Celtic defeated Livingston 4-2 Sunday to advance to the Scottish Cup semi-finals after their loss at Tynecastle.
Daizen Maeda gave the hosts the lead early on when he easily volleyed past former Hoops goalkeeper Michael McGovern after grabbing a great pass from Nicolas Kuhn.
Livingston rallied through Daniel MacKay, who sidestepped the Bhoys’ rearguard before sending a shot past Joe Hart to tie the score, despite all indications suggesting Brendan Rodgers would have an easy day at work.
As the Northern Ireland international parried a shot from Matt O’Riley, Maeda, in a recurring motif, scored his second goal by diving low to head past McGovern.
But Tete Yengi’s outstanding finish early in the second half allowed David Martindale’s team to hang on and draw even.
Both teams had opportunities to resolve the dispute, but Maeda benefited from Tomoki Iwata pressing the issue in order to complete his hat-trick, so Celtic wouldn’t be denied a well-earned trip to Hampden.
In stoppage time, Kyogo Furuhashi, a fellow countryman, scored with style after James Forrest made a cunning flip.
Though there was some doubt about the Hoops’ defensive performance, Rodgers’ team did more than enough to guarantee a spot in the Scottish Cup semi-final draw.
When Kuhn arrived to Parkhead for £3 million from Rapid Vienna in January, there was excitement surrounding his arrival; however, since then, he has failed to ignite the heather, scoring only one goal in his first seven games [Transfermarkt].
Separately, the 24-year-old played against Livingston, providing the Celtic forward line with directness and the ability to drive at his marker—a quality from which Mark Wilson thinks Kuhn can benefit greatly going forward.
When Gordon Duncan questioned Wilson about whether Kuhn’s performance against Livingston [Clyde 1 Superscoreboard] could have served as a catalyst for his Celtic career, Wilson responded as follows: “You would like to think so, since every player plays with assurance. It makes no difference where you came from—you might have come for £4 million or you could have come from the junior academy.
You are most successful when you are confident. Without a doubt, Kuhn appears to have taken a little while to get underway. He has been written off by many; I wasn’t persuaded by him.
“After his performance today, he seems like a player. He appears to be a player for those 70 minutes, and he will gain a lot of confidence from that.
Wingers and front players in particular may depend on confidence a little bit more. Every time he got the ball today, Montano gave him a thrashing. He should be satisfied with his day’s work because he received a standing ovation when he finished, and James Forrest was quite animated as he joined the stage.
Kuhn’s solitary goal for Celtic came off the bench during his debut against Aberdeen in early February; but, prior to yesterday, he had not had any noteworthy moments.
It only takes a certain moment for things to connect, and yesterday that moment seemed to arrive instantly. Kuhn appeared to be a man eager to make a point in front of the Parkhead supporters.
The former Ajax player showcased his end product by setting up Maeda’s opening goal while also getting fans off their seats with his ability to consistently defeat Cristian Montano.
Hopefully, the 24-year-old can continue to build on his outstanding performance and get another opportunity to shine this weekend against St Johnstone.
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