Albion Rovers vs Celtic. Scottish Cup Fourth Round.
Penny Cars StadiumAttendance8,319.
Monday 23 January 2017 06:25, UK
Celtic eased into the fifth round of the Scottish Cup with a 3-0 victory over League One Albion Rovers at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie.
Scott Sinclair opened the scoring in the 30th minute with a dipping effort to dampen the prospect of an upset.
Moussa Dembele and Stuart Armstrong then added goals in the final 13 minutes to secure the win and ensure Brendan Rodgers' side remain unbeaten domestically this season.
Armstrong tested Rovers goalkeeper Ross Stewart early on when he allowed a Cristian Gamboa pass to run across his body before curling a shot from just outside the box which was tipped over the bar.
James Forrest then opened up the Albion defence with a burst of pace and slipped a pass to Dembele to shuffle on for Sinclair but Stewart blocked his drive at the near post.
Celtic were laying siege to the Rovers goal and they made the breakthrough when Kieran Tierney was sent down the left flank by Sinclair before turning inside a defender and playing a return pass to the winger who curled a shot under the bar and in off the far post.
The visitors thought they had doubled their lead shortly before the break when Sinclair raced on to a clipped pass from Mikael Lustig and fired past Stewart into the roof of the net, but he was incorrectly flagged offside.
Four minutes after the interval, Sinclair used his pace the get beyond Alan Reid and cut the ball back from the byline for Dembele, who miscued, but Forrest, arriving behind, drilled a low shot which Stewart saved.
Dembele then turned away from Ross Dunlop to latch on to a Scott Brown pass and his powerful drive was saved at the near post before Dedryck Boyata powered a header against the crossbar from Callum McGregor's cross.
Moments later McGregor scuffed a low drive across the box and fellow substitute Jozo Simunovic diverted the ball towards the goal with a back-heel but Dunlop cleared off the line.
Celtic's second goal finally arrived when substitute Patrick Roberts took three Rovers players out of the game with a clever twist and played the ball to Brown to square across the six-yard box for Dembele to touch over the line.
Armstrong scored the third in the final minute of regulation-time from close-range after Roberts weaved his way to the byline and set-up the midfielder.
