtic striker and allowed him to pierce a left foot beyond Fisher from the interior of the box.
With their ruined day and their team pleading for mercy, some fans of St Johnstone went to the outings while the half-time whistle sounds. They missed what was almost a brilliant consolation at 10 minutes in the second half when Makenzie Kirk, as a submarine at the break, lasted in the upper corner from 25 meters.
But Var would refuse to the man of St Johnstone his moment of glory after Balodis was considered to have hung the Idah with a push on the back during the construction.
The attention of St Johnstone Boss Simo Valakari is back on the survival fight on his side
It was a strange week for Idah. Even in the demolition of Kilmarnock last weekend, his performance was poor and new questions were asked.
During the week, images had emerged from the 9 million pound sterling striker from Celtic who looks worse for wear at the back of a taxi, although Rodgers pointed out yesterday that Idah had not vomited in the clip.
It was probably Valakari who was starting to feel a little uncomfortable as the match progressed, especially when the Celtic brought the cavalry of Kuhn, Jota and Luke McCowan on time.
Barely five minutes after their introduction, Kuhn’s pass allowed Alistair Johnston to send the ball to the distant post, where Jota came to steam to convert and make 5-0.
At this point, if it was a boxing match, the referee would have arrested him. Behinded and tired, there was a danger that it could still cause lasting damage to St Johnstone in their offer to avoid relegation.
Uche Ikpeazu came out of the bench for a long -awaited start after a injury nightmare since he joined last summer, but it was a lost cause.
Where Maeda had been decisive with two goals, his compatriot haotate was no less impressive and finally finished with three assists when he left the field.
While Celtic fans dispersed in the late afternoon sun, they may have enjoyed the last hour or two in an outdoor coffee near Easter Sunday.
As for St Johnstone, it has long been obvious that it would be an afternoon when pain should be drowned.
