CLASSY CELTIC MARCH ON TO QUARTER FINALS

Celtic avenged Hearts beating the Edinburgh side to make it through to a League Cup quarter final tie against Raith Rovers - conquerers of Aberdeen.

Ange Postecoglou's men, undeservedly beaten 2-1 in their league opener at Tynecastle, dominated but finished with a slender win to end the visitors' 100% unbeaten start to the season.

Liam Boyce's penalty gave Hearts a lifeline after Odsonne Edouard and Stephen Welsh had Celtic purring in cruise control.

Kyogo Furuhashi soon restored the two-goal advantage, with Aaron McEneff snatching a consolation for the Gorgie men deep into added time.

Celtic will host Raith Rovers next month in a bid to regain the trophy they won four years in a row until last season.

The margin of defeat flattered Hearts after a one-sided contest. Celtic have hit their stride since that defeat at Tynecastle, with their winning streak now extended to four games with 16 goals scored.

The loss of soft goals (a soft penalty and a cheap injury time consolation) blotted an impressive home performance in which Edouard - restored for his first start in four matches - could have had a first-half hat-trick. The big Frenchman appears to have a new lease of life under the new system and is actually enjoying the game again.

Celtic's quality was matched by their industry as they throttled Hearts in a brutal first half showing. The stats at the interval were revealing - Celtic had 83% possession and 21 shots while Hearts had none.

The only surprise was Robbie Neilson's side lasted until almost the half-hour mark before conceding.

Kyogo had a near-post drive tipped away by the excellent Craig Gordon, Edouard dragged a shot narrowly off target and Tommy Rogic did likewise after leaving Hearts' defenders Haring and Halkett on their backsides with neat footwork.

Welsh stooped to head over from a dinked Turnbull corner and Kyogo had a shot blocked by Stephen Kingsley as Hearts struggled to stem the tide.

The opener was worth the wait. Kyogo's quality pass with the outside of his boot found Forrest haring onto it coming in off the right wing, and his low cross was met with a first-time flick into the bottom left of the goal by Odsonne Edouard. 

The French striker could have and probably should have doubled his tally with some smart footwork inside the box, but Gordon smothered his close-range shot, however this move was followed by a second Celtic goal from the head of Stephen Welsh. Hearts were caught napping at a short corner as Edouard slung over a cross and Welsh rose majestically to thunder a perfect header into the bottom corner of the net. 2-0.

Teams usually use going behind as an incentive to try and respond, but there was no let-up from Glasgow's Green & White, they gave Hearts absolutely no quarter in the first half and even less respect, with the overworked Craig Gordon twice foiling Edouard after the restart and Welsh heading over.

Celtic were way out of sight in terms of quality, possession and control of the game and really should have been more comfortable, but sprightly half-time substitute Josh Ginnelly gave Hearts a wee bit of hope as their change of shape brought improvement. The winger's cross wasn't dealt with by Carl Starfelt, who clattered Boyce and the Northern Irishman sent Joe Hart the wrong way from the resultant spot kick.

Suddenly Celtic's intensity dipped and passes began to go astray. However, Kyogo soon restored calm, beating Gordon at the near post after being released in the left-hand channel by Rogic. The Japanese striker unbelievably curved the ball around Craig Gordon's right hand from such a short distance. Sheer magic. 3-1.

Kyogo, substitute Adam Montgomery and Callum McGregor all came close to adding a fourth for Celtic, who gave James McCarthy a debut off the bench, but McEneff tucked home a Kingsley cutback in the final seconds.

Man of the match - Kyogo Furuhashi

The Japanese forward marked another impressive showing with what proved the winning goal

What did they say?

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou:

"For the first hour we were outstanding - it's as well as we've played this season. The only thing is we didn't take more of the chances we created. The last half hour we got a bit ragged, which is understandable and down to fatigue, but overall I'm pleased."

Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson:

"We couldn't get a foothold in the game in the first half but I was really pleased with the second half after we changed shape and played with more belief. We scored the goals and had Celtic under pressure at times. We're really disappointed to be out of the cup but we'll take the positives."

Next up

Celtic turn their attention to the Europa League on Wednesday, with a play-off first leg at home to AZ Alkmaar (19:45 BST), followed by the Premiership visit of St Mirren on Saturday (15:00).