Premier Sports Cup Quarter Final review

The number of teams in the Premier Sports Cup halved once again as Rangers, St. Johnstone, Celtic and Hibernian booked a place at Hampden for the semi finals. The Old Firm are in the league cup semis for the first time since 2019 after they both suffered shock defeats in last season’s version of the competition to Ross County and St. Mirren respectively. The other two confirmed semi finalists are St. Johnstone and Hibs who faced off in the previous season’s last four; the former ran out 3-0 victors. The quarter finals were played out over Wednesday and Thursday evening and in this article, I’ll review the round. 

The first two sides to confirm their status as semi finalists were Rangers and St. Johnstone. We’ll start at Ibrox where the Gers put Livingston to the sword in a 2-0 victory. 

In the first half, despite a goalless scoreline, Rangers managed to manufacture some clear cut chances. Scott Wright, Calvin Bassey and Alfredo Morelos were presented with the best of those but were unable to convert. 

Steven Gerrard introduced Ianis Hagi at half time with the Romanian replacing Scott Wright. This substitution certainly succeeded with Hagi playing a significant role in Rangers’ opener. The 22 year old received the ball from Kemar Roofe down the right hand side and flashed a dangerous cross across goal for Roofe to tap in. It wasn’t long before Rangers doubled their lead. Max Stryjek has been on astounding form of late but the Pole made a dreadful error for Rangers’ second goal. His pass out from the back found Alfredo Morelos who took pleasure in punishing Stryjek to kill the game. Livingston scarcely created anything going forward and the Lions had 37% possession and 0 shots on goal throughout the night. Last season’s finalists were comfortably disposed of in the quarter finals by one of the favourites for the competition. 

We’ll now head to Dundee where serial cup tie winners St. Johnstone secured their place at Hampden. This is the fifth consecutive time Callum Davidson has led his side to the national stadium. 

The majority of the prodigious chances in the first half fell to the hosts. Both Jordan McGhee and Cameron Kerr were denied by Zander Clark whom St. Johnstone relied on to make some crucial saves. St. Johnstone themselves didn’t have many chances of note up until their opener as they remained resolute at the back. 

It was cup specialist Shaun Rooney who broke the deadlock with twenty to play. The ball broke to the 25 year old in the box after a corner and he swept it goal wards. Around a quarter of an hour later, Ali Crawford scored his maiden St. Johnstone goal to kill any hopes of a Dundee resurgence. David Wotherspoon released Callum Booth down the left hand side who done exceedingly well to pick out Crawford who converted. The match finished 2-0 to the visitors and Dundee have now yet to win any of their last five and as I mentioned in my quarter final preview, the visit of Rangers to Dens Park on Saturday won’t do them any favours. 

St. Johnstone’s victory on Wednesday made it twelve consecutive victories in cup competitions. The Perth Sainties are undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best, knockout team in the country at the moment. 

On Thursday, the two matches took place in the same two cities as Wednesday’s games did. Celtic Park and Tannadice were the venues and we’ll begin at the latter where Hibs made the semi finals of the League Cup for the second year in a row. 

I labelled this as one of the most evenly matched ties of the round in my preview and it was the game which produced the most goals. 

Hibs took an early lead when Scott Allan’s reverse pass found Joe Newell who beat Trevor Carson at the near post. It was questionable goalkeeping from the man between the sticks for United. The Arabs didn’t take this blow lying down though; Peter Pawlett went close after claims for a penalty were waved away by referee Willie Collum. Scott Allan played a significant part in the opener and he himself got on the score sheet eight minutes from half time; a  wonderful volley was fired into the bottom corner by the 29 year old who is on striking form at the minute. Just over five minutes later, Mark Reynolds gave away a penalty. Replays showed though that the centre back may have got a slight touch on the ball. In spite of this, Martin Boyle expertly dispatched to make it 3-0 Hibs at the break. 

In the second half, Dundee United continued to refuse to lie down and accept their fate. They pursued with their efforts to mount a comeback and got their reward just before the hour mark. Youngster Kieran Freeman found Peter Pawlett in the box, who subsequently found the back of the net. The 30 year old thought he got another when he latched on to another Freeman ball but he was adjudged to be offside. Luck didn’t seem to be on United’s side and once again, this decision seemed to be the wrong one. All in all, the match was fairly even. It was a case of the visitors taking their chances and the hosts being undone by the poor decisions of the officials. 

The final match in this review is a clash of David and Goliath at Celtic Park. Raith Rovers were the greatest underdogs in the quarter finals and were beaten 3-0 by Celtic. 

The Hoops needed to bounce back after Sunday’s defeat to Livingston and bounce back they did. Their distinct chance was put away by loanee Jota who bagged his first goal in green and white after being played through by a threaded James McCarthy pass. Jota was involved in Celtic’s second also. His shot was palmed away by Jamie MacDonald but Liel Abada was on hand to head home the rebound. Celtic were cruising at the break. 

Three minutes or so into the second half, David Turnbull disposed his wonderful long shot ability. His effort found the bottom corner to give the Hoops a three goal lead. Raith Rovers’ night got even worse just before the hour mark when Dario Zanatta was dismissed for a second bookable offence. After this, the match seemed to be somewhat of a training exercise for Celtic and it finished 3-0 to the home side. 

In summary, the favourites in each tie went through to the semi finals. There were no shock results but there was some gripping football. The semi finals promise to bring yet more invigorating matches. 

Player of the Round - Scott Allan 

Scott Allan was rewarded with his first start of the season after he came off the bench to set up Paul McGinn on Saturday. The 29 year old grasped this opportunity, scoring one and assisting another. The reverse pass he played for Joe Newell’s opener was first class as was his volley. Allan has firmly gave Jack Ross another competent option in the middle of the park for Hibs. 

The draw for the semi finals was made

following the Thursday night fixtures. Holders St. Johnstone will take on Celtic and Rangers will face Hibernian. These games will take place at Hampden on the weekend of the 20th/21st of November. The prospect of an Old Firm final will excite many a fan as well as those involved in the commercial side of the game. 

Thank you for reading this article. If you have any thoughts or opinions, leave a comment below. Follows, likes and re-tweets on my Twitter, @Josh_Footblog, are also greatly appreciated.